VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The Opera House on the fjord, Oslo
OsloThe Opera House on the fjord

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Oslo by Beata May, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Oslo?

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

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Oslo for

  • getting around
  • wellness
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Oslo’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, Oslo 36: Oslo leads by 32 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Oslo 55: Oslo leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Oslo 66: Oslo leads by 31 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Oslo 48: Nairobi leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Oslo 82: Nairobi leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Oslo 52: Oslo leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Oslo 63: Oslo leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Oslo 85: Oslo leads by 65 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Oslo 50: Oslo leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Oslo 14: Nairobi leads by 46 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Oslo 62: Oslo leads by 27 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Oslo 60: Oslo leads by 35 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Oslo.

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Oslo
Best match
56match

Wins on getting around and wellness 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

Oslo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
86 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiOslo

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). Oslo: 1991-2020 normals, Oslo-Blindern (4.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiOslo
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, Sámi
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Norwegian Krone (NOK)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999Police 112, ambulance 113, fire 110
Elevation1,661 m23 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsOslo-Gardermoen International Airport (OSL)37 km from centre147 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiOslo
City population5,545,000717,710
People per km²7,967-
Museums within 10 km460
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Oslo 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.