VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Reykjavik or San Jose, Costa Rica?

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
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’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 and San Jose, Costa Rica are level on 12.
Food & drink. Reykjavik and San Jose, Costa Rica are level on 42.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: Reykjavik leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: Reykjavik leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: Reykjavik leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Reykjavik leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Reykjavik leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Reykjavik leads by 60 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Reykjavik
Best match
44match

Wins on wellness and getting around with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on prices and day trips 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

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languageIcelandicSpanish
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation8 m1,161 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population138,772335,007
People per km²5697,511
Museums within 10 km239
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 San Jose, Costa Rica 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.