VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Amsterdam 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 Amsterdam for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • shopping

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

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. Amsterdam 25, Reykjavik 12: Amsterdam leads by 13 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Reykjavik 42: Amsterdam leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Reykjavik 25: Amsterdam leads by 57 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Reykjavik 45: Amsterdam leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 45 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Reykjavik 35: Amsterdam leads by 52 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Reykjavik 55: Amsterdam leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Reykjavik 55: Amsterdam leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Reykjavik 25: Amsterdam leads by 43 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Reykjavik 6: Amsterdam leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Reykjavik 45: Amsterdam leads by 33 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 46 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on culture and sights and day trips 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.

Amsterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
84 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
16 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°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamReykjavik

Where the figures come from

Amsterdam 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.

Amsterdam's sunshine is measured 35 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamReykjavik
Official languageDutchIcelandic
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC
Emergency number112112
Elevation-2 m8 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamReykjavik
City population921,468138,772
People per km²4,208569
Museums within 10 km10123
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam 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.