VacationSelector
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Merida 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 Merida for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • 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. Merida 50, Nairobi 4: Merida leads by 46 points.
Food & drink. Merida 72, Nairobi 48: Merida leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Merida 64, Nairobi 35: Merida leads by 29 points.
Nightlife. Merida 42, Nairobi 58: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Merida 48, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Merida 80, Nairobi 28: Merida leads by 52 points.
Good for families. Merida 50, Nairobi 55: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Merida 45, Nairobi 20: Merida leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Merida 50, Nairobi 45: Merida leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Merida 75, Nairobi 60: Merida leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Merida 52, Nairobi 35: Merida leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Merida 40, Nairobi 25: Merida leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Merida and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Merida
Best match
56match

Wins on day trips and beaches with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Merida in July

35 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
148 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
13 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

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
MeridaNairobi

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMeridaNairobi
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+3
Emergency number911Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation12 m1,661 m
Main airportManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureMeridaNairobi
City population892,3635,545,000
People per km²1,0107,967
Museums within 10 km54
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 Merida 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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.