Warmest places to go from Zurich in May
In May, the warmest well-known place within 15 hours of Zurich is Aswan, Egypt, averaging 31.5 °C across day and night and 12.0 h sun a day, about 8h each way by air. Without flying, it is Taranto, Italy, averaging 19.4 °C across day and night, about 14h 24m each way by train, for about 28× less carbon (30.5 kg CO₂e return against 847 kg).
Every city at once, with and without flying: where is hot in May.
The 10 warmest places within 15 hours of Zurich
Ranked on warmth in May 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.
Aswan, Egypt31.5 °C · 12.0 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 8h · 847 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt31.2 °C · 12.0 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 48m · 806 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt30.0 °C · 12.6 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 24.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 36m · 782 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan28.2 °C · 12.6 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 23.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 758 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco23.0 °C · 12.4 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 30m · 567 kg CO₂e return
Tataouine, Tunisia22.9 °C · 11.4 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 5h 42m · 406 kg CO₂e return
Marrakesh, Morocco22.5 °C · 12.0 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 30m · 564 kg CO₂e return
Adana, Turkey22.0 °C · 11.6 h sun a day · 3.6 mm rain a dayair ≈ 6h 48m · 622 kg CO₂e return- Nicosia, Cyprus21.9 °C · 12.5 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 21.0 °Cair ≈ 6h 48m · 619 kg CO₂e return
Limassol, Cyprus21.9 °C · 12.8 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 20.3 °Cair ≈ 6h 48m · 622 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The warmest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Taranto is 19.4 °C for 30.5 kg — about 28× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
- Taranto, Italy19.4 °C · 11.3 h sun a day · 2.3 mm rain a day · sea 17.9 °Crail ≈ 14h 24m · 30.5 kg CO₂e return
Lleida, Spain19.1 °C · 13.0 h sun a day · 1.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 54m · 26.4 kg CO₂e return
Foggia, Italy18.9 °C · 10.5 h sun a day · 3.5 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 12h 36m · 25.4 kg CO₂e return- Civitavecchia, Italy18.3 °C · 11.4 h sun a day · 3.4 mm rain a day · sea 18.0 °Crail ≈ 10h 18m · 18.9 kg CO₂e return
Pula, Croatia18.2 °C · 11.5 h sun a day · 5.4 mm rain a day · sea 16.3 °Crail ≈ 12h 30m · 14.6 kg CO₂e return
Zadar, Croatia18.1 °C · 11.7 h sun a day · 4.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 30m · 18.6 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 Zurich in May within 15 hours is Edfu, 31.4 °C, costing 826 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Lugano at 4.5 kg — 184× less carbon, for 15.4 degrees less warmth.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both warmer in May 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lugano, Switzerland | Rail | 4.5 kg | 16.0 °C | 9.5 h | 10.1 mm | 3h 30m |
| Milan, Italy | Rail | 6.4 kg | 16.9 °C | 9.6 h | 9.3 mm | 4h 48m |
| Chioggia, Italy | Rail | 11.0 kg | 17.8 °C | 10.3 h | 4.8 mm | 7h 24m |
| Fondi, Italy | Rail | 22.8 kg | 18.6 °C | 11.0 h | 5.0 mm | 10h 48m |
| Trani, Italy | Rail | 27.2 kg | 19.5 °C | 11.2 h | 2.8 mm | 13h 24m |
| Sousse, Tunisia | Air | 326 kg | 20.4 °C | 11.1 h | 1.8 mm | 5h 12m |
| Kairouan, Tunisia | Air | 329 kg | 21.8 °C | 11.0 h | 1.7 mm | 5h 12m |
| Gafsa, Tunisia | Air | 362 kg | 22.9 °C | 11.7 h | 1.2 mm | 5h 24m |
| Metlaoui, Tunisia | Air | 365 kg | 23.8 °C | 11.8 h | 0.8 mm | 5h 24m |
| Tozeur, Tunisia | Air | 376 kg | 25.8 °C | 11.6 h | 0.6 mm | 5h 30m |
| Recani, Morocco | Air | 527 kg | 26.6 °C | 12.1 h | 0.1 mm | 6h 18m |
| Zagora, Morocco | Air | 568 kg | 27.6 °C | 12.4 h | 0.0 mm | 6h 30m |
| Assiut, Egypt | Air | 751 kg | 29.0 °C | 11.9 h | 0.0 mm | 7h 30m |
| Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt | Air | 782 kg | 30.0 °C | 12.6 h | 0.1 mm | 7h 36m |
| Luxor, Egypt | Air | 806 kg | 31.2 °C | 12.0 h | 0.0 mm | 7h 48m |
| Edfu, Egypt | Air | 826 kg | 31.4 °C | 12.1 h | 0.0 mm | 7h 54m |
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 Trani (27.2 kg, 19.5 °C) to Sousse (326 kg, 20.4 °C) buys 0.9 °C more warmth for an extra 299 kg — 332 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive warmth on the whole curve.
The pick of them
LuganoSwitzerland4.5 kg CO₂e returnwarm but wetTraniItaly27.2 kg CO₂e returnwarm overall
EdfuEgypt826 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
May 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 Edfu
Places to stay in Edfu, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Edfu →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 Zurich
May 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
- Lugano: Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Edfu: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ouarzazate: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Tataouine: Averater, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marrakesh: Donar Reiskoffer, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Adana: Anatolianpride, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Limassol: Xaris333, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Lleida: Jorge Franganillo from Barcelona, Spain, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Foggia: Orledio, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Pula: Orlovic, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Zadar: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the warmest place to go from Zurich in May?
Edfu, Egypt, at 31.4 °C. Reaching it emits 826 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 54m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere warm from Zurich in May without flying?
Yes. Trani reaches 19.5 °C and is reachable by rail or ferry in 13h 24m (modelled), emitting 27.2 kg CO₂e return — though Edfu is warmer still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Zurich to Edfu produce?
826 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.