VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Chicago 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 Chicago for

  • culture and sights
  • shopping
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Chicago’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. Chicago 50, Reykjavik 12: Chicago leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Reykjavik 42: Chicago leads by 38 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Reykjavik 25: Chicago leads by 53 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Reykjavik 45: Chicago leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 44 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Reykjavik 35: Chicago leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Reykjavik 55: Chicago leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Reykjavik 55: Chicago leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Reykjavik 25: Chicago leads by 45 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Reykjavik 6: Chicago leads by 27 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Reykjavik 45: Chicago leads by 37 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 55 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Chicago
Best match
62match

Wins on culture and sights and shopping 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.

Chicago in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
102 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoReykjavik
Official language-Icelandic
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC
Emergency number911112
Elevation179 m8 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoReykjavik
City population2,746,388138,772
People per km²4,529569
Museums within 10 km4423
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Chicago 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.