VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The Supertrees, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore
SingaporeThe Supertrees, Gardens by the Bay

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Singapore by Kai Kai, Pexels License.

Nairobi or Singapore?

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 Singapore for

  • getting around
  • food and drink
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Singapore’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, Singapore 40: Singapore leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Singapore 88: Singapore leads by 40 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Singapore 62: Singapore leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Singapore 50: Nairobi leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Singapore 45: Nairobi leads by 39 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Singapore 25: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Singapore 88: Singapore leads by 33 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Singapore 92: Singapore leads by 72 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Singapore 76: Singapore leads by 31 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Singapore 25: Nairobi leads by 35 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Singapore 50: Singapore leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Singapore 40: Singapore leads by 15 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Singapore.

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.

Singapore
Best match
57match

Wins on getting around and food and drink 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

Singapore in July

31 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
145 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSingapore

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). Singapore: 1991-2020 normals, Singapore / Changi Airport (17 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSingapore
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliEnglish, Tamil, Malay, Standard Chinese
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Singapore Dollar (SGD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999Police 999, ambulance 995, fire 995
Elevation1,661 m21 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsSingapore Changi Airport (SIN)17 km from centre167 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSingapore
City population5,545,0005,866,139
People per km²7,9678,158
Museums within 10 km440
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 Singapore 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. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. 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.