VacationSelector
The Adelaide skyline and the footbridge over the River Torrens, Adelaide
AdelaideThe Adelaide skyline and the footbridge over the River Torrens
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Adelaide by Ardash Muradian, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Adelaide 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 Adelaide for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • food and drink

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife

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. Adelaide 68, Reykjavik 12: Adelaide leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Adelaide 72, Reykjavik 42: Adelaide leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Adelaide 48, Reykjavik 25: Adelaide leads by 23 points.
Nightlife. Adelaide 42, Reykjavik 45: Reykjavik leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Adelaide 66, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Adelaide 60, Reykjavik 35: Adelaide leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Adelaide 70, Reykjavik 55: Adelaide leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Adelaide 57, Reykjavik 55: Adelaide leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Adelaide 44, Reykjavik 25: Adelaide leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Adelaide 40, Reykjavik 6: Adelaide leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Adelaide 63, Reykjavik 45: Adelaide leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Adelaide 42, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 46 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Adelaide and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Adelaide
Best match
56match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Reykjavik
44match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Adelaide in July

16 °Cdaytime high
8 °Cnight-time low
72 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
AdelaideReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Adelaide: 1991-2020 normals, Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) (3.1 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAdelaideReykjavik
Official languageEnglishIcelandic
CurrencyAustralian Dollar (AUD)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9:30, UTC+10:30 in summerUTC
Emergency number000112
Elevation1 m8 m
Main airportAdelaide International Airport (ADL)6 km from centre35 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAdelaideReykjavik
City population1,387,290138,772
People per km²1,071569
Museums within 10 km1323
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Adelaide 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.