VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The Dzhumaya Mosque, Plovdiv
PlovdivThe Dzhumaya Mosque

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Plovdiv by Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Plovdiv?

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
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose Plovdiv for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Plovdiv’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, Plovdiv 7: Plovdiv leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Plovdiv 50: Plovdiv leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Plovdiv 66: Plovdiv leads by 31 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Plovdiv 42: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Plovdiv 68: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Plovdiv 70: Plovdiv leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Plovdiv 40: Nairobi leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Plovdiv 65: Plovdiv leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Plovdiv 33: Nairobi leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Plovdiv 78: Plovdiv leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Plovdiv 42: Plovdiv leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Plovdiv 44: Plovdiv leads by 19 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Plovdiv.

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

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

Plovdiv
Best match
50match

Wins on getting around 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
12 hdaylight a day

Plovdiv in July

31 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiPlovdiv

Where the figures come from

Plovdiv 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.

Plovdiv's sunshine is measured 75 km from the centre, at Kurdjali.

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). Plovdiv: 1997-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Plovdiv (1.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiPlovdiv
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliBulgarian
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Euro (EUR)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999112
Elevation1,661 m172 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsPlovdiv International Airport (PDV)12 km from centre8 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiPlovdiv
City population5,545,000333,994
People per km²7,9673,274
Museums within 10 km418
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Plovdiv 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.