VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The red cable car above Wellington, Wellington
WellingtonThe red cable car above Wellington

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Wellington by lumoplank, CC0.

Nairobi or Wellington?

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

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Wellington for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Wellington’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, Wellington 33: Wellington leads by 29 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Wellington 62: Wellington leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Wellington 44: Wellington leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Wellington 45: Nairobi leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Wellington 78: Nairobi leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Wellington 40: Wellington leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Wellington 62: Wellington leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Wellington 68: Wellington leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Wellington 42: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Wellington 33: Nairobi leads by 27 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Wellington 56: Wellington leads by 21 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Wellington 30: Wellington leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Wellington.

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Wellington
Best match
49match

Wins on getting around 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

Wellington in July

12 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
12 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiWellington

Where the figures come from

Wellington's sunshine is measured 47 km from the centre, at Paraparaumu Aerodrome.

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). Wellington: 1961-1990 (sunshine 1991-2020) normals, Wellington Aerodrome Aws (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiWellington
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzI230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+12, UTC+13 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999111
Elevation1,661 m0 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsWellington International Airport (WLG)5 km from centre20 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiWellington
City population5,545,000216,200
People per km²7,967487
Museums within 10 km412
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
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 Wellington 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.