VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Nairobi?

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 Amsterdam for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Nairobi’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. Amsterdam 25, Nairobi 4: Amsterdam leads by 21 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Nairobi 48: Amsterdam leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Nairobi 35: Amsterdam leads by 47 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Nairobi 58: Amsterdam leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 37 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Nairobi 28: Amsterdam leads by 59 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Nairobi 55: Amsterdam leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Nairobi 20: Amsterdam leads by 66 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Nairobi 45: Amsterdam leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Nairobi 60: Nairobi leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Nairobi 35: Amsterdam leads by 43 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Nairobi 25: Amsterdam leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Amsterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
84 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Nairobi in July

24 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
11 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamNairobi

Where the figures come from

Amsterdam has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Amsterdam's sunshine is measured 35 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamNairobi
Official languageDutchEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation-2 m1,661 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamNairobi
City population921,4685,545,000
People per km²4,2087,967
Museums within 10 km1014
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam or Nairobi 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.