VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The House of the Blackheads at dusk, Riga
RigaThe House of the Blackheads at dusk

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Riga by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Riga?

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
  • nightlife
  • families

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

Choose Riga for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Riga’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, Riga 40: Riga leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Riga 52: Riga leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Riga 66: Riga leads by 31 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Riga 52: Nairobi leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Riga 55: Nairobi leads by 29 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Riga 60: Riga leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Riga 50: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Riga 68: Riga leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi and Riga are level on 45.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Riga 62: Riga leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Riga 65: Riga leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Riga 50: Riga leads by 25 points.
0255075100

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

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 nightlife with your weighting.

Riga
Best match
55match

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
No seasea
12 hdaylight a day

Riga in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
18 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiRiga

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). Riga: 1991-2020 normals, Riga (4.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiRiga
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliLatvian
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 m6 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsRiga International Airport (RIX)9 km from centre93 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days-

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiRiga
City population5,545,000588,911
People per km²7,967-
Museums within 10 km412
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

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