VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Portland?

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

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

Choose Portland for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Portland’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, Portland 20: Portland leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Portland 68: Portland leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Portland 38: Portland leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Portland 52: Nairobi leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi and Portland are level on 84.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Portland 58: Portland leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Nairobi and Portland are level on 55.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Portland 62: Portland leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Portland 52: Portland leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Portland 38: Nairobi leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Portland 55: Portland leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Portland 42: Portland leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Portland.

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.

Portland
Best match
52match

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

Portland in July

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

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiPortland

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). Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiPortland
Official languageEnglish, Swahili-
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999911
Elevation1,661 m152 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiPortland
City population5,545,000652,503
People per km²7,9671,736
Museums within 10 km417
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 Portland 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.