VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The Great Mosque with the mountains behind, Tirana
TiranaThe Great Mosque with the mountains behind

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Tirana by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Tirana?

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
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose Tirana for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Tirana’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, Tirana 46: Tirana leads by 42 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Tirana 57: Tirana leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Tirana 42: Tirana leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi and Tirana are level on 58.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Tirana 62: Nairobi leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Tirana 64: Tirana leads by 36 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Tirana 40: Nairobi leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Tirana 54: Tirana leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Tirana 32: Nairobi leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Tirana 76: Tirana leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Tirana 32: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Tirana 27: Tirana leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Tirana.

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 families with your weighting.

Tirana
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

Tirana in July

31 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
43 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiTirana

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). Tirana: 1961-1990 normals, Tirana (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiTirana
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliAlbanian
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Lek (ALL)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999112
Elevation1,661 m110 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsTirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA)13 km from centre121 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiTirana
City population5,545,000389,323
People per km²7,9679,314
Museums within 10 km411
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Tirana 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.