VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
Savannah City Hall and its golden dome, Savannah
SavannahSavannah City Hall and its golden dome

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Savannah by Chris M Morris, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Savannah?

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
  • prices
  • nightlife

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

Choose Savannah for

  • beaches
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Savannah’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, Savannah 55: Savannah leads by 51 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Savannah 58: Savannah leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Savannah 68: Savannah leads by 33 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Savannah 52: Nairobi leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Savannah 48: Nairobi leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Savannah 60: Savannah leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Savannah 50: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Savannah 58: Savannah leads by 38 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Savannah 42: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Savannah 35: Nairobi leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Savannah 40: Savannah leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Savannah 40: Savannah leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Savannah.

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 prices with your weighting.

Savannah
Best match
51match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
12 hdaylight a day

Savannah in July

34 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
144 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSavannah

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). Savannah: 1991-2020 normals, Savannah Airport (9.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSavannah
Official languageEnglish, Swahili-
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999911
Elevation1,661 m15 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsSavannah Hilton Head International Airport (SAV)12 km from centre39 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSavannah
City population5,545,000147,780
People per km²7,967524
Museums within 10 km419
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-6 months

Where else could you go?

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