Nairobi, Kenya — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Nairobi known for?

Nairobi is known as the capital of Kenya and a hub of East Africa. Its great draw is the Nairobi National Park, the only national park set within a capital's boundaries anywhere in the world, where wildlife ranges within sight of the towers. The city sits high and green.

Cool air off the Kenyan highlands and the Nairobi River earned it the old Maasai name Enkare Nyirobi, the place of cool waters, while its role as the political and financial heart of Kenya draws people from across the country.

Where is Nairobi?

Nairobi lies in the highlands of Kenya, spread across a high plateau where the land tips down toward the plains to the south. The Nairobi River and its small tributaries thread through the county, giving the place the old Maasai name that means the place of cool waters. Height defines the setting.

The city stands well above sea level, and its perch in the Kenyan highlands keeps it cooler and greener than its tropical position would suggest, which earned the nickname the Green City under the Sun. The county is small, but its edges hold a rare thing. Along the southern boundary the Nairobi National Park runs right up against the built city, so open grassland and grazing herds lie within sight of the skyline, a wild frontier found at no other national capital.

That blend of city and bush is the county's signature. Beyond the park the land opens out, and plains and ranges roll south and west into the wider country, tying the capital county to the rest of Kenya and to the trade routes of East Africa that cross these highlands.

What is Nairobi like?

Nairobi is a young capital where the cultures of all Kenya come together. As the political, financial, and media heart of the country, it draws people from every region and language, and Swahili and English mix on its streets with the tongues of the highlands and the coast. The city sets the national tone.

Music, film, fashion, and news made here reach across East Africa, giving the capital a voice far larger than its footprint, a meeting ground for the whole of Kenya. The old Maasai name endures beneath the modern city. Enkare Nyirobi, the place of cool waters, recalls the herders and the streams that gathered here long before the capital rose, and that heritage still colours the markets and crafts of the county.

Green space shapes the culture too. The Nairobi National Park on the city's edge keeps wildlife at the heart of daily life, and the nickname the Green City under the Sun captures a capital that wears its parks, gardens, and the Nairobi River as part of who it is. Few world capitals live so close to the wild.

What is the history of Nairobi?

Nairobi began as a watering place on the high plains, its Maasai name Enkare Nyirobi marking the cool streams that gathered here. The settlement grew where the highland routes crossed, rising to become the capital and largest city of Kenya. Growth never really stopped.

From a small highland town it swelled into the political and financial centre of East Africa, and in 2013 the modern Nairobi City County was drawn around the capital, binding the city and its surrounds into one county on the Nairobi River.

What is the climate of Nairobi?

Nairobi has a mild, temperate climate despite its tropical position, cooled by its height in the Kenyan highlands. Warm, sunny days give way to cool nights through much of the year, and the surrounding greenery earned the capital its nickname, the Green City under the Sun. Rain comes in seasons.

Wet spells green the plains and feed the Nairobi River, while drier months open the skies over the Nairobi National Park, keeping the county comfortable through the year for wildlife and visitors alike.

How do you get to Nairobi?

Nairobi is the main entry point to Kenya and much of East Africa, and most travellers arrive here first. International flights land at the capital's airports, and road and rail link the county to Mombasa on the coast and to the towns of the interior. Everything routes through the city.

Buses, trains, and light aircraft fan out from Nairobi to the parks, the highlands, and the lakes, while the Nairobi National Park sits so close that arriving visitors can reach the wild within the hour.