VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Reykjavik or Shanghai?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • beaches

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • shopping
  • day trips
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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, Shanghai 10: Reykjavik leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 46 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Shanghai 72: Shanghai leads by 47 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 35 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Shanghai 25: Reykjavik leads by 67 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 55 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 57 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 49 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 21 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Shanghai 55: Reykjavik leads by 33 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Reykjavik
44match

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

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on shopping 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

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikShanghai
Official languageIcelandicPutonghua
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC+8
Emergency number112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation8 m4 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikShanghai
City population138,77224,870,895
People per km²5693,922
Museums within 10 km2345
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone5 months

Where else could you go?

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