VacationSelector
The city from Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik
ReykjavikThe city from Hallgrímskirkja
The Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington
WilmingtonThe Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Photos: Reykjavik by Atlantic Ambience, Pexels License; Wilmington by Unexpected Snacks, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Reykjavik or Wilmington?

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
  • getting around

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

Choose Wilmington for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Wilmington’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, Wilmington 73: Wilmington leads by 61 points.
Food & drink. Reykjavik 42, Wilmington 48: Wilmington leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Reykjavik 25, Wilmington 40: Wilmington leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Reykjavik 45, Wilmington 40: Reykjavik leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Reykjavik 92, Wilmington 58: Reykjavik leads by 34 points.
Day trips. Reykjavik 35, Wilmington 45: Wilmington leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Reykjavik 55, Wilmington 62: Wilmington leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Reykjavik 55, Wilmington 28: Reykjavik leads by 27 points.
Shopping & style. Reykjavik 25, Wilmington 33: Wilmington leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Reykjavik 6, Wilmington 42: Wilmington leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Reykjavik 45, Wilmington 40: Reykjavik leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Reykjavik 88, Wilmington 33: Reykjavik leads by 55 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Reykjavik and Wilmington.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Reykjavik
44match

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

Wilmington
45match

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

Wilmington in July

32 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
174 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ReykjavikWilmington

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Reykjavik: 1991-2020 normals, Reykjavik (2.3 km from centre). Wilmington: 1991-2020 normals, Wilmington / The Palms Mobile Home Park (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureReykjavikWilmington
Official languageIcelandic-
CurrencyIceland Krona (ISK)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTCUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation8 m9 m
Main airportKeflavik International Airport (KEF)37 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsWilmington International Airport (ILM)5 km from centre25 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureReykjavikWilmington
City population138,772115,451
People per km²569839
Museums within 10 km232
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Wilmington 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.