VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
Playa Tamarindo, Tamarindo
TamarindoPlaya Tamarindo

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Tamarindo by Jarle Naustvik, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Reykjavik or Tamarindo?

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 Tamarindo for

  • beaches
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Tamarindo’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, Tamarindo 85: Tamarindo leads by 73 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Tamarindo 38: Reykjavik leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Tamarindo 5: Reykjavik leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik and Tamarindo are level on 45.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Tamarindo 76: Reykjavik leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Tamarindo 28: Reykjavik leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik and Tamarindo are level on 55.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Tamarindo 32: Reykjavik leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Tamarindo 18: Reykjavik leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Tamarindo 36: Tamarindo leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Tamarindo 10: Reykjavik leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Tamarindo 45: Reykjavik leads by 43 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Tamarindo.

Your match

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

Reykjavik
Best match
44match

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

Tamarindo
39match

Wins on beaches 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

Tamarindo in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
129 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikTamarindo

Where the figures come from

Tamarindo's temperatures are measured 54 km from the centre, at Liberia.

Tamarindo has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Tamarindo: 1991-2020 normals, Liberia (53.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikTamarindo
Official languageIcelandicSpanish
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation8 m27 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsDaniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR)43 km from centre30 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikTamarindo
City population138,7727,132
People per km²56957
Museums within 10 km230
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 Tamarindo 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.