VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The old Tampa Bay Hotel across the river, Tampa
TampaThe old Tampa Bay Hotel across the river

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Tampa by Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Tampa?

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 Tampa for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Tampa’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, Tampa 70: Tampa leads by 66 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Tampa 57: Tampa leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Tampa 42: Tampa leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Tampa 52: Nairobi leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Tampa 55: Nairobi leads by 29 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Tampa 54: Tampa leads by 26 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Tampa 78: Tampa leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Tampa 22: Tampa leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Tampa 40: Nairobi leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Tampa 40: Nairobi leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Tampa 47: Tampa leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Tampa 30: Tampa leads by 5 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Tampa
Best match
49match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
12 hdaylight a day

Tampa in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiTampa

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). Tampa: 1991-2020 normals, Tampa International Airport (7.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiTampa
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 m30 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsTampa International Airport (TPA)8 km from centre101 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiTampa
City population5,545,000384,959
People per km²7,967848
Museums within 10 km46
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-8 months

Where else could you go?

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