VacationSelector
The Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta
JakartaThe Istiqlal Mosque
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Jakarta by Antonyus Bunjamin, Pexels License; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Jakarta 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 Jakarta for

  • food and drink
  • beaches
  • wellness

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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. Jakarta 28, Nairobi 4: Jakarta leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Jakarta 78, Nairobi 48: Jakarta leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Jakarta 48, Nairobi 35: Jakarta leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Jakarta 66, Nairobi 58: Jakarta leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Jakarta 30, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 54 points.
Day trips. Jakarta 45, Nairobi 28: Jakarta leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Jakarta 50, Nairobi 55: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Jakarta 36, Nairobi 20: Jakarta leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Jakarta 64, Nairobi 45: Jakarta leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Jakarta 80, Nairobi 60: Jakarta leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Jakarta 42, Nairobi 35: Jakarta leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Jakarta 46, Nairobi 25: Jakarta leads by 21 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Jakarta and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Jakarta
Best match
51match

Wins on food and drink and beaches 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.

Jakarta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
85 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
12 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°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
JakartaNairobi

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Jakarta: 1991-2020 normals, Jakarta / Observatory (1.1 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureJakartaNairobi
Official languageIndonesianEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyRupiah (IDR)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsCF50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+3
Emergency number112Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation91 m1,661 m
Main airportSoekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK)20 km from centre89 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-10 days

By the numbers

MeasureJakartaNairobi
City population11,135,1915,545,000
People per km²16,8217,967
Museums within 10 km444
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

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