The Sunniest Places on the Planet

After suffering one of the coldest winters on record in the UK we’re looking to draft in industrial doses of Vitamin D. It doesn’t surprise us that you’re on the Web, browsing excitedly for your next holiday, packed with enough sun to tide you over until 2011. That’s why we’ve combined scientific methods of measuring latitude, longitude and climate to find the sunniest places on Earth with the best tourist destinations as well. From the information you can decide what’s too hot, what’s not sunny enough and what’s just right for your summer holiday of 2010.

Yuma, Arizona

Thought to be the US’ hottest region, Yuma in Arizona reaches highs of 107 degrees Fahrenheit in Summer. It experiences around 4300 hours of sunshine each year, so you’ve a 90% chance of catching some rays during a stay here, and there’s no shortage of places to choose from either. Yuma, Arizona is 300 miles directly south of the world gambling capital Las Vegas, as well as being a short plane ride from Los Angeles and San Francisco in the neighbouring state of California. A round trip is just the ticket for a family looking for excitement in the sun (and there’s not really any way of escaping it here). Within Arizona itself is the thundering Colorado River, and within that one of the seven wonders of the industrial world: the Hoover Dam.

Rhodes Island, Greece

There are hot, sunny places in the desert, and then there are hot sunny places that you actually want to visit. Rhodes Island in Greece falls into the latter category with a rich history as well as miles of beaches and great night life in Faliraki. Rhodes Island was almost pipped to the post by the Portugese Algarve’s Faro, and if you prefer Portugal then the climates in each area are actually very similar. Rhodes Island has over 300 days of sunshine every single year, so there’s a very good chance that during a week long stay you’ll be catching rays on every day of it. This is a great choice of location for those who don’t want to leave Europe, but still want that tropical heat.

Alice Springs, Australia

If you want to stay somewhere similar to the UK where the majority of people speak English, but you want heat, heat, heat, then you may benefit from taking the day-long flight to the other side of the world. Australians are no strangers to high temperatures and sun, and not least the inhabitants of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. This region has a greater percentage of lesbian citizens than any other location in Australia, so as you can imagine the atmosphere is open minded and very welcoming to gay people. Horse riding events are big there, as is art because Alice Springs is famously known as the ‘art capital’ of Australia. So when you’ve topped up your vitamin D levels at the Finke Gorge national park you can head into one of the many Aboriginal art museums that are dotted about the place. There’s no need to learn a new lingo too, meaning you can ditch your phrase books in favour of an extra bottle of sun block.

Bali, Indonesia

Taking you out of your comfort zone and into a paradise of exotic Indonesian culture is Bali, where the sun shines for an average of 11 hours every day, totalling 2876 hours per year. Like Rhodes in Greece, Bali is an island so there are many beaches to relax on, and you may particularly enjoy their New Year which is celebrated with an entire day of silence. There’s not much more we need to say about this one. Bliss!


Central America

The Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico are all prone to high temperatures and hours upon hours of sun, but they can also easily become overcast leaving visitors and inhabitants alike feeling stuffy and a bit deflated. The best place in central America to visit for guaranteed sunshine is San Salvador in El Salvador which receives over 3000 sunshine hours per year (3037 to be precise) which equates to eight hours and twenty minutes every day.

Statistically, Eastbourne in south east England is the sunniest place in the UK, earning 1868 hours of sunshine each and every year (that’s just over five hours per day). So if you’re on a budget and need to stay within Great Britain, or you’re just looking for a sunnier place to live then that’s your best bet. Fingers crossed these suggestions will guide you into the warm rays of the sun this summer, and away from sitting in front of weather reports which continually promise us an ‘Indian Summer’ for the coming year. Let’s get wise to it and book a holiday in the Caribbean early! 

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