VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Nairobi or Samarkand?

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 Samarkand for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’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 and Samarkand are level on 4.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Samarkand 54: Samarkand leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 49 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Samarkand 14: Nairobi leads by 44 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Samarkand 40: Nairobi leads by 44 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 44 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Samarkand 30: Nairobi leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 38 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Samarkand 42: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Samarkand 24: Nairobi leads by 11 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Samarkand 32: Samarkand leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Samarkand.

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.

Samarkand
Best match
45match

Wins on culture and sights 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

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSamarkand

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). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSamarkand
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliUzbek
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+5
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999112
Elevation1,661 m702 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days-

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSamarkand
City population5,545,000546,303
People per km²7,9675,058
Museums within 10 km411
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

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