VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Manila 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 Manila for

  • prices
  • shopping
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • getting around

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. Manila and Reykjavik are level on 12.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Reykjavik 42: Manila leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Reykjavik 25: Manila leads by 29 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Reykjavik 45: Manila leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 52 points.
Day trips. Manila 42, Reykjavik 35: Manila leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Manila 42, Reykjavik 55: Reykjavik leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Reykjavik 55: Reykjavik leads by 29 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Reykjavik 25: Manila leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Reykjavik 6: Manila leads by 71 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Reykjavik 45: Manila leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila 40, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 48 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Manila
Best match
48match

Wins on prices and shopping with your weighting.

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °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

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaReykjavik
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, TaglishIcelandic
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC
Emergency number911112
Elevation9 m8 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureManilaReykjavik
City population1,902,590138,772
People per km²76,104569
Museums within 10 km2723
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Manila 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.