VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai 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 Chiang Mai for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • 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. Chiang Mai 6, Reykjavik 12: Reykjavik leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Reykjavik 42: Chiang Mai leads by 36 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Reykjavik 25: Chiang Mai leads by 40 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai and Reykjavik are level on 45.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 19 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Reykjavik 35: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai and Reykjavik are level on 55.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Reykjavik 55: Reykjavik leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Reykjavik 25: Chiang Mai leads by 37 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Reykjavik 6: Chiang Mai leads by 84 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Reykjavik 45: Reykjavik leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Chiang Mai
Best match
56match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 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
Chiang MaiReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiReykjavik
Official languageThaiIcelandic
CurrencyBaht (THB)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199112
Elevation310 m8 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiReykjavik
City population1,198,000138,772
People per km²2,958569
Museums within 10 km623
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 Chiang Mai 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.