Photos: Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Santiago by Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Mombasa or Santiago?
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 Mombasa for
- beaches
- prices
- culture and sights
What lies behind each score is written up on Mombasa’s own page.
Choose Santiago for
- getting around
- live music and the arts
- day trips
What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mombasa and Santiago.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.
Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Mombasa in July
Santiago in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Mombasa 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. Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre). Santiago: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago Q. Normal (3.1 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Mombasa | Santiago |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | English, Swahili | Spanish |
| Currency | Kenyan Shilling (KES) | Chilean Peso (CLP) |
| Sockets | G240 V, 50 Hz | CL220 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+3 | UTC-4, UTC-3 in summer |
| Emergency number | Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999 | Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132 |
| Elevation | 50 m | 575 m |
| Main airport | Moi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinations | Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 10 days | 16 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Mombasa | Santiago |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 1,208,333 | 6,257,516 |
| People per km² | 4,100 | 7,468 |
| Museums within 10 km | 0 | 54 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 2 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Mombasa or Santiago somewhere new.