VacationSelector
The Campanile, Trinity College, Dublin
DublinThe Campanile, Trinity College
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Dublin by David Kernan, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Dublin 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 Dublin for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Dublin’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. Dublin 27, Reykjavik 12: Dublin leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Dublin 50, Reykjavik 42: Dublin leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Dublin 64, Reykjavik 25: Dublin leads by 39 points.
Nightlife. Dublin 62, Reykjavik 45: Dublin leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dublin 70, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Dublin 72, Reykjavik 35: Dublin leads by 37 points.
Good for families. Dublin 57, Reykjavik 55: Dublin leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Dublin 66, Reykjavik 55: Dublin leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Dublin 54, Reykjavik 25: Dublin leads by 29 points.
Affordability. Dublin 20, Reykjavik 6: Dublin leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dublin 65, Reykjavik 45: Dublin leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dublin 25, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 63 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dublin and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Dublin
Best match
53match

Wins on culture and sights 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.

Dublin in July

20 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
62 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
15 °Csea
17 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
DublinReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dublin: 1991-2020 normals, Dublin Airport (9.3 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDublinReykjavik
Official languageEnglish, IrishIcelandic
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsG230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC, UTC+1 in summerUTC
Emergency number112112
Elevation20 m8 m
Main airportDublin Airport (DUB)9 km from centre200 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureDublinReykjavik
City population592,713138,772
People per km²5,154569
Museums within 10 km4023
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dublin 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). 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.