VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Reykjavik or Santa Marta?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 58 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Santa Marta 44: Santa Marta leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Santa Marta 34: Santa Marta leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Santa Marta 50: Santa Marta leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Santa Marta 84: Reykjavik leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Santa Marta 38: Santa Marta leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Santa Marta 40: Reykjavik leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Santa Marta 38: Reykjavik leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Santa Marta 27: Santa Marta leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Santa Marta 80: Santa Marta leads by 74 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Santa Marta 17: Reykjavik leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Santa Marta 30: Reykjavik leads by 58 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on wellness and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Santa Marta
46match

Wins on prices and beaches 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

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikSanta Marta
Official languageIcelandicSpanish
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC-5
Emergency number112123
Elevation8 m8 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikSanta Marta
City population138,772505,915
People per km²5691,723
Museums within 10 km233
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Reykjavik or Santa Marta 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.