VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Chicago 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 Chicago for

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • beaches

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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. Chicago 50, Nairobi 4: Chicago leads by 46 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Nairobi 48: Chicago leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Nairobi 35: Chicago leads by 43 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Nairobi 58: Chicago leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Nairobi 28: Chicago leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Nairobi 55: Chicago leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Nairobi 20: Chicago leads by 52 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Nairobi 45: Chicago leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Nairobi 60: Nairobi leads by 27 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Nairobi 35: Chicago leads by 47 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Nairobi 25: Chicago leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Chicago
Best match
62match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Chicago in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
102 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 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
ChicagoNairobi

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoNairobi
Official language-English, Swahili
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number911Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation179 m1,661 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoNairobi
City population2,746,3885,545,000
People per km²4,5297,967
Museums within 10 km444
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Chicago 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.