The Best Places to Live for Sufferers of SAD: Move to Paradise!

Lake Como

Don’t we all dream of living somewhere where the sun shines all the time? Where every morning you can draw back the curtains and be presented with a bright blue sky? Where you can go out in the morning and know there is no need to take an umbrella or coat with you?

Here we take a look at the best places to live, outside of the USA, for people with SAD.


Can’t afford a luxury holiday?
If you can’t afford to splash out on a luxury holiday to beat the winter blues, your best option would be to get a SAD light – my two favourites are the Carex Health Brands Day-Light Classic and the Carex Health Brands Day-Light Sky – top quality SAD lights at a fraction of the cost of an overseas holiday!


Anguilla

Anguilla

There are plenty of reasons to like Anguilla, no capital gains, estate, profit or other direct forms of tax on either individuals or corporations, being one! Add in some amazing beaches and a laidback attitude to life and this tiny island (it is just 35 miles square miles) is onto a winner.

To top it all off Anguilla is home to just 14,000 people and boasts daytime temperatures of between 21C and 32C year round with between eight and nine hours of sunshine a day on average.


Alice Springs, Australia

Australia – Alice Springs

In fairness there are a few cities in Australia that could qualify for this list but if you are looking for sunshine, then it has to be Alice Springs which is the only main town in the radius of the centre of Australia and sits in the shadow of the famous Uluru.

Beneath the brash beer, barbeque and casino nature of the town it does have some great eco resorts where you can enjoy the on average 10 hours of sunshine a day Alice Springs gets (3,500 hours over the year). Temperatures range between 20C in the winter and 40C in the summer, believe it or not though Alice Springs is susceptible to the cold and has on average 12 nights below freezing each year!


The Bahamas

Bahamas

The more than 700 islands, cays and islets in the Atlantic Ocean that make up the Bahamas boast names such as Nicholas Cage, Sean Connery, Tiger Woods and Bill Gates as celebrity residents.

As well as having such famous names and world class beaches the Bahamas can also lay claim to having some of the best weather in the world. Temperatures range from 21C to 27C in the winter and 27C to 32C in the summer. Despite having a rainy season from May to October the Bahamas can still manage 310 days of sunshine a year with on average eight hours of sun per day!


Barbados

Barbados

Yet more beautiful beaches, in fact 92kms of them, surrounded by luminous blue water and dotted with palm trees, Barbados is another idyllic island in the North Atlantic, although it is considered part of the Caribbean.

The temperatures hover between 21C and 31C year round, and thanks to the steady northeast windows although it is bright and sunny it is not unbearably hot. The nights are cooler too and it gets over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year!


Cape Verde

Cape Verde

Cape Verde is an emerging destination – an archipelago of islands off of West Africa where you can get two bed flats from as little as $40,000.

It gets lets than 6 inches of rain a year and almost 3,5000 hours of sunshine. Plus temperatures range from 22 degrees to 26 degrees and it has the bonus of very warm seas!


The Cayman Islands

Cayman Islands

No income tax, capital gains tax or corporation already make the Carribean Cayman Islands a pretty decent place to be but add in temperatures that rarely dip below 25C or exceed 30C, eight hours of sunshine in the winter and 12 hours in the summer and it all adds up to a glorious place to live!


Cyprus

Cyprus

Situated in the north-eastern part of the Mediterranean, Cyprus actually has the largest number of sunny days in the Mediterranean and gets up to 13 hours of sun a day during the summer, even during the winter you can expect to see a reasonable five to six hours of sun. That means the country receives 2,700 to 3,500 hours sunshine per year.

You will also find delicious food, ancient ruins, a warm and friendly band of people and endless outdoor activities to make the most of the sun!


Kharga

Egypt – Kharga

Kharga is actually a pretty amazing city – highly functional and very modern but the surrounding area is filled with ancient sites to visit and the city looks beautiful at sunset.

Talking of sun you see a lot of it here with 3,790 hours of sunshine a year and on average 1mm of rain over the entire year! It can get hot though, the highest temperature ever recorded was 50C and the average high in the summer is almost 40 C from May through to September.


