VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The British Columbia Parliament Buildings, Victoria
VictoriaThe British Columbia Parliament Buildings

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Victoria by Guilice, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Reykjavik or Victoria?

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
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Victoria for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Victoria’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, Victoria 28: Victoria leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Victoria 50: Victoria leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Victoria 42: Victoria leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Victoria 30: Reykjavik leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Victoria 77: Reykjavik leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Victoria 54: Victoria leads by 19 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Victoria 62: Victoria leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Victoria 60: Victoria leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Victoria 40: Victoria leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Victoria 34: Victoria leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Victoria 40: Reykjavik leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Victoria 48: Reykjavik leads by 40 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Victoria.

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.

Victoria
Best match
47match

Wins on prices and day trips 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

Victoria in July

21 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
11 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikVictoria

Where the figures come from

Victoria's sunshine is measured 87 km from the centre, at Vancouver International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Victoria: 1991-2020 normals, Victoria Gonzales CS (3.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikVictoria
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 m23 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsVictoria International Airport (YYJ)25 km from centre16 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikVictoria
City population138,77291,867
People per km²5694,711
Museums within 10 km236
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 Victoria 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.