VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Nairobi or San Jose, Costa Rica?

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
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’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, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Nairobi leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: Nairobi leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: Nairobi leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: Nairobi leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: Nairobi leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: Nairobi leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Nairobi
41match

Wins on nightlife and families with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on day trips and getting around 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

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

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). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliSpanish
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999911
Elevation1,661 m1,161 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population5,545,000335,007
People per km²7,9677,511
Museums within 10 km49
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 San Jose, Costa Rica 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.