VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds, Sapporo
SapporoThe old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Sapporo by Feri88, CC BY 3.0, cropped.

Reykjavik or Sapporo?

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
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Sapporo for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Sapporo’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, Sapporo 28: Sapporo leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 38 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Sapporo 40: Sapporo leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Sapporo 62: Sapporo leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Sapporo 86: Reykjavik leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Sapporo 64: Sapporo leads by 29 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Sapporo 72: Sapporo leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Sapporo 58: Sapporo leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Sapporo 60: Sapporo leads by 54 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Sapporo 44: Reykjavik leads by 1 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Sapporo 80: Reykjavik leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Reykjavik
44match

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

Sapporo
Best match
63match

Wins on prices and food and drink 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

Sapporo in July

25 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
91 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
19 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikSapporo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Sapporo: 1991-2020 normals, Sapporo (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikSapporo
Official languageIcelandicJapanese
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Yen (JPY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTCUTC+9
Emergency number112Police 110, fire 119
Elevation8 m5 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsNew Chitose Airport (CTS)42 km from centre42 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikSapporo
City population138,7721,959,313
People per km²5691,747
Museums within 10 km2333
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone1 month

Where else could you go?

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