VacationSelector
Senate Square and the statue of Alexander II, Helsinki
HelsinkiSenate Square and the statue of Alexander II
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Helsinki by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Helsinki 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 Helsinki for

  • getting around
  • wellness
  • day trips

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • 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. Helsinki 28, Nairobi 4: Helsinki leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Helsinki 52, Nairobi 48: Helsinki leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Helsinki 60, Nairobi 35: Helsinki leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Helsinki 50, Nairobi 58: Nairobi leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Helsinki 58, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Helsinki 62, Nairobi 28: Helsinki leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Helsinki 76, Nairobi 55: Helsinki leads by 21 points.
Getting around. Helsinki 86, Nairobi 20: Helsinki leads by 66 points.
Shopping & style. Helsinki 62, Nairobi 45: Helsinki leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Helsinki 30, Nairobi 60: Nairobi leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Helsinki 63, Nairobi 35: Helsinki leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Helsinki 82, Nairobi 25: Helsinki leads by 57 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Helsinki and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Helsinki
Best match
59match

Wins on getting around and wellness with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

Wins on prices and 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.

Helsinki in July

22 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
58 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
18 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

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
HelsinkiNairobi

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Helsinki: 1991-2020 normals, Helsinki Kaisaniemi / Harju (1.6 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHelsinkiNairobi
Official languageFinnish, SwedishEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation17 m1,661 m
Main airportHelsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)16 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureHelsinkiNairobi
City population694,3925,545,000
People per km²3,2397,967
Museums within 10 km744
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Helsinki 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.