VacationSelector
Botero sculptures on Plaza Botero, Medellin
MedellinBotero sculptures on Plaza Botero
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Medellin by Steffen Schmitz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Medellin 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 Medellin for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Medellin’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. Medellin 5, Nairobi 4: Medellin leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Medellin 58, Nairobi 48: Medellin leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Medellin 42, Nairobi 35: Medellin leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Medellin 76, Nairobi 58: Medellin leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Medellin 66, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Medellin 58, Nairobi 28: Medellin leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Medellin 50, Nairobi 55: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Medellin 55, Nairobi 20: Medellin leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Medellin and Nairobi are level on 45.
Affordability. Medellin 80, Nairobi 60: Medellin leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Medellin 42, Nairobi 35: Medellin leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Medellin 30, Nairobi 25: Medellin leads by 5 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Medellin and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Medellin
Best match
51match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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.

Medellin in July

29 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
133 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
12 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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MedellinNairobi

Where the figures come from

Medellin has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Medellin: 1958-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Medellin / Olaya Herrera (5.2 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMedellinNairobi
Official languageSpanishEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+3
Emergency number123Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation1,405 m1,661 m
Main airportJose Maria Córdova International Airport (MDE)19 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureMedellinNairobi
City population2,529,4035,545,000
People per km²6,6447,967
Museums within 10 km144
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

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