VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Lyon 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 Lyon for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Lyon’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. Lyon 12, Nairobi 4: Lyon leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Nairobi 48: Lyon leads by 36 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Nairobi 35: Lyon leads by 42 points.
Nightlife. Lyon and Nairobi are level on 58.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Nairobi 28: Lyon leads by 49 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Nairobi 55: Lyon leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Nairobi 20: Lyon leads by 57 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Nairobi 45: Lyon leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Nairobi 60: Nairobi leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Nairobi 35: Lyon leads by 33 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Nairobi 25: Lyon leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Lyon and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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.

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 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

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
LyonNairobi

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonNairobi
Official languageFrenchEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation160 m1,661 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonNairobi
City population519,1275,545,000
People per km²10,8387,967
Museums within 10 km434
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 Lyon 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). 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.