VacationSelector
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Cusco 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 Cusco for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • families
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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. Cusco 3, Nairobi 4: Nairobi leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Cusco 56, Nairobi 48: Cusco leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Cusco 81, Nairobi 35: Cusco leads by 46 points.
Nightlife. Cusco 42, Nairobi 58: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cusco 86, Nairobi 84: Cusco leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Cusco 78, Nairobi 28: Cusco leads by 50 points.
Good for families. Cusco 10, Nairobi 55: Nairobi leads by 45 points.
Getting around. Cusco 48, Nairobi 20: Cusco leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Cusco 52, Nairobi 45: Cusco leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Cusco 73, Nairobi 60: Cusco leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cusco 30, Nairobi 35: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cusco 33, Nairobi 25: Cusco leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Cusco
Best match
49match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

Wins on families 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.

Cusco in July

20 °Cdaytime high
1 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
11 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
CuscoNairobi

Where the figures come from

Cusco's station stands 151 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. Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCuscoNairobi
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, QuechuaEnglish, Swahili
CurrencySol (PEN)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+3
Emergency number111 or 911Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation3,399 m1,661 m
Main airportAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureCuscoNairobi
City population428,4505,545,000
People per km²-7,967
Museums within 10 km114
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cusco 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). 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.