VacationSelector
The Explanada de España, Alicante
AlicanteThe Explanada de España
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Alicante by Emilio Sánchez Hernández, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Alicante 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 Alicante for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • day trips

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

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. Alicante 82, Reykjavik 12: Alicante leads by 70 points.
Food & drink. Alicante 67, Reykjavik 42: Alicante leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Alicante 46, Reykjavik 25: Alicante leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Alicante 60, Reykjavik 45: Alicante leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Alicante 63, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 29 points.
Day trips. Alicante 72, Reykjavik 35: Alicante leads by 37 points.
Good for families. Alicante 68, Reykjavik 55: Alicante leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Alicante 66, Reykjavik 55: Alicante leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Alicante 44, Reykjavik 25: Alicante leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Alicante 60, Reykjavik 6: Alicante leads by 54 points.
Live music & performing arts. Alicante 37, Reykjavik 45: Reykjavik leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Alicante 40, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 48 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Alicante and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Alicante
Best match
59match

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.

Alicante in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
3 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
AlicanteReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Alicante: 1991-2020 normals, Alicante (2.8 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlicanteReykjavik
Official languageSpanishIcelandic
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC
Emergency number112112
Elevation3 m8 m
Main airportAlicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC)10 km from centre126 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlicanteReykjavik
City population366,221138,772
People per km²1,819569
Museums within 10 km823
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Alicante 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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.