VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The Viru Gate, Tallinn
TallinnThe Viru Gate

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Tallinn by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Reykjavik or Tallinn?

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
  • nightlife

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

Choose Tallinn for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Tallinn’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, Tallinn 28: Tallinn leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Tallinn 52: Tallinn leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Tallinn 68: Tallinn leads by 43 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Tallinn 44: Reykjavik leads by 1 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Tallinn 55: Reykjavik leads by 37 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Tallinn 58: Tallinn leads by 23 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Tallinn 60: Tallinn leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Tallinn 72: Tallinn leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Tallinn 40: Tallinn leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Tallinn 47: Tallinn leads by 41 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Tallinn 50: Tallinn leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Tallinn 50: Reykjavik leads by 38 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Tallinn.

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.

Tallinn
Best match
52match

Wins on culture and sights and prices 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

Tallinn in July

22 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-5°0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikTallinn

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Tallinn: 1991-2020 normals, Tallin / Harku (10.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikTallinn
Official languageIcelandicEstonian
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation8 m28 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsLennart Meri Tallinn Airport (TLL)6 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikTallinn
City population138,772457,572
People per km²5692,871
Museums within 10 km2316
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

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