VacationSelector
The Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
HanoiThe Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Hanoi by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Hanoi 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 Hanoi for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • nightlife

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. Hanoi 6, Nairobi 4: Hanoi leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Hanoi 85, Nairobi 48: Hanoi leads by 37 points.
Culture & sights. Hanoi 72, Nairobi 35: Hanoi leads by 37 points.
Nightlife. Hanoi 50, Nairobi 58: Nairobi leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hanoi 52, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 32 points.
Day trips. Hanoi 58, Nairobi 28: Hanoi leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Hanoi 35, Nairobi 55: Nairobi leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Hanoi 36, Nairobi 20: Hanoi leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Hanoi 50, Nairobi 45: Hanoi leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Hanoi 98, Nairobi 60: Hanoi leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hanoi 40, Nairobi 35: Hanoi leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hanoi 46, Nairobi 25: Hanoi leads by 21 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hanoi and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Hanoi
Best match
52match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Hanoi in July

34 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
311 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
13 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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
HanoiNairobi

Where the figures come from

Hanoi's sunshine is measured 86 km from the centre, at Phu Lien.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hanoi: 1991-2020 normals, Ha Noi (4.4 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHanoiNairobi
Official languageVietnameseEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyDong (VND)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsACFG220 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+3
Emergency numberPolice 113, ambulance 115, fire 114Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation10 m1,661 m
Main airportNoi Bai International Airport (HAN)22 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-10 days

By the numbers

MeasureHanoiNairobi
City population8,717,6005,545,000
People per km²2,5957,967
Museums within 10 km144
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hanoi 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.