VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The wharf at Queenstown with the Remarkables behind, Queenstown
QueenstownThe wharf at Queenstown with the Remarkables behind

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Queenstown by Robert Linsdell, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Queenstown?

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
  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Queenstown for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Queenstown’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, Queenstown 20: Queenstown leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Queenstown 45: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Queenstown 12: Nairobi leads by 23 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Queenstown 42: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Queenstown 97: Queenstown leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Queenstown 50: Queenstown leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Queenstown 60: Queenstown leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Queenstown 45: Queenstown leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Queenstown 28: Nairobi leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Queenstown 20: Nairobi leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Queenstown 14: Nairobi leads by 21 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Queenstown 42: Queenstown leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Queenstown.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Nairobi
41match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Queenstown
40match

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

Queenstown in July

6 °Cdaytime high
-1 °Cnight-time low
115 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
9 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiQueenstown

Where the figures come from

Queenstown has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

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). Queenstown: 1991-2020 normals, TerraClimate 4 km grid at the town, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureNairobiQueenstown
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzI230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+12, UTC+13 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999111
Elevation1,661 m324 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsQueenstown Airport (ZQN)7 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiQueenstown
City population5,545,00029,000
People per km²7,967-
Museums within 10 km40
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 Queenstown 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. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.