VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The White Tower from the promenade, Thessaloniki
ThessalonikiThe White Tower from the promenade

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Thessaloniki by Destinygreece, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Reykjavik or Thessaloniki?

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
  • families

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

Choose Thessaloniki for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Thessaloniki’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, Thessaloniki 55: Thessaloniki leads by 43 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Thessaloniki 77: Thessaloniki leads by 35 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Thessaloniki 73: Thessaloniki leads by 48 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Thessaloniki 76: Thessaloniki leads by 31 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Thessaloniki 66: Reykjavik leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Thessaloniki 74: Thessaloniki leads by 39 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Thessaloniki 50: Reykjavik leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Thessaloniki 60: Thessaloniki leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Thessaloniki 50: Thessaloniki leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 60 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Thessaloniki 52: Thessaloniki leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Thessaloniki 33: Reykjavik leads by 55 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Thessaloniki.

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.

Thessaloniki
Best match
61match

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

Thessaloniki in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikThessaloniki

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Thessaloniki: 1991-2020 normals, Thessaloniki Airport (14 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikThessaloniki
Official languageIcelandicGreek
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation8 m6 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsThessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG)14 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikThessaloniki
City population138,772309,617
People per km²56916,042
Museums within 10 km2332
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Thessaloniki 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.