VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Auckland 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 Auckland for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • food and drink

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • 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. Auckland 68, Reykjavik 12: Auckland leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Reykjavik 42: Auckland leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Reykjavik 25: Auckland leads by 19 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Reykjavik 45: Reykjavik leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 9 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Reykjavik 35: Auckland leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Reykjavik 55: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Reykjavik 55: Reykjavik leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Reykjavik 25: Auckland leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Reykjavik 6: Auckland leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland and Reykjavik are level on 45.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 43 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on wellness and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine 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°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandReykjavik

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandReykjavik
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriIcelandic
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC
Emergency number111112
Elevation196 m8 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandReykjavik
City population1,470,100138,772
People per km²2,630569
Museums within 10 km1523
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 monthNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.