Karen Blixen Museum

The Karen Blixen Museum is the farmhouse at the heart of Out of Africa. The bungalow was built in 1912 by the Swedish engineer Åke Sjögren, and in 1917 Karen Blixen and her husband, Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, bought it with the surrounding land to grow coffee. The couple separated in 1921 and Blixen ran the farm alone until she returned to Denmark in 1931. The estate was later divided up, and the suburb that grew on it still carries her first name. She wrote about these years in Out of Africa, published in 1937, and later in Shadows on the Grass.

After Kenyan independence the Danish government gave the house to the new Kenyan state, and it opened as a museum in 1986, helped by the popularity of the 1985 film starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Film fans should know that the movie was not shot here; it used Mbagathi, the first farmhouse where Blixen lived before moving. The National Museums of Kenya now manages the site.

Inside, the rooms are furnished with pieces that belonged to Blixen, some of them bought back after she sold her belongings on leaving Kenya. Outside, look for the old tractor, ox wagons, ploughs and original coffee-processing equipment that tell the farming side of the story. Guided tours run throughout the day with guides who speak several languages, and they bring the rooms to life with stories from her books.

The gardens are part of the appeal. Lawns and indigenous forest look towards the Ngong Hills, and a nature trail with labelled trees is good for birdwatching, with tree hyraxes sometimes seen. A gift shop sells crafts, postcards, books and copies of the film. The grounds are also used for weddings and events, so it is worth calling ahead at weekends.

Allow about an hour, or longer if you want to sit in the garden. The museum is in Karen, roughly 10 km from the city centre, and can be reached by taxi, ride-hailing app or public transport. It sits on the same south-western circuit as the Giraffe Centre and the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust nursery, so many visitors combine all three. Opening hours are not published on the museum's page, so check with the museum by phone before setting out.