VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Auckland 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 Auckland for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • getting around

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • 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. Auckland 68, Nairobi 4: Auckland leads by 64 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Nairobi 48: Auckland leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Nairobi 35: Auckland leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Nairobi 58: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 1 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Nairobi 28: Auckland leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Nairobi 55: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Nairobi 20: Auckland leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland and Nairobi are level on 45.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Nairobi 60: Nairobi leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Nairobi 35: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Nairobi 25: Auckland leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on beaches and day trips with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 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
AucklandNairobi

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandNairobi
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number111Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation196 m1,661 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandNairobi
City population1,470,1005,545,000
People per km²2,6307,967
Museums within 10 km154
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.

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.