VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Reykjavik or Siem Reap?

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
  • getting around

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

Choose Siem Reap for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Siem Reap’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, Siem Reap 5: Reykjavik leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Siem Reap 45: Siem Reap leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 63 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Siem Reap 42: Reykjavik leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Siem Reap 40: Reykjavik leads by 52 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Siem Reap 35: Reykjavik leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Siem Reap 30: Reykjavik leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Siem Reap 38: Siem Reap leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 82 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Siem Reap 32: Reykjavik leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Siem Reap 60: Reykjavik leads by 28 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Siem Reap.

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.

Siem Reap
Best match
47match

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

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 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

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikSiem Reap

Where the figures come from

Siem Reap has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikSiem Reap
Official languageIcelandicKhmer
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC+7
Emergency number112Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation8 m18 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikSiem Reap
City population138,772147,866
People per km²569-
Museums within 10 km236
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 Siem Reap 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.