VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
ValenciaThe City of Arts and Sciences

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Valencia by Francesco Ungaro, Pexels License.

Reykjavik or Valencia?

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

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

Choose Valencia for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Valencia’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, Valencia 78: Valencia leads by 66 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Valencia 74: Valencia leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Valencia 68: Valencia leads by 43 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Valencia 66: Valencia leads by 21 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Valencia 60: Reykjavik leads by 32 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Valencia 70: Valencia leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Valencia 75: Valencia leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Valencia 76: Valencia leads by 21 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Valencia 57: Valencia leads by 32 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Valencia 57: Valencia leads by 51 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Valencia 55: Valencia leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Valencia 42: Reykjavik leads by 46 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Valencia.

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.

Valencia
Best match
65match

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

Valencia in July

30 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
7 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikValencia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Valencia: 1991-2020 normals, Valencia (1.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikValencia
Official languageIcelandicSpanish
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation8 m15 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsValencia Airport (VLC)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikValencia
City population138,772840,792
People per km²5696,242
Museums within 10 km2345
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
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 Valencia 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.