VacationSelector
The Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule, Munich
MunichThe Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Munich by 0xd1ma, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Munich 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 Munich for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Munich’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. Munich 28, Reykjavik 12: Munich leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Munich 62, Reykjavik 42: Munich leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Munich 79, Reykjavik 25: Munich leads by 54 points.
Nightlife. Munich 56, Reykjavik 45: Munich leads by 11 points.
Nature & outdoors. Munich 82, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Munich 86, Reykjavik 35: Munich leads by 51 points.
Good for families. Munich 78, Reykjavik 55: Munich leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Munich 86, Reykjavik 55: Munich leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Munich 72, Reykjavik 25: Munich leads by 47 points.
Affordability. Munich 32, Reykjavik 6: Munich leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Munich 84, Reykjavik 45: Munich leads by 39 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Munich 62, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 26 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Munich
Best match
67match

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.

Munich in July

25 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
119 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 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

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
MunichReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Munich: 1991-2020 normals, München (1.9 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMunichReykjavik
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
Elevation519 m8 m
Main airportMunich Airport (MUC)29 km from centre210 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureMunichReykjavik
City population1,505,036138,772
People per km²4,844569
Museums within 10 km7423
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 Munich 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.