2026 ranking · sunshine

The sunniest large cities in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (20,000+ inhabitants)

Q: What is the sunniest large city in Nouvelle-Aquitaine?

La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) is the sunniest large city in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, with 2,303 hours of sunshine a year on average.

La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) is the sunniest large city in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, with 2,303 hours of sunshine a year on average. Next come Libourne (Gironde, 2,142 hours a year) and La Teste-de-Buch (Gironde, 2,121 hours a year).

31 towns ranked out of 4,293

La Rochelle, 1^stThe next 19

The podium

Photos: © Remi Jouan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Marcel Roblin, CC BY-SA 4.0

This ranking covers 31 of the 4,293 towns in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Not ranked: towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and towns without a Météo-France station within 30 km and 300 m of elevation. At the other end of the ranking, Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) comes last with 1,910 hours a year.

In France, a commune is the smallest unit of local government, from large cities to tiny villages. Paris, Lyon and Marseille are ranked as whole communes: their arrondissements (districts) have no rank of their own.

The ranking: sunniest large cities in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Rank	Town	Department	Hours of sunshine per year	Population
1	La Rochelle	Charente-Maritime (17)	2,303	81,843
2	Libourne	Gironde (33)	2,142	25,591
3 tied	La Teste-de-Buch	Gironde (33)	2,121	27,909
3 tied	Gujan-Mestras	Gironde (33)	2,121	22,615
5 tied	Bordeaux	Gironde (33)	2,070	271,552
5 tied	Mérignac	Gironde (33)	2,070	78,946
5 tied	Pessac	Gironde (33)	2,070	68,102
5 tied	Talence	Gironde (33)	2,070	47,340
5 tied	Villenave-d'Ornon	Gironde (33)	2,070	42,858
5 tied	Saint-Médard-en-Jalles	Gironde (33)	2,070	33,398
5 tied	Bègles	Gironde (33)	2,070	32,221
5 tied	Gradignan	Gironde (33)	2,070	27,379
5 tied	Cenon	Gironde (33)	2,070	27,065
5 tied	Lormont	Gironde (33)	2,070	26,158
5 tied	Le Bouscat	Gironde (33)	2,070	25,441
5 tied	Eysines	Gironde (33)	2,070	25,154
5 tied	Bruges	Gironde (33)	2,070	20,233
18	Saintes	Charente-Maritime (17)	2,043	26,773
19	Brive-la-Gaillarde	Corrèze (19)	2,037	48,330
20	Bergerac	Dordogne (24)	2,021	27,863
21 tied	Agen	Lot-et-Garonne (47)	2,020	33,656
21 tied	Villeneuve-sur-Lot	Lot-et-Garonne (47)	2,020	23,095
23	Niort	Deux-Sèvres (79)	2,006	61,675
24	Mont-de-Marsan	Landes (40)	1,942	32,981
25	Poitiers	Vienne (86)	1,941	92,187
26	Limoges	Haute-Vienne (87)	1,922	131,817
27 tied	Bayonne	Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64)	1,921	55,590
27 tied	Anglet	Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64)	1,921	44,406
27 tied	Biarritz	Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64)	1,921	26,879
30	Dax	Landes (40)	1,914	22,972
31	Pau	Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64)	1,910	81,891

Source: Météo-France, climate data sheets (30-year normals); average annual hours of sunshine at the reference station, cities with 20,000 or more inhabitants. Not ranked: towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and towns without a Météo-France station within 30 km and 300 m of elevation. Tied values share the same rank. Data sources.

FAQ

Sunniest large cities in Nouvelle-Aquitaine: FAQ

What is the sunniest large city in Nouvelle-Aquitaine?

La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) is the sunniest large city in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, with 2,303 hours of sunshine a year on average.

What are the 10 sunniest large cities in Nouvelle-Aquitaine?

In order: La Rochelle (2,303 hours a year), Libourne (2,142 hours a year), La Teste-de-Buch (2,121 hours a year), Gujan-Mestras (2,121 hours a year), Bordeaux (2,070 hours a year), Mérignac (2,070 hours a year), Pessac (2,070 hours a year), Talence (2,070 hours a year), Villenave-d'Ornon (2,070 hours a year), and Saint-Médard-en-Jalles (2,070 hours a year).

How many towns in Nouvelle-Aquitaine are ranked?

31 out of 4,293. Not ranked: towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and towns without a Météo-France station within 30 km and 300 m of elevation.

Where do these figures come from?

They are Météo-France climate normals (30-year averages), recorded at the weather station closest to the town hall, no more than 30 km away and within 300 m of elevation: towns linked to the same station share the same value and are tied. Towns without a station close enough are not ranked. Only cities with 20,000 or more inhabitants are ranked here; towns with 2,000 or more inhabitants appear in the sunniest cities ranking.