🇮🇸 Iceland or 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Which one, honestly
Iceland leads on getting around and cities. Costa Rica leads on the sea.
A normal day costs about $190 in Iceland and $130 in Costa Rica.
Side by side
- 🇮🇸 Iceland🇨🇷 Costa Rica
- Jun, Jul, Aug, SepBest monthsJan, Feb, Mar, Dec
- $190A normal day$130
- 5h 40m to ReykjavikNonstop from New York5h 15m to San Jose
- Not the drawBeaches and seaVery good
- GoodCities and cultureNot the draw
- GoodFoodGood
- ExceptionalNature and hikingExceptional
- Not the drawValue for moneyNot the draw
- Very goodEasy to get aroundGood
- A hire car on the ring road, and a four wheel drive for the interiorGetting aroundA hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slow
- Nothing seasonally, but the highland roads are shut from roughly October to JuneWhen to avoidSeptember and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the year
Pick by what you want
🇮🇸 Choose Iceland if
you want landscape above everything else, and you have accepted in advance that it costs more than anywhere else here.
🇨🇷 Choose Costa Rica if
you want wildlife above everything else, cloud forest and two oceans in one small country, and you accept it costs more than its neighbours.
Full Iceland guide →Full Costa Rica guide →
And what the world thinks
Dead even. The next vote breaks the tie.
Compare something else
Written and checked by hand. Nothing here about visas or entry rules: those change often and depend on your passport, so check an official source.