VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds, Sapporo
SapporoThe old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Sapporo by Feri88, CC BY 3.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Sapporo?

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

Nairobi does not lead in any category we score.

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

Choose Sapporo for

  • getting around
  • wellness
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Sapporo’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, Sapporo 28: Sapporo leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Sapporo 40: Sapporo leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Sapporo 62: Sapporo leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Sapporo 86: Sapporo leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Sapporo 64: Sapporo leads by 36 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Sapporo 72: Sapporo leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 60 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Sapporo 58: Sapporo leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Nairobi and Sapporo are level on 60.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Sapporo 44: Sapporo leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 55 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Sapporo.

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

Has no clear advantage with the weighting you have chosen.

Sapporo
Best match
63match

Wins on getting around and wellness 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

Sapporo in July

25 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
91 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
19 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSapporo

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). Sapporo: 1991-2020 normals, Sapporo (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSapporo
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliJapanese
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Yen (JPY)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+9
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999Police 110, fire 119
Elevation1,661 m5 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsNew Chitose Airport (CTS)42 km from centre42 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSapporo
City population5,545,0001,959,313
People per km²7,9671,747
Museums within 10 km433
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-1 month

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Sapporo 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.