Chase the Sun, a free tool, scans hundreds of handpicked destinations across Britain and Ireland to find the ones with the best sunshine near you right now, and navigates you straight there. It aims to help families escape the house on sunny days without planning.
Hidden gems the tool knows
Dunluce Castle on the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland clings to a basalt outcrop above crashing Atlantic waves. It has featured in Game of Thrones. Chase the Sun will navigate to the clifftop car park.
Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean is so ancient and twisted that locals insist Tolkien drew on it for Middle Earth. The gnarled oak trees, mossy rocks and winding pathways feel otherworldly on a sunny afternoon.
More unusual destinations
Portmeirion looks like a Tuscan village dropped on the Welsh coast, with domes, campaniles, colonnades and pastel-painted buildings. It inspired The Prisoner in the 1960s.
Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales is a curving wall of pale limestone 260 feet high, carved by a waterfall that vanished at the end of the last ice age. The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye are crystal clear turquoise pools fed by waterfalls off the Black Cuillins.
How it works
Orford Ness in Suffolk is a shingle spit accessible only by National Trust ferry, littered with crumbling remains of top-secret Cold War weapons testing facilities. The tool ranks nearby destinations by sunshine forecast, factoring in travel time. It is free to download with no account required. A free tier gives a selection of nearby destinations each session. Premium, from under 10p a day, unlocks every destination and a five-day forecast.
Chase the Sun is free on Android via Google Play. Search 'Chase the Sun' or go to play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.chasethesun. iOS coming soon.
