VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
Rowing boats below the ghats in the morning light, Varanasi
VaranasiRowing boats below the ghats in the morning light

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Varanasi by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Varanasi?

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
  • nightlife

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

Choose Varanasi for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Varanasi’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 and Varanasi are level on 4.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Varanasi 80: Varanasi leads by 45 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Varanasi 10: Nairobi leads by 48 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Varanasi 18: Nairobi leads by 66 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Varanasi 42: Varanasi leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Varanasi 5: Nairobi leads by 50 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Varanasi 28: Varanasi leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Varanasi 92: Varanasi leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Varanasi 58: Varanasi leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Varanasi 30: Varanasi leads by 5 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Nairobi
41match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.

Varanasi
40match

Wins on culture and sights and prices 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
12 hdaylight a day

Varanasi in July

35 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
249 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiVaranasi

Where the figures come from

Varanasi has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

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). Varanasi: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureNairobiVaranasi
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliHindi, English
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Indian Rupee (INR)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+5:30
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999108 or 112
Elevation1,661 m76 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsLal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)21 km from centre16 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days-

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiVaranasi
City population5,545,0001,198,491
People per km²7,96714,598
Museums within 10 km42
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Varanasi 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.