VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The white beach below the high-rise hotels, Orange Beach
Orange BeachThe white beach below the high-rise hotels

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Orange Beach by WeaponizingArchitecture, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Orange Beach?

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 Nairobi for

  • culture and sights
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Orange Beach for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Orange Beach’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. Nairobi 4, Orange Beach 86: Orange Beach leads by 82 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Orange Beach 40: Nairobi leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Orange Beach 7: Nairobi leads by 28 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Orange Beach 30: Nairobi leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Orange Beach 60: Nairobi leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Orange Beach 50: Orange Beach leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Orange Beach 75: Orange Beach leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Orange Beach 15: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Orange Beach 25: Nairobi leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Orange Beach 38: Nairobi leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Orange Beach 32: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Orange Beach 32: Orange Beach leads by 7 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Nairobi
41match

Wins on culture and sights and nightlife with your weighting.

Orange Beach
41match

Wins on beaches and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Orange Beach in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
200 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiOrange Beach

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre). Orange Beach: 2006-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Gulf Shores / Bay Village Mobile Home Park (10.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiOrange Beach
Official languageEnglish, Swahili-
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-6, UTC-5 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999911
Elevation1,661 m4 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsPensacola International Airport (PNS)41 km from centre27 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiOrange Beach
City population5,545,0008,095
People per km²7,967196
Museums within 10 km40
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-8 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Orange Beach 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.