Warmest places to go from Rome in December
In December, the warmest well-known place within 15 hours of Rome is Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, averaging 20.4 °C across day and night and 9.7 h sun a day, about 6h 48m each way by air. Without flying, it is Trapani, Italy, averaging 13.6 °C across day and night, about 7h 42m each way by train, for about 50× less carbon (12.7 kg CO₂e return against 632 kg).
Every city at once, with and without flying: where is hot in December.
The 10 warmest places within 15 hours of Rome
Ranked on warmth in December alone, among well-known places (a Wikivoyage travel guide and at least 40,000 Wikipedia readers a year), one per area and at most three per country. The carbon is shown, not used to choose: the list further down is the other question, how much warmth each extra kilogram buys.
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt20.4 °C · 9.7 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 25.2 °Cair ≈ 6h 48m · 632 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt19.9 °C · 9.8 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 24.7 °Cair ≈ 6h 54m · 636 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain19.7 °C · 9.4 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 751 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain19.1 °C · 9.3 h sun a day · 2.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 24m · 742 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain18.9 °C · 9.3 h sun a day · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 22.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 752 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt18.7 °C · 10.1 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 6m · 687 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan18.0 °C · 9.2 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 23.5 °Cair ≈ 6h 48m · 614 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco17.4 °C · 9.1 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 19.1 °Cair ≈ 6h 36m · 591 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco16.4 °C · 9.0 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 18.4 °Cair ≈ 6h 30m · 575 kg CO₂e return
Ponta Delgada, Portugal15.8 °C · 7.0 h sun a day · 4.1 mm rain a day · sea 19.1 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 822 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The warmest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Trapani is 13.6 °C for 12.7 kg — about 50× less carbon than flying to Sharm el-Sheikh.
- Trapani, Italy13.6 °C · 7.2 h sun a day · 3.1 mm rain a day · sea 17.7 °Crail ≈ 7h 42m · 12.7 kg CO₂e return
Corfu, Greece12.8 °C · 7.0 h sun a day · 5.8 mm rain a day · sea 18.2 °Crail ≈ 13h 54m · 19.9 kg CO₂e return- Messina, Italy12.6 °C · 7.3 h sun a day · 2.4 mm rain a day · sea 18.6 °Crail ≈ 7h 48m · 14.3 kg CO₂e return
- Catania, Italy12.6 °C · 7.9 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 17.9 °Crail ≈ 8h 48m · 15.8 kg CO₂e return
Agrigento, Italy11.7 °C · 7.9 h sun a day · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 17.6 °Crail ≈ 9h · 15.3 kg CO₂e return
Mataró, Spain10.6 °C · 7.6 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 15.8 °Crail ≈ 14h 6m · 24.7 kg CO₂e return
≈ is the model's estimate (air times include getting to and through the airport); ✓ is a rail journey checked against a real timetable, with the date it was checked. Temperatures are historical daily means for 2023–2024, averaged across day and night, so afternoons run warmer.
The low-carbon trade-off
The warmest place you can reach from Rome in December within 15 hours is Sharm el-Sheikh, 20.4 °C, costing 632 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Grosseto at 4.4 kg — 144× less carbon, for 12.3 degrees less warmth.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both warmer in December and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.
By rail or ferry By air
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grosseto, Italy | Rail | 4.4 kg | 8.1 °C | 7.2 h | 1.8 mm | 3h 42m |
| Castel Volturno, Italy | Rail | 4.5 kg | 11.3 °C | 7.2 h | 3.7 mm | 3h 42m |
| Palermo, Italy | Rail | 12.6 kg | 13.8 °C | 7.5 h | 3.9 mm | 7h 42m |
| Milazzo, Italy | Rail | 13.9 kg | 14.7 °C | 7.1 h | 8.2 mm | 7h 42m |
| San Pawl il-Bahar, Malta | Air | 171 kg | 16.0 °C | 7.9 h | 1.3 mm | 4h 24m |
| Alexandria, Egypt | Air | 491 kg | 16.8 °C | 9.2 h | 0.9 mm | 6h 6m |
| Port Said, Egypt | Air | 533 kg | 17.7 °C | 9.1 h | 0.1 mm | 6h 18m |
| Ras Gharib, Egypt | Air | 601 kg | 18.6 °C | 9.7 h | 0.0 mm | 6h 42m |
| Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt | Air | 632 kg | 20.4 °C | 9.7 h | 0.1 mm | 6h 48m |
Warm is not the same as pleasant, which is why sunshine and rainfall are shown alongside temperature. All three are ERA5 monthly means for 2023–2024.
Where the curve breaks
The frontier is gentle until it isn't. Going from San Pawl il-Bahar (171 kg, 16.0 °C) to Alexandria (491 kg, 16.8 °C) buys 0.8 °C more warmth for an extra 319 kg — 399 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive warmth on the whole curve.
The pick of them
Sharm el-SheikhEgypt632 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
December answers differently depending on what you are after, and the lists genuinely diverge: the brightest places are not the hottest, and in summer the useful question stops being where is warm at all.
Where to stay in Sharm el-Sheikh
Places to stay in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Sharm el-Sheikh →Opens the booking search in a new tab. Same partners as the map below.
Affiliate disclosure. A booking made through this map may earn 0xCarbon a commission, at no extra cost to you. It changes nothing above it: the emissions figures come from UK Government conversion factors and are computed before anyone is paid anything.See the method.
Other months from Rome
December from elsewhere
- Amsterdam
- Barcelona
- Berlin
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Brussels
- Cardiff
- Copenhagen
- Dublin
- Edinburgh
- Frankfurt
- Glasgow
- Leeds
- Lisbon
- Liverpool
- London
- Madrid
- Manchester
- Milan
- Munich
- Newcastle
- Nottingham
- Oslo
- Paris
- Prague
- Rome
- Sheffield
- Southampton
- Stockholm
- Vienna
- Warsaw
- Zurich
Photo credits
- Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ponta Delgada: Maximilian Schönherr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Corfu: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Agrigento: jschoenhofer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Mataró: Pere López Brosa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the warmest place to go from Rome in December?
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at 20.4 °C. Reaching it emits 632 kg CO₂e return, travelling 6h 48m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere warm from Rome in December without flying?
Yes. Milazzo reaches 14.7 °C and is reachable by rail or ferry in 7h 42m (modelled), emitting 13.9 kg CO₂e return — though Sharm el-Sheikh is warmer still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Rome to Sharm el-Sheikh produce?
632 kg CO₂e for one person, return, by air. That uses the UK Government's 2026 conversion factors, including radiative forcing for flights.
Carbon uses UK Government (DESNZ/DEFRA) 2026 conversion factors applied to great-circle distance, with radiative forcing included for flights. Rail journey times are modelled estimates, not timetabled services. Full method · download the data.