VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Reykjavik or Samarkand?

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 Reykjavik for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’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. Reykjavik 12, Samarkand 4: Reykjavik leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Samarkand 54: Samarkand leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 59 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Samarkand 14: Reykjavik leads by 31 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Samarkand 40: Reykjavik leads by 52 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 37 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Samarkand 30: Reykjavik leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Samarkand 42: Samarkand leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 74 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Samarkand 24: Reykjavik leads by 21 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Samarkand 32: Reykjavik leads by 56 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Samarkand.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Reykjavik
44match

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

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikSamarkand
Official languageIcelandicUzbek
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC+5
Emergency number112112
Elevation8 m702 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days-

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikSamarkand
City population138,772546,303
People per km²5695,058
Museums within 10 km2311
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Reykjavik or Samarkand 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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. 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.