VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Chengdu 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 Chengdu for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • food and drink

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • 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. Chengdu 5, Nairobi 4: Chengdu leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Nairobi 48: Chengdu leads by 38 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Nairobi 35: Chengdu leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Nairobi 58: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Nairobi 28: Chengdu leads by 52 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Nairobi 55: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Nairobi 20: Chengdu leads by 54 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Nairobi 45: Chengdu leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Nairobi 60: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Nairobi 35: Chengdu leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Nairobi 25: Chengdu leads by 33 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

Wins on 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.

Chengdu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
177 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Nairobi in July

24 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
11 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduNairobi

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduNairobi
Official languagePutonghuaEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+3
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation500 m1,661 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduNairobi
City population20,937,7575,545,000
People per km²1,4567,967
Museums within 10 km104
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chengdu 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.