Things to do in Nairobi
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Nairobi
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Long dry season, best overall, peak Jul to Sep, cool dry and clear with the best game viewing.
Short dry season, hotter, green and excellent value, with fewer crowds than Jul to Sep.
Long rains, heaviest in April, with muddy tracks, gorge closures and the worst traffic.
Short rains, mostly afternoon showers easing by mid Dec, game viewing stays decent.
What's on
- Magical Kenya Open usually Feb-Mar
DP World Tour golf at Muthaiga Golf Club.
- WRC Safari Rally Kenya March
Held in March in recent editions, based around Naivasha, check the year's dates.
- Safari Sevens October
Rugby sevens tournament in Nairobi.
- Nairobi Restaurant Week late Jan / early Feb
EatOut Kenya showcase, a good time to eat the top list for less.
- Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon usually late Oct
City marathon, usually held in late October.
- Jamhuri Day 12 December
National holiday with parades, festive season prices rise from mid Dec.
Best things to do in Nairobi
Nairobi National Park
A full national park with lions, rhino and giraffe against the city skyline, best on a dawn game drive.
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Orphan elephants at their 11am mud bath and feeding, with keepers telling each calf rescue story.
Giraffe Centre
Hand feed endangered Rothschild giraffes from a raised platform in indigenous forest.
Nairobi National Museum
The best single orientation to Kenya, from hominid fossils to history, art and gardens.
Karen Blixen Museum
The Out of Africa farmhouse where Karen Blixen lived, set in gardens below the Ngong Hills.
Bomas of Kenya
Traditional homesteads from Kenyan peoples plus a high energy dance and music show.
Maasai Market
Rotating open air market for beadwork, soapstone, kikoys and carvings if you haggle politely.
Kenyatta International Convention Centre
The rooftop helipad gives the best open air 360 degree panorama across the whole city.
Where to stay in Nairobi
Westlands
first trip, all-round base
Entertainment and eating district with malls, restaurants and hotels at every level, busy and lit into the evening.
Karen / Langata
wildlife circuit and calm
Leafy and green by the park gates, Sheldrick and the Giraffe Centre, but far from town in bad traffic.
Gigiri / Runda
safest-feeling, diplomatic quarter
UN and embassy quarter around Village Market, heavily guarded, quiet and green, but a bubble.
Kilimani / Kileleshwa / Lavington
value and longer stays
Central residential area full of serviced apartments and mid range hotels, quieter and more local than Westlands.
Upper Hill / CBD fringe
business-functional stays
Grand hotels with quick Expressway airport access, fine if the hotel is the base and you Uber door to door.
Think twice about
- Central CBD
Downtown, River Road and the Tom Mboya and Moi Avenue core empties and turns risky after dark, with pickpocketing and phone snatching.
- Eastleigh
A frenetic trading district for a guided daytime trip with a local, not a hotel base, with few visitor hotels and heavy congestion.
- Eastlands and the informal settlements
Eastlands estates, Mathare, Kibera and Huruma are where violent crime is concentrated and visitors have no infrastructure. Never self guide.
- Mombasa Road / airport-corridor industrial strip and Syokimau
Functional and traffic choked beyond an airport night, with nothing to walk to and risky highway interchanges at night.
Best restaurants in Nairobi
The Talisman
Garden restaurant and the consensus top table, famous for feta and coriander samosas.
Cultiva Farm Kenya
A working farm serving an ever changing menu from what it grows on site.
INTI - A Nikkei Experience
Japanese Peruvian Nikkei on a Westlands rooftop, ceviche and wagyu above the city.
Carnivore
All you can eat grilled meats carved off Maasai swords until you lower your flag.
About Thyme
A leafy garden hideaway in Westlands for lunch under trees or a quiet romantic dinner.
Ankole Grill
Stylish African owned grill cooking continental dishes through an African lens.
Hero
A speakeasy style restaurant bar with serious cocktails and Japanese leaning small plates.
