Nairobi

The only capital in the world with a national park, where you can feed giraffes and visit the baby elephant orphanage, and the starting point for safaris in East Africa.

Nairobi is the capital of Kenya and one of the largest cities in East Africa. At an elevation of about 1,700 m, it grew up around a station on the Uganda Railway in 1899, and its name comes from the Maasai phrase meaning "cool water." It is the only capital in the world with a national park on the edge of the city, and also the starting point for safaris to the Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Naivasha and beyond. Because of the altitude, the weather is mild all year, with daytime temperatures of about 20–26°C and cool mornings and evenings. June to October and January to February are dry seasons and the best time for safaris; March to May is the long rains and November to December the short rains, when roads are muddy but there are fewer visitors. Areas to explore: the southern Langata–Karen area is the highlight, and a national park safari, the Giraffe Centre, the elephant orphanage (open daily 11:00–12:00, online booking required), the Karen Blixen Museum, Kazuri bead workshop, Bomas of Kenya cultural village and the Carnivore restaurant can fill 1–2 days; the city center has the KICC viewing deck, the National Museum, the Railway Museum, the City Market, mosques and churches; the northern suburbs have Karura Forest and Paradise Lost, and day trips include the Limuru tea estates to the northwest, the Ngong Hills to the southwest and Thika's Fourteen Falls to the northeast. Getting there: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is about 18 km from the city center; traffic in town is congested, so we recommend Uber/Bolt or a hired car, and matatus are not recommended. We suggest staying 2–3 days. Note: national parks and KWS sites accept only electronic payment (eCitizen/credit card); don't walk in the city center at night or display valuables; plastic bags are banned in Kenya; an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) must be applied for before entry.

Top sights

• Giraffe Centre, Nairobi – A Rothschild giraffe conservation center in Karen, Nairobi, where you can feed giraffes by hand from a raised platform and even get a giraf…
• Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage – An orphanage for baby elephants on the edge of Nairobi National Park. Visitors can spend one hour each day watching keepers bottle-feed orp…
• Nairobi National Park – A savanna park just 7 km from the city center, where you can photograph rhinos, giraffes and lions against the Nairobi skyline.
• Karen Blixen Museum – The coffee-farm home of the author of “Out of Africa,” a colonial-era farmhouse at the foot of the Ngong Hills, kept with its original furn…
• Nairobi National Museum – East Africa's most important natural history and cultural museum, with human origin fossils, bird specimens and Kenyan history.
• Bomas of Kenya – A collection of traditional village homesteads from Kenya's many ethnic groups, where afternoon performances in the round theatre feature t…
• Maasai Market – An open-air craft market that rotates through different shopping centres each day, selling Maasai beadwork, wood carvings, fabrics and soap…
• Kazuri Beads – A handmade ceramic bead workshop in Karen that employs single mothers to hand-shape and paint beads. Free tours show the entire process.
• Nairobi Safari Walk & Animal Orphanage – A boardwalk zoo beside the national park's main gate, where you can get close to white rhinos, cheetahs and orphaned wild animals.
• Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) – Nairobi's landmark cylindrical tower. Ride to the helipad on the roof for a 360-degree view over the city and the distant national park.
• Karura Forest – A 1,000-hectare city forest north of the centre, with waterfalls, Mau Mau rebel caves and cycling trails. It is the place where a Nobel lau…
• Ngong Hills – Four linked peaks on the rim of the Great Rift Valley. Hike the ridge with Nairobi on one side and the Rift Valley plunging away on the oth…
• Nairobi Railway Museum – A railway museum showing the history of the Uganda Railway, the 'Lunatic Express.' Visitors can climb aboard steam locomotives and old carr…
• Jamia Mosque, Nairobi – A silver-domed mosque completed in 1925, the most striking Islamic building in central Nairobi.
• Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Family – One of East Africa's largest Catholic cathedrals, with a modern nave that holds several thousand people. Two popes have visited.
• Nairobi Gallery – A former colonial-era government building from 1913, now a gallery at Kilometre Zero, showcasing traditional and contemporary African art.
• Oloolua Nature Trail – A native forest trail in Karen that follows a river to a small waterfall and a cave where Mau Mau fighters once hid; an easy hike.
• Paradise Lost – A lake and waterfall set in a coffee estate in Kiambu, where a path leads behind the falls to a prehistoric cave; a popular weekend escape…
• Nairobi Arboretum – A city arboretum planted in 1907, with over 300 tree species and walking trails; a quiet green lung right beside the city centre.
• Carnivore Restaurant – A long-established restaurant famous for meat grilled on long skewers, where waiters carve from them at your table until you signal you are…
• Kiambethu Tea Farm – A family-run tea farm on the Limuru Highlands, first planted in 1910, where you can tour the tea fields, taste tea, and have lunch in the g…
• Fourteen Falls – Fourteen side-by-side waterfalls on the Athi River near Thika; you can take a small boat to the foot of the falls, and they are often visit…
• Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park – An isolated mountain national park known to the Kikuyu as 'Buffalo Mountain,' where you can hike or drive to the summit to see herds of Afr…
• Uhuru Gardens National Monument & Museum – Where Kenya's national flag was first raised at independence in 1963; redeveloped in 2022 as an independence memorial park and museum.
• August 7th Memorial Park – A memorial park on the site of the 1998 US Embassy bombing in Nairobi, with a wall inscribed with the names of more than 200 victims.
• Nairobi City Market – A vaulted market dating from the 1930s, known for flowers, fruit, beadwork and wood carvings; a good place to haggle for souvenirs.

Where to eat

• Mama Oliech Restaurant – Nairobi's most highly recommended classic fried fish joint, famous for its whole deep-fried tilapia served with ugali a…
• The Carnivore – A famous barbecue restaurant opened in 1980, where Maasai-sword skewers of meat are roasted over a charcoal pit and car…
• Kosewe Ranalo Foods – A bustling Luo restaurant on Kimathi Street in the city center, offering generous portions and packed with local office…
• Nyama Mama (Delta Branch) – A modern Kenyan diner in Westlands that turns ugali into fries, offering an easy and fun introduction to local cuisine.
• The Talisman – A garden restaurant in Karen, set in the former home of a wildlife filmmaker, blending African, European, and Asian fla…
• INTI - A Nikkei Experience – A Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant on the 20th floor of a Westlands high-rise, offering panoramic views of the city…

Itineraries

• Nairobi to Maasai Mara Round-Trip – Drive from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara, stay near the Talek Gate, and spend two nights searching for big cats and wildeb…
• Mara, Rift Valley Lakes & Amboseli – A classic four-destination Kenyan loop: Maasai Mara, Nakuru, Naivasha, and Amboseli.
• Self-Drive from Samburu to Maasai Mara – Head south from the semi-arid northern reserves through Laikipia and the Rift Valley, ending in the Maasai Mara.
• Mount Kenya: Sirimon to Chogoria Traverse – Traverse Mount Kenya from the northwest slope to the eastern slope, summiting Point Lenana at 4,985 meters.
• Kenya & Tanzania Cross-Border Loop – Depart from Nairobi on a grand loop connecting the Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Amboseli.