VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Chengdu 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 Chengdu for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • food and drink

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

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. Chengdu 5, Reykjavik 12: Reykjavik leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Reykjavik 42: Chengdu leads by 44 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Reykjavik 25: Chengdu leads by 35 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Reykjavik 45: Chengdu leads by 23 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Reykjavik 35: Chengdu leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Reykjavik 55: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Reykjavik 55: Chengdu leads by 19 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Reykjavik 25: Chengdu leads by 39 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Reykjavik 6: Chengdu leads by 74 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Reykjavik 45: Chengdu leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on prices 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.

Chengdu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
177 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 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

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduReykjavik
Official languagePutonghuaIcelandic
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119112
Elevation500 m8 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduReykjavik
City population20,937,757138,772
People per km²1,456569
Museums within 10 km1023
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Chengdu 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.