Tuscany

Italy – Umbria, Tuscany and Lake Como

There are a few areas in Italy that are great for sunshine and good weather but these three are the pick of the crop – 240 days of sun a year, 13C in the winter and 29C in the summer, beautiful countryside, great watersports and even skiing in the winter!


Kiribati

Kiribati

Kiribati is made up of 33 atolls and islands and is maybe one of the most idyllic places in the world. It is located in the Pacific Ocean near one of the areas that catches more sun rays than any other place on earth.

Temperatures vary very, little hoovering around the 32C mark and there is around 8 hours of sunshine most days. It is prone to tropical downpours, but with its numerous turquoise lagoons white sand beaches and excellent fishing it is a great place to totally relax.


Malta

Malta

The tiny European island of Malta is a popular tourist destination and it is easy to see why. Not only are you always near a decent beach, there are some gorgeous towns, friendly people and a lovely relaxed vibe.

According to International Living https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Living – it is the country with the best climate in the world and gets over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year from five per day in the winter to more than 12 in the summer. The temperature is around 23C on average although it has summer highs of 32C and the beach season can last well into October.


Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius lies in the Indian Ocean and has become synonymous as a honeymoon destination, due in equal parts to its wonderful landscapes – it has some of the most pristine beaches in the world and also is a great place for wildlife tourism – and its wonderful climate, it has ten hours of sunshine a day in the summer and temperatures hover between 25C and 30C year round.

Mark Twain once wrote ‘Mauritius was made first and then heaven, heaven being copied after Mauritius’, he wasn’t far wrong.


lisbon-cropped

Portugal – Lisbon

There are a host of places to choose from when it comes to the sun in Portugal and Lisbon is one of the sunniest places in Europe with 3,023 hours of sunshine per year. In fact it has the warmest winters of any major town or city in Europe with average day time temperatures of 15C. The summer which lasts around six months has averages of 25C and you will regularly get 11 hours of sunshine during the summer months.

There is no better place to wander down the bar filled cobbled streets and sit outside in the sunshine enjoying a beer (or two!).


Cape Town

South Africa – Cape Town

Cape Town lies on the southern peninsula of South Africa and in 2014 was named the best place in the world to visit by both the American New York Times and the British Daily Telegraph.

It is probably best known for Table Mountain – a flat topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city. Temperatures range from 15C in the winter to 27C in the summer and it has between nine and 11 hours of sunshine a day during the summer.


Andalusia

Spain – Andalusia

Andalusia is the most populated and second largest in area of the autonomous communities in Spain. Quintessentially Spanish it fits all the stereotypes you might have of Southern Spain – bullfights, flamenco, ruined castles and lots and lots of sunshine!

It has some 300 days of sunshine a year and when lots of Europe of beset by rain and freezing temperatures you can bet Andalusia will still be bathed in sunshine, in fact Seville, the capital of the area, see just 7 to 8 days of rain a year.


Dongola

Sudan – Abu Hamad and Dongola

Ok so Sudan might not be your first choice country to live in, but it sure gets some sunshine! Abu Hamad stands in quite a prominent position – right on the S bend of the famous Nile river.  Temperatures range from 25C to 43C, with over 3,700 hours of sunshine a year and just two days of rain.

About eight hours away by road is Dongola, racking up over 3,800 hours of sunshine a year and even less rain than Abu Hamad. Temperatures range from 26C to 42C.


Zanzibar

Tanzania – Zanzibar

Zanzibar is an island off the coast of Tanzania in East Africa that is populated by a remarkably happy set of locals. This isn’t surprising as it gets 2,000 hours of sunshine a year, meaning the sun is out 63% of the time – an amazing amount for the tropics. The temperature ranges from 22C in the winter to 33C in the summer.

Stepping into Zanzibar, it is almost as if you have stepped back in time as these islands are very much still steeped in their own culture with life creeping along at a fantastically relaxed pace.


Can’t afford a luxury holiday?
If you can’t afford to splash out on a luxury holiday to beat the winter blues, your best option would be to get a SAD light – my two favourites are the Carex Health Brands Day-Light Classic and the Carex Health Brands Day-Light Sky – top quality SAD lights at a fraction of the cost of an overseas holiday!


So there we have it, all you need to do now is decide which of these places takes your fancy and then move there! If only it were that simple…

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