VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

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

Reykjavik or Vancouver?

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
  • nightlife

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

Choose Vancouver for

  • beaches
  • food and drink
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Vancouver’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, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Vancouver 42: Reykjavik leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Vancouver 45: Vancouver leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Vancouver 73: Vancouver leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Vancouver 55: Vancouver leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Vancouver 27: Vancouver leads by 21 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Vancouver 52: Vancouver leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Vancouver 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 Vancouver.

Your match

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

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on wellness and nightlife with your weighting.

Vancouver
Best match
56match

Wins on beaches and food and drink 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

Vancouver in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
42 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikVancouver

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikVancouver
Official languageIcelandicFrench, English
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation8 m2 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikVancouver
City population138,772662,248
People per km²5695,759
Museums within 10 km2326
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Vancouver 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.