Attraction
Nairobi National Park
Kenya's first national park, created in 1946, where lions, black rhinos and giraffes roam open grassland within sight of the Nairobi skyline.
Kenya is one of Africa's classic safari destinations, with savannah, mountains, lakes and an Indian Ocean coastline in a single country. Most journeys begin in Nairobi, the capital, which has its own national park on the city's edge. From there, travellers head to the Maasai Mara for big cats and the annual wildebeest migration, Amboseli for elephants beneath Kilimanjaro, Lake Nakuru and the Rift Valley lakes, Samburu in the north and the forests and peaks of Mount Kenya. The coast offers a different pace, with the historic port of Mombasa, the beaches of Diani and Watamu and the Swahili town of Lamu. Kenyan food, coffee and tea, and the warmth of its many communities, add to the appeal.
Attraction
Kenya's first national park, created in 1946, where lions, black rhinos and giraffes roam open grassland within sight of the Nairobi skyline.
Attraction
Conservation centre in Lang'ata where visitors hand-feed endangered Rothschild's giraffes from a raised platform and learn about AFEW Kenya's breeding and education work.
Attraction
The 1912 farmhouse where Danish author Karen Blixen lived while running her coffee farm, now a National Museums of Kenya site with period furniture and gardens…
Attraction
Kenya's flagship museum on Museum Hill, covering human origins, wildlife, birds and the country's history, with botanic gardens and a snake park in the grounds.
Attraction
Museum beside Nairobi railway station telling the story of the line that created the city, with steam locomotives, coaches and historic photographs.
Attraction
A Nairobi landmark since 1973, this tower is crowned by a cone-shaped helipad whose rooftop gives open views over the city centre and, on clear days,…
Café
The Sarova Stanley's pavement café, built around an acacia tree where generations of travellers pinned messages for one another in the days before email.
Café
The Kenyan coffee house chain that began at Adams Arcade in 1999, serving Kenyan coffee and diner-style meals across Nairobi and East Africa.
Café
A pair of outdoor gastro-cafés in Karen and Lang'ata built around fresh food in fresh air, with salads, burgers, wraps, smoothies and garden seating.
Café
An award-winning Kenyan specialty coffee roaster founded in 2009, roasting at origin and serving its single-origin coffees at cafés across Nairobi.
Café
An open-air café inside Karura Forest serving all-day breakfast, continental lunches and coffee with views over the trees, ideal after a forest walk or ride.
Café
A family-run café in Loresho that shares its space with a furniture workshop and shop, serving fresh food and coffee among sustainably made pieces.
Hotel
A 1932 manor house in Lang'ata with just 12 rooms, famous for the Rothschild's giraffes that put their heads through the windows at breakfast.
Hotel
Nairobi's historic grand hotel, opened on Christmas Day 1904, with 125 rooms and suites set around tropical gardens on Harry Thuku Road.
Hotel
An all-suite luxury hotel in Karen with 45 suites looking towards the Ngong Hills, opened in 2013 as the flagship of the Hemingways Collection.
Hotel
Nairobi's oldest hotel, founded in 1902 and home to the Thorn Tree Café, offering five-star rooms in the heart of the central business district.
Hotel
A design hotel beside The Village Market in Gigiri, with 128 rooms, a heated pool among waterfalls and a collection of around 900 African artefacts.
Hotel
A mid-range hotel within the Carnivore grounds on Lang'ata Road, close to Wilson Airport and Nairobi National Park, with a heated pool and several places to…
Bar
The rooftop pool deck and lounge of the Sankara hotel in Westlands, with skyline views, signature cocktails, sharing plates and live music or DJs several nights…
Bar
A hidden cocktail bar in Spring Valley, open since 2019 and listed among the Middle East and Africa's top bars, with seasonal cocktails and a whisky…
Bar
An open-air creative hub on Parklands Road in Westlands, opened in 2015, with bars, food trucks, DJ nights, live music, an open-air cinema and the Sinnerman…
Bar
A family restaurant by day and a dance venue by night at the Carnivore complex in Lang'ata, with live music, DJs, big-screen sport and an electric…
Bar
A Lavington café and bar billed as the home of live music, with bands from Tuesday to Saturday and house music sessions on Sunday afternoons.
Bar
A relaxed neighbourhood pub and restaurant at Lavington Green, run by the Tamarind group, with live sport, weekend music, quiz nights and a terrace.
Restaurant
Nairobi's famous meat restaurant on Lang'ata Road, open since 1980, where waiters carve meats roasted on Maasai swords at your table until you lower your flag.
Restaurant
A long-running Karen restaurant in the former home of filmmaker Alan Root, known for global fusion cooking, a garden courtyard and an easy-going cocktail scene.
Restaurant
The terrace restaurant of Fairmont The Norfolk, serving Nairobi since 1904, with international dishes served family-style, afternoon tea and a monthly signature brunch.
Restaurant
A farm-to-table restaurant in Karen that grew from a 2019 pop-up, cooking seasonal dishes from its own organic farm in a relaxed garden setting.
Restaurant
A Japanese-Peruvian restaurant and cocktail bar on the 20th floor of One Africa Place in Westlands, with Nikkei cooking, pisco drinks and city views.
Restaurant
A Hurlingham institution famous for whole tilapia with ugali and stew, founded by Mary Auma and visited by Mark Zuckerberg in 2016.
Thing to do
A one-hour daily visit to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's elephant nursery, where orphaned calves come in for their midday milk feed and mud bath.
Thing to do
A large protected forest on Nairobi's northern edge with more than 50 km of trails for walking, running and cycling, a waterfall and caves used by…
Thing to do
A Kenya Wildlife Service boardwalk on Lang'ata Road that leads through wetland, savannah and forest habitats past rhino, big cats, pygmy hippo and other Kenyan wildlife.
Thing to do
A glassblowing studio and artists' compound on the plains south of Nairobi, where visitors watch glassblowers at work, cross a swaying bridge and eat at the…
Thing to do
A ridge walk along the four peaks of the Ngong Hills south-west of Nairobi, with views over the Great Rift Valley on one side and the…
Tour operator
One of Kenya's oldest tour companies, founded in the 1950s and based in Nairobi, running scheduled and tailor-made safaris with a fleet of more than 200…
Tour operator
A Karen-based safari company with over 35 years of experience, running small Porini eco camps in private conservancies and the Nairobi Tented Camp in Nairobi National…
Tour operator
A Nairobi tour operator based in Muthaiga, known for daily city day tours that combine the Karen Blixen Museum, the Giraffe Centre and Kazuri Beads with…
Tour operator
A Nairobi travel company operating since 2009 from Yala Towers in the city centre, selling Kenyan safaris, beach holidays, staycations and international packages.
Tour operator
A Kenyan safari specialist running bespoke, upmarket trips since 1985 across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, from balloon flights to gorilla trekking.
Most visitors combine a safari operator's vehicle or light-aircraft flights from Nairobi's Wilson Airport with domestic flights. The Madaraka Express train links Nairobi and Mombasa, and roads are best driven with an experienced driver.
The dry months from June to October are the classic safari season, with the wildebeest migration usually in the Maasai Mara from around July to October. January and February are also dry, while the long rains fall from March to May.
The Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, Samburu and Mount Kenya for wildlife and scenery, and Mombasa, Diani, Watamu and Lamu on the coast.