VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Reykjavik?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Abu Dhabi for

  • beaches
  • culture and sights
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Abu Dhabi’s own page.

Choose Reykjavik for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Reykjavik’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Abu Dhabi 78, Reykjavik 12: Abu Dhabi leads by 66 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Reykjavik 42: Abu Dhabi leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Reykjavik 25: Abu Dhabi leads by 39 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Reykjavik 45: Reykjavik leads by 11 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 64 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Reykjavik 35: Abu Dhabi leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Reykjavik 55: Abu Dhabi leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Reykjavik 55: Reykjavik leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Reykjavik 25: Abu Dhabi leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Reykjavik 6: Abu Dhabi leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Reykjavik 45: Reykjavik leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 42 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Reykjavik.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Abu Dhabi
Best match
48match

Wins on beaches and culture and sights with your weighting.

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Abu Dhabi in July

43 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Reykjavik in July

15 °Cdaytime high
9 °Cnight-time low
50 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
11 °Csea
20 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiReykjavik

Where the figures come from

Abu Dhabi's temperatures are measured 26 km from the centre, at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Abu Dhabi has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Abu Dhabi: 1991-2020 normals, Abu Dhabi International Airport (25.7 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiReykjavik
Official languageArabicIcelandic
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC
Emergency number112112
Elevation14 m8 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiReykjavik
City population1,570,000138,772
People per km²1,615569
Museums within 10 km323
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Abu Dhabi or Reykjavik somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.