"Sunniest city in Europe" is a claim many tourist boards like to make. The honest answer depends on how you measure it, which years you look at and whether you count islands and places just outside the EU. This guide uses long-term climate averages and rounds them, because the ranking changes slightly from source to source. What stays consistent is the overall picture: the south-east of Spain, southern Portugal, Malta, Cyprus and Greece get the most sun.
What sunshine hours measure
Sunshine hours are the number of hours in which direct sunlight is strong enough to be recorded, by the definition of the World Meteorological Organization, above 120 watts per square metre. Our guide to sunshine hours explains the details.
For scale:
- London: around 1,500–1,600 hours a year.
- Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm: roughly 1,700–1,900.
- Paris: about 1,700–1,800.
- The sunniest parts of southern Europe: around 2,800–3,400.
So the sunniest cities in Europe get almost twice as much sun as northern European capitals. The difference is largest in winter, when northern days are short and often overcast.
The sunniest cities
Figures are approximate long-term annual averages.
Cyprus: Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos (around 3,300 hours)
Cyprus is usually the sunniest place in the EU. Summers are long, hot and almost completely dry; winters are mild with some rain between sunny days. Best time: April to June and mid-September to November. July and August are very hot, especially inland.
South-eastern Spain: Almería, Murcia, Alicante (about 2,900–3,000 hours)
The driest corner of mainland Europe. Almería's surroundings are semi-desert, and Alicante and Murcia enjoy sunny winters with highs in the mid-teens. Best time: October to May for mild sunshine; summer is hot, especially inland in Murcia.
Faro and the Algarve (about 3,000 hours)
The south coast of Portugal combines very high sunshine with Atlantic freshness, so summers are less oppressive than on the Mediterranean. Best time: March to June, September and October.
Seville and Málaga (about 2,900 hours)
Seville is one of the hottest cities in Europe in summer, regularly above 35 °C, but spring and autumn are glorious. Málaga has a gentler coastal climate and is a favourite for winter sun. Best time: Seville in March to May and October; Málaga almost all year.
Valletta, Malta (about 2,900–3,000 hours)
Malta's small size and position in the middle of the Mediterranean give it long sunny seasons and mild winters. Best time: April to June and September to November.
Athens and Crete (about 2,700–2,800 hours)
Athens gets long, dry summers and bright winters between rainy spells. Heraklion and southern Crete are similar, with the south coast often the sunniest part of the island. Best time: late April to June and September to October.
Valencia, Nice and Palermo (about 2,500–2,700 hours)
Slightly lower on the list but still very sunny, and all three combine good weather with rich city life. Nice is notable for its bright winters, protected by the mountains behind it.
Sunshine is not the same as comfort
The sunniest places are not always the most pleasant ones at a given time of year:
- Heat: inland cities in the south, such as Seville, Córdoba, Murcia and Nicosia, regularly reach 38–42 °C in July and August. Sun is not scarce there in summer; shade is.
- Wind: some very sunny coasts are also windy, which is good for sailing and kitesurfing but less so for sunbathing.
- Winter: high annual sunshine does not guarantee warmth in January. See warmest cities in winter for which places are genuinely mild.
The best compromise is often the shoulder seasons. In May, June, September and October, the sunniest cities in Europe typically offer 8–11 hours of sun a day and temperatures between 22 and 30 °C.
Annual averages versus your trip
A city with 3,000 sunshine hours can still have a cloudy week, and a northern city can have a brilliant one. Annual averages are good for choosing a region months ahead. For a trip in the next week or two, the actual forecast is much more informative.
That is the idea behind SunFinder: instead of trusting a ranking, it compares the forecast for your dates with the forecast at home and tells you where the extra sun really is. Sometimes the answer is a famous sunny city. Surprisingly often, it is somewhere much closer.
Getting there
- Southern Spain, Portugal, Malta and Italy are 2.5–4 hours' flight from most of central and northern Europe.
- Greece and Cyprus are 3–4.5 hours from the same region.
- By train or car, the south of France and north-eastern Spain are within a long day's reach of central Europe, and are often sunnier than their reputation suggests.
Whatever you choose, look at the forecast about a week before you go, pack sunscreen, and plan outdoor activities for the morning and late afternoon in summer.