VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
Painted colonial houses in the Pelourinho, Salvador
SalvadorPainted colonial houses in the Pelourinho

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Salvador by Paul R. Burley, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Salvador?

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
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose Salvador for

  • beaches
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Salvador’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, Salvador 84: Salvador leads by 80 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Salvador 66: Salvador leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Salvador 74: Salvador leads by 39 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Salvador 52: Nairobi leads by 32 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Salvador 56: Salvador leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Salvador 42: Nairobi leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Salvador 42: Salvador leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Salvador 42: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Salvador 63: Salvador leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Salvador 32: Salvador leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Salvador.

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 families with your weighting.

Salvador
Best match
58match

Wins on beaches and culture and sights 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

Salvador in July

27 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
201 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSalvador

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). Salvador: 1991-2020 normals, Salvador (4.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSalvador
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliPortuguese
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Brazilian Real (BRL)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCN60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-3
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193
Elevation1,661 m8 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsDeputado Luiz Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (SSA)20 km from centre31 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSalvador
City population5,545,0002,417,678
People per km²7,9673,489
Museums within 10 km449
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Salvador 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.