VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
A painted funicular on the hillside, Valparaiso
ValparaisoA painted funicular on the hillside

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Valparaiso by Maclemo, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Valparaiso?

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 Valparaiso for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Valparaiso’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, Valparaiso 36: Valparaiso leads by 32 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Valparaiso 50: Valparaiso leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Valparaiso 62: Valparaiso leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Valparaiso 56: Nairobi leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Valparaiso 60: Nairobi leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Valparaiso 63: Valparaiso leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Valparaiso 33: Nairobi leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Valparaiso 44: Valparaiso leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Valparaiso 30: Nairobi leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Nairobi and Valparaiso are level on 60.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Valparaiso 38: Valparaiso leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Valparaiso 18: Nairobi leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Valparaiso.

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.

Valparaiso
Best match
46match

Wins on day trips and beaches 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

Valparaiso in July

15 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
71 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiValparaiso

Where the figures come from

Valparaiso has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

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). Valparaiso: 2010-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Viña Del Mar / Montemar (17 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiValparaiso
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliSpanish
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation1,661 m21 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)87 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiValparaiso
City population5,545,000296,655
People per km²7,9676,180
Museums within 10 km417
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Valparaiso 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.