🇮🇸 Iceland or 🇮🇹 Italy
And what the world thinks
Dead even. The next vote breaks the tie.
Which one, honestly
Iceland leads on nature. Italy leads on cities, food and the sea.
A normal day costs about $190 in Iceland and $170 in Italy.
Side by side
- 🇮🇸 Iceland🇮🇹 Italy
- Jun to SepBest monthsApr to May, Sep to Oct
- $190A normal day$170
- 5h 40m to ReykjavikNonstop from New York8h 45m to Rome
- Not the drawBeaches and seaGood
- GoodCities and cultureExceptional
- GoodFoodExceptional
- ExceptionalNature and hikingVery good
- Not the drawValue for moneyGood
- Very goodEasy to get aroundVery good
- A hire car on the ring road, and a four wheel drive for the interiorGetting aroundFast trains, genuinely excellent, book in advance
- Nothing seasonally, but the highland roads are shut from roughly October to JuneWhen to avoidThe middle of August, when the cities empty and half the good places shut
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 Italy if
you want three cities in ten days, you care about food and museums, and you would rather take a train than a ferry.
Full Iceland guide →Full Italy guide →
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.