VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
Valletta from the water, Valletta
VallettaValletta from the water

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Valletta by Pho Tomass, Pexels License.

Reykjavik or Valletta?

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
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Valletta for

  • beaches
  • culture and sights
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Valletta’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, Valletta 68: Valletta leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Valletta 55: Valletta leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 51 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Valletta 46: Valletta leads by 1 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Valletta 56: Reykjavik leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Valletta 58: Valletta leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Valletta 62: Valletta leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Valletta 38: Valletta leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Valletta 50: Valletta leads by 44 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Valletta 44: Reykjavik leads by 1 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Valletta 32: Reykjavik leads by 56 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Valletta.

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.

Valletta
Best match
55match

Wins on beaches 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

Valletta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikValletta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Valletta: 1991-2020 normals, Luqa (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikValletta
Official languageIcelandicEnglish, Maltese
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTCUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation8 m56 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsMalta International Airport (MLA)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikValletta
City population138,7725,197
People per km²5696,496
Museums within 10 km2316
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone6 months

Where else could you go?

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