VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
Valletta from the water, Valletta
VallettaValletta from the water

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Valletta by Pho Tomass, Pexels License.

Nairobi or Valletta?

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
  • nightlife
  • prices

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

Choose Valletta for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Valletta’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, Valletta 68: Valletta leads by 64 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Valletta 55: Valletta leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 41 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Valletta 46: Nairobi leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Valletta 56: Nairobi leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 48 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Valletta 58: Valletta leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Valletta 62: Valletta leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Valletta 38: Nairobi leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Valletta 50: Nairobi leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Valletta 44: Valletta leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Valletta 32: Valletta leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Valletta.

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 nightlife with your weighting.

Valletta
Best match
55match

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

Valletta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiValletta

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). Valletta: 1991-2020 normals, Luqa (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiValletta
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliEnglish, Maltese
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Euro (EUR)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999112
Elevation1,661 m56 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsMalta International Airport (MLA)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiValletta
City population5,545,0005,197
People per km²7,9676,496
Museums within 10 km416
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
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 Valletta 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.