VacationSelector
The Elbphilharmonie from the water, Hamburg
HamburgThe Elbphilharmonie from the water
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Hamburg by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Hamburg 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 Hamburg for

  • shopping
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Hamburg’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. Hamburg 28, Reykjavik 12: Hamburg leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Hamburg 55, Reykjavik 42: Hamburg leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Hamburg 62, Reykjavik 25: Hamburg leads by 37 points.
Nightlife. Hamburg 76, Reykjavik 45: Hamburg leads by 31 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hamburg 52, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 40 points.
Day trips. Hamburg 70, Reykjavik 35: Hamburg leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Hamburg 74, Reykjavik 55: Hamburg leads by 19 points.
Getting around. Hamburg 80, Reykjavik 55: Hamburg leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Hamburg 65, Reykjavik 25: Hamburg leads by 40 points.
Affordability. Hamburg 38, Reykjavik 6: Hamburg leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hamburg 80, Reykjavik 45: Hamburg leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hamburg 44, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 44 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hamburg and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Hamburg
Best match
60match

Wins on shopping and culture and sights 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.

Hamburg in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
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°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
HamburgReykjavik

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

Before you go

MeasureHamburgReykjavik
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
Elevation6 m8 m
Main airportHamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM)9 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureHamburgReykjavik
City population1,869,473138,772
People per km²2,476569
Museums within 10 km7723
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Hamburg 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.