VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
Parliament Hill across the Ottawa River, Ottawa
OttawaParliament Hill across the Ottawa River

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Ottawa by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Ottawa?

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

  • nightlife
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Ottawa for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Ottawa’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, Ottawa 35: Ottawa leads by 31 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Ottawa 45: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Ottawa 62: Ottawa leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Ottawa 35: Nairobi leads by 23 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Ottawa 68: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Ottawa 55: Ottawa leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Ottawa 68: Ottawa leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Ottawa 62: Ottawa leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Ottawa 40: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Ottawa 40: Nairobi leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Ottawa 52: Ottawa leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Ottawa 55: Ottawa leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Ottawa.

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

Wins on nightlife and prices with your weighting.

Ottawa
Best match
51match

Wins on getting around and beaches 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
12 hdaylight a day

Ottawa in July

27 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiOttawa

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). Ottawa: 1991-2020 normals, Ottawa CDA RCS (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiOttawa
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliFrench, English
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999911
Elevation1,661 m70 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsOttawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW)12 km from centre46 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiOttawa
City population5,545,0001,017,449
People per km²7,967366
Museums within 10 km420
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Ottawa 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. 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.