VacationSelector
The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
BerlinThe Brandenburg Gate
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Berlin by Claudia Solano, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Berlin 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 Berlin for

  • culture and sights
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

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. Berlin 38, Reykjavik 12: Berlin leads by 26 points.
Food & drink. Berlin 66, Reykjavik 42: Berlin leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Berlin 86, Reykjavik 25: Berlin leads by 61 points.
Nightlife. Berlin 98, Reykjavik 45: Berlin leads by 53 points.
Nature & outdoors. Berlin 50, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 42 points.
Day trips. Berlin 66, Reykjavik 35: Berlin leads by 31 points.
Good for families. Berlin 76, Reykjavik 55: Berlin leads by 21 points.
Getting around. Berlin 82, Reykjavik 55: Berlin leads by 27 points.
Shopping & style. Berlin 68, Reykjavik 25: Berlin leads by 43 points.
Affordability. Berlin 48, Reykjavik 6: Berlin leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Berlin 90, Reykjavik 45: Berlin leads by 45 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Berlin 55, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 33 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Berlin
Best match
69match

Wins on culture and sights and nightlife 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.

Berlin in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
76 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
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

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
BerlinReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Berlin: 1991-2020 normals, Berlin / Alexanderplatz (0.9 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBerlinReykjavik
Official languageGermanIcelandic
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC
Emergency number112112
Elevation34 m8 m
Main airportBerlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)19 km from centre161 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureBerlinReykjavik
City population3,700,577138,772
People per km²4,153569
Museums within 10 km15723
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Berlin 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. 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.