VacationSelector
The Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket, Phuket
PhuketThe Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja

Photos: Phuket by Mussi Katz, CC0; Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License.

Phuket 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 Phuket for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nightlife

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

Choose Reykjavik for

  • getting around
  • 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. Phuket 90, Reykjavik 12: Phuket leads by 78 points.
Food & drink. Phuket 66, Reykjavik 42: Phuket leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Phuket 35, Reykjavik 25: Phuket leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Phuket 72, Reykjavik 45: Phuket leads by 27 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phuket 80, Reykjavik 92: Reykjavik leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Phuket 45, Reykjavik 35: Phuket leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Phuket 65, Reykjavik 55: Phuket leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Phuket 22, Reykjavik 55: Reykjavik leads by 33 points.
Shopping & style. Phuket 42, Reykjavik 25: Phuket leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Phuket 68, Reykjavik 6: Phuket leads by 62 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phuket 20, Reykjavik 45: Reykjavik leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phuket 82, Reykjavik 88: Reykjavik leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phuket and Reykjavik.

Your match

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

Phuket
Best match
57match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on getting around 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.

Phuket in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
287 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
30 °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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
PhuketReykjavik

Where the figures come from

Phuket's temperatures are measured 27 km from the centre, at Phuket Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phuket: 1991-2020 (rainfall 1961-1990) normals, Phuket Airport (26.9 km from centre). Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhuketReykjavik
Official languageThaiIcelandic
CurrencyBaht (THB)Iceland Krona (ISK)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199112
Elevation19 m8 m
Main airportPhuket International Airport (HKT)27 km from centre85 non-stop destinationsKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhuketReykjavik
City population77,610138,772
People per km²6,468569
Museums within 10 km223
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 Phuket or Reykjavik somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.