Mawimbi
Coastal Kenyan seafood done as fine dining, the city pick where seafood is taken seriously.
Outdoor things to do in Nairobi
Karura Forest
Indigenous forest inside the city with marked trails, a waterfall, caves and bike rental.
Hell's Gate National Park
Cycle or walk among zebra and giraffe in a predator free park of red cliffs and a gorge.
Lake Naivasha
Boat rides past hippos and fish eagles, usually paired with Hell's Gate and Crescent Island.
Crescent Island
A walking safari on an island in Lake Naivasha after the boat ride across.
Ngong Hills
A guided ridge walk over seven green humps along the edge of the Rift Valley.
Mount Longonot
A steep volcano climb to a crater rim with Rift views the whole way up.
Muthaiga Golf Club
The championship course and host of the Magical Kenya Open, with water across parkland.
Karen Country Club
The prettiest round in Nairobi, on Karen Blixen's former coffee estate below the Ngong Hills.
Best hotels in Nairobi
Giraffe Manor
A 1930s manor where Rothschild giraffes put their heads through the breakfast room windows.
Hemingways Nairobi
Large plantation style suites between the park and the Ngong Hills, with spa and pool.
Tribe Hotel
Contemporary African design hotel attached to Village Market, with rooftop and spa.
Sankara Nairobi, Autograph Collection
Westlands flagship with a rooftop pool and bar in the middle of the eating district.
The Social House
Small arty boutique hotel with in house restaurants and bars that locals actually use.
Villa Rosa Kempinski
Big formal full service city hotel with Italian dining and a rooftop restaurant.
Fairview Hotel
Family run garden hotel with country calm five minutes from the CBD without being in it.
PrideInn Azure Hotel
Full service four star Westlands value hotel with pool, at about half flagship rates.
Is Nairobi expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | KES 8,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | KES 19,000 a person |
| Splurge | KES 45,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Nairobi National Park: a few days ahead
- Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: weeks ahead
- Hell's Gate National Park: a few days ahead
- Lake Naivasha: a few days ahead
- Crescent Island: a few days ahead
- Muthaiga Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Karen Country Club: a few days ahead
- Royal Nairobi Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Reserve the Sheldrick 11am slot online as soon as dates are known.
- Buy Nairobi National Park KWS entry via eCitizen before a dawn drive.
- Book Giraffe Manor 12 to 18 months ahead for peak dates.
- Book Talisman, Cultiva, INTI and Carnivore days to a week ahead for Friday to Sunday.
- Apply for the Kenya eTA online at least 72 hours before travel, on the official site only.
Is Nairobi safe?
- Phone snatching is the top visitor crime, never walk with a phone in hand or use it by an open car window.
- Pickpocketing and distraction scams cluster in the CBD, bus stages and crowded markets.
- After dark use busy lit places and Uber between them, everywhere, with no exceptions.
- Give the CBD a wide berth on a day your hotel flags a protest or demonstration.
- Drink bottled or filtered water, and expect bag and car checks at mall entrances.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
Nairobi travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Premium Kibera tours from non community operators where fees do not stay local.
- The CBD Maasai Market edition at first prices and with your phone out.
- Carnivore sold as eating wild game, the exotic meats are farmed and availability varies.
- Any third party selling Giraffe Manor day access, there is no casual day visit for non guests.
- Doing Amboseli, Nairobi National Park and the Karen circuit all in two days.
Getting around Nairobi: public transport and more
- Uber and Bolt are the system, cheap and plentiful, and the safe choice at all hours.
- Never walk after dark anywhere, and avoid walking even by day in the CBD core.
- Do not use matatus or boda boda motorcycle taxis as a visitor.
- Use the Nairobi Expressway from JKIA, 20 to 30 minutes outside rush hour.
- Cluster Karen sights together and Westlands sights together, never cross town at 5pm.
Who Nairobi suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Nairobi your trip
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