VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower

Photos: Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License; Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Mexico City 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 Mexico City for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • food and drink

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

Choose Nairobi for

  • nature and the outdoors

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. Mexico City 5, Nairobi 4: Mexico City leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Mexico City 90, Nairobi 48: Mexico City leads by 42 points.
Culture & sights. Mexico City 88, Nairobi 35: Mexico City leads by 53 points.
Nightlife. Mexico City 80, Nairobi 58: Mexico City leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mexico City 50, Nairobi 84: Nairobi leads by 34 points.
Day trips. Mexico City 75, Nairobi 28: Mexico City leads by 47 points.
Good for families. Mexico City 58, Nairobi 55: Mexico City leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Mexico City 50, Nairobi 20: Mexico City leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Mexico City 76, Nairobi 45: Mexico City leads by 31 points.
Affordability. Mexico City 75, Nairobi 60: Mexico City leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mexico City 72, Nairobi 35: Mexico City leads by 37 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mexico City 40, Nairobi 25: Mexico City leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mexico City and Nairobi.

Your match

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

Mexico City
Best match
63match

Wins on culture and sights and day trips with your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

Wins on 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.

Mexico City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
176 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
13 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

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
Mexico CityNairobi

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Mexico City: 1991-2020 normals, Mexico Central, D. F. (7.9 km from centre). Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMexico CityNairobi
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
Elevation2,240 m1,661 m
Main airportMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinationsJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureMexico CityNairobi
City population9,209,9445,545,000
People per km²6,2027,967
Museums within 10 km1084
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km60

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Mexico City 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). 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.