VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz, Vienna
ViennaThe Hofburg and Heldenplatz

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Vienna by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, cropped.

Reykjavik or Vienna?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

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

Choose Vienna for

  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Vienna’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, Vienna 27: Vienna leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Vienna 68: Vienna leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Vienna 89: Vienna leads by 64 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Vienna 50: Vienna leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Vienna 62: Reykjavik leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Vienna 74: Vienna leads by 39 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Vienna 77: Vienna leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Vienna 90: Vienna leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Vienna 62: Vienna leads by 37 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Vienna 44: Vienna leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Vienna 96: Vienna leads by 51 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Vienna 58: Reykjavik leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Vienna.

Your match

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

Reykjavik
44match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

Vienna
Best match
66match

Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts 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

Vienna in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikVienna

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Vienna: 1991-2020 normals, Wien / Hohe Warte (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikVienna
Official languageIcelandicGerman, Austrian Sign Language
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation8 m151 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsVienna International Airport (VIE)18 km from centre202 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikVienna
City population138,7722,028,289
People per km²5694,890
Museums within 10 km23152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

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