Nairobi, Kenya’s bustling capital city, is a hub of culture, history, and adventure. With a population of over 4 million, Nairobi offers something for everyone. If you have 5 days, here’s a guide on how to make the most of your time in Nairobi.
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Day 1 – City Tour, National Museum, and Nairobi Nightlife
Start your first day in Nairobi getting to know the city. The best way to learn the lay of the land is with a Private Walking Tour. Your guide will take you to all the must-see places within the city and share the history of the city. You will begin at the public gardens and end at the famous Kenyatta International Conference Center where you will find a panoramic view of the city.
Along the way, you will pass significant sites such as the Jamia Mosque, City Market, National Archives, and Railway Museum. The beauty of a private tour is that you decide how and where to spend your time along the way. Another option is to use the GPSMyCity app and go it alone. But you might miss the best parts of the tour if your eyes are glued to your phone.
Nairobi National Museum
Next, grab a bit to eat if you are hungry, then Uber to the Nairobi National Museum. The museum offers a comprehensive overview of Kenya’s rich history and culture. It is home to a vast collection of artifacts, including Stone Age tools, historical photographs, and cultural objects that highlight the diversity of the country’s heritage. Take your time at the museum and then head back to the hotel for a little rest before your night on the town.
Nairobi Nightlife
Your guide will pick you up at 6:00 p.m. for this fabulous Nairobi Nightlife and Safari Park Hotel Dinner Experience. This premier dinner and cultural show takes place at the incomparable Safari Park Hotel. You will enjoy a traditional Kenyan dinner while feasting your eyes on high-energy dance and musical performances.
The dinner and performance ends around 10:00 p.m., but you can upgrade your experience to stay longer and hit the dance floor yourself. What an invigorating way to end your 1st of 5 days in Nairobi!
Day 2 – Elephants, Giraffes, Beads, & Out of Africa
Rise and shine for a wonderful second day in Nairobi. You might want to savor a hearty breakfast because this day will be busy! Take this Private Tour to the Elephant Orphanage, Giraffe Center, Kobe Beads, and the Karen Blixen Museum for a fun filled day.
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage
Start your second day in Nairobi with a visit to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This sanctuary for orphaned elephants and rhinos is a must-see. The trust offers visitors the chance to learn about its work, and to interact with the animals and their keepers. The orphanage rescues orphaned elephants that would not survive in the wild. Typically these elephants lose their mother due to poachers seeking her ivory tusks. Some are orphaned due to natural causes.
Visitors are allowed to pet the elephants if they come close enough – and some will. However, as we pointed out in our recent post How to Have Ethical Animal Encounters, petting elephants isn’t a great practice. So we recommend keeping your hands to yourself.
We do consider the sanctuary humane as human contact (outside of the elephants keeper) is limited to once a day and only 150 people are admitted to the daily feeding. Once the elephants reach the age of 4, the center works to reintroduce them into the wild. This is a slow and careful process as elephants cannot survive alone.
Visiting the elephant orphanage is an incredible opportunity to get up close and personal with some of Kenya’s most magnificent creatures. It is a lot of fun to watch their keepers feed them milk from enormous bottles. Then the elephants get to play a bit in their giant water hole and cover themselves in red dirt. Watch out for flying dirt and even mud!
Giraffe Center
After the orphanage, you might head to the Giraffe Center, a breeding center and sanctuary for endangered Rothschild’s giraffes. The center offers visitors the chance to interact with these magnificent animals and learn about their habitat, diet, and behavior.
You can even feed them by hand (if you so choose). Again, consider reading our post on How to Have Ethical Animal Encounters before this experience. The Giraffe Center can be a bit of a gray area. The animals appear to be healthy and well treated, but they are bred and live their lives in captivity, plus they have a lot of close interaction with people.
Kobe Tough
Don’t miss the Kobe Tough Factory. A lot of online resources and tours refer to the Kazuri Bead Factory, but this company is no longer in business. Thankfully, Kobe Tough took its place! This unique and fascinating artisanal center specializes in the production of handcrafted ceramic beads. They also manufacture Maasai beaded leather products.
Kobe Tough is a social enterprise focused on empowering women. They work to assist Maasai women in Kajiado County and single mothers, widows, and orphans in Nairobi. By enabling these women to use their amazing art and beading skills to feed their families and educate their children – especially girls – they make a significant impact. They work with 400 women organized in four community groups.
The factory offers visitors the chance to see the production process from start to finish. Then, you can shop till you drop for beautiful and unique jewelry, pottery, and other handicrafts. If you would like to support them even before your trip to Kenya, you can shop on the Kobe Tough Website or on Amazon.
Karen Blixen Museum
End your day with a visit to the Karen Blixen Museum. This historic home and farm was once owned by the famous Danish author of “Out of Africa”. The museum offers a glimpse into the life and work of Blixen, as well as a chance to explore the house and its fascinating collections.
Sunset and Dinner
End your 2nd of 5 days in Nairobi with a visit to the Tribe Hotel. The rooftop bar is perfect for watching the sun set over Nairobi and it is a great place to have dinner before ending this wonderful day.
Day 3 – Visit a Maasai Village
Kenya is well known for its landscape and wildlife, but visitors are often left wondering about the lifestyle and culture of the country’s indigenous communities. Gain first-hand insights into Maasai traditions directly from community members on this Masai Village Day Private Tour Experience