A photon travels at the speed of light between collisions, but in solar core plasma packed at 150 times the density of water, it bounces off an electron every ~0.1 millimeters. Each scatter randomizes direction completely.
If photons escaped instantaneously like in vacuum (2.3 seconds from center to surface), the Sun would release its gravitational and fusion binding energy in a catastrophic flash. Radiative diffusion acts as the Sun's cosmic thermostat.
Once a photon breaks free from the photosphere into interplanetary vacuum, the mean free path jumps to astronomical scales. It sweeps across the entire 1 AU void to Earth in 8 minutes and 19 seconds.