VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Lyon 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 Lyon for

  • culture and sights
  • food and drink
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Lyon’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. Lyon and Reykjavik are level on 12.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Reykjavik 42: Lyon leads by 42 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Reykjavik 25: Lyon leads by 52 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Reykjavik 45: Lyon leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Reykjavik 35: Lyon leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Reykjavik 55: Lyon leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Reykjavik 55: Lyon leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Reykjavik 25: Lyon leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Reykjavik 6: Lyon leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Reykjavik 45: Lyon leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 48 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on culture and sights and food and drink 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.

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
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
LyonReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonReykjavik
Official languageFrenchIcelandic
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC
Emergency number112112
Elevation160 m8 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonReykjavik
City population519,127138,772
People per km²10,838569
Museums within 10 km4323
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
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 Lyon 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.