VacationSelector
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Honolulu 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 Honolulu for

  • beaches
  • shopping
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • wellness
  • live music and the arts
  • 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. Honolulu 91, Reykjavik 12: Honolulu leads by 79 points.
Food & drink. Honolulu 70, Reykjavik 42: Honolulu leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Honolulu 55, Reykjavik 25: Honolulu leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Honolulu and Reykjavik are level on 45.
Nature & outdoors. Honolulu 88, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Honolulu 38, Reykjavik 35: Honolulu leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Honolulu 80, Reykjavik 55: Honolulu leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Honolulu 52, Reykjavik 55: Reykjavik leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Honolulu 60, Reykjavik 25: Honolulu leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Honolulu 15, Reykjavik 6: Honolulu leads by 9 points.
Live music & performing arts. Honolulu 40, Reykjavik 45: Reykjavik leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Honolulu 50, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 38 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Honolulu and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Honolulu
Best match
57match

Wins on beaches and shopping with your weighting.

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on wellness and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Honolulu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
26 °Csea
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

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
HonoluluReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHonoluluReykjavik
Official language-Icelandic
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-10UTC
Emergency number911112
Elevation12 m8 m
Main airportDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureHonoluluReykjavik
City population350,964138,772
People per km²1,981569
Museums within 10 km1223
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Honolulu 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.