Which side of the plane should I sit on to avoid the sun from Atlanta (ATL) to Tampa (TPA)?
On this route the shady side depends on the date as well as the time of day. Add a departure date to see yours.
Which side of the plane should I sit on to avoid the sun from Atlanta (ATL) to Tampa (TPA)?
On this route the shady side depends on the date as well as the time of day. Add a departure date to see yours.
Which side of the plane should I sit on to avoid the sun from Atlanta (ATL) to Tampa (TPA)?
On this route the shady side depends on the date as well as the time of day. Add a departure date to see yours.
Atlanta → Tampa
A short flight within United States. Your watch stays put on arrival.
Capital of the New South
Atlanta sprawls across a wooded plateau in north Georgia, a fast-growing, low-rise metro where the suburbs run far past the core. It is a driving city: traffic on the perimeter highway is a daily fact of life, and rail covers only part of the region. Downtown holds the business district and civil-rights history, but much of the city lives in scattered neighborhoods and edge towns, so distances are large and the car usually wins.
Surrounding hubs
| 936 km / 582 mi | |
| 958 km / 595 mi | |
| 365 km / 227 mi |
The Cigar City
Tampa sits on its own bay on Florida's Gulf coast, a sprawling, low-rise metro of suburbs and waterfront, with the beaches of St. Petersburg and Clearwater across the water rather than in the city itself. Like most Florida cities, it is built for the car; transit is limited and rarely competitive with driving. Heat, humidity, and a real hurricane season run from late spring into autumn. Tampa's 'Cigar City' identity comes from Ybor City, the historic cigar-making district shaped by Cuban, Spanish, and Italian immigrant communities.
Nearby airports
| 130 km / 81 mi |
Surrounding hubs
| 887 km / 551 mi | |
| 1,265 km / 786 mi | |
| 317 km / 197 mi |
Find out which side of the plane to sit on.
Pick your airports, set your departure time, and you're done.
We calculate the sun's position based on your flight path and departure time, then tell you which side of the plane gets direct sun and which stays shaded. No guessing, just math.
Enter your flight
Pick your departure and arrival airports and set your departure time at the departure airport. FlightSide estimates the duration and you can adjust it if you know the exact schedule.
We track the sun along your route
Your flight path is broken into hundreds of points. At each one we check where the sun is and which side of the plane it faces.
You get a recommendation
Which side of the plane to sit on, left or right, depending on whether you'd rather avoid the sun or enjoy it. The percentages and the map are there if you want to see why.
Want to go deeper? Accuracy, edge cases, polar routes — see the FAQ →
Notes from the product.
Small updates, route observations, and clearer explanations for how the app keeps evolving.
Over the top, and other ways to fly
FlightSide now has Explore, a map of popular flights grouped by the path they fly, and a Guide with step-by-step walkthroughs for checking, sharing and using FlightSide offline.
Type less, wait less, wonder more
Airport search now understands metro codes and old city names, FlightSide loads noticeably faster, and a new Feeling lucky button chooses a flight for anyone without one in mind.
A closer look at the route, not just the seat
FlightSide now shows the two cities and key details about the flight alongside the seat recommendation: confirm you picked the right airports, read the time change off two clocks, and check the return leg.