VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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. Philadelphia 36, Reykjavik 12: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Reykjavik 42: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Reykjavik 25: Philadelphia leads by 47 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Reykjavik 45: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 40 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Reykjavik 35: Philadelphia leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Reykjavik 55: Philadelphia leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Reykjavik 55: Philadelphia leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Reykjavik 25: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Reykjavik 6: Philadelphia leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Reykjavik 45: Philadelphia leads by 27 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 62 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

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.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 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°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaReykjavik

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaReykjavik
Official language-Icelandic
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC
Emergency number911112
Elevation12 m8 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaReykjavik
City population1,603,797138,772
People per km²4,339569
Museums within 10 km5423
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 Philadelphia 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.