VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
White sand and turquoise water at Pensacola Beach, Pensacola
PensacolaWhite sand and turquoise water at Pensacola Beach

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Pensacola by Jason Meredith, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Pensacola?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • shopping
  • nightlife

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

Choose Pensacola for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Pensacola’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, Pensacola 84: Pensacola leads by 80 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Pensacola 45: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Pensacola 45: Pensacola leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Pensacola 42: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Pensacola 62: Nairobi leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Pensacola 45: Pensacola leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Pensacola 62: Pensacola leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Pensacola 18: Nairobi leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Pensacola 28: Nairobi leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Pensacola 44: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Pensacola 36: Pensacola leads by 1 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Pensacola 30: Pensacola leads by 5 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and shopping with your weighting.

Pensacola
Best match
45match

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

Pensacola in July

33 °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
NairobiPensacola

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). Pensacola: 1991-2020 normals, Pensacola / Pleasant Grove (12.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiPensacola
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 m31 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsPensacola International Airport (PNS)6 km from centre27 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiPensacola
City population5,545,00054,312
People per km²7,967515
Museums within 10 km45
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-7 months

Where else could you go?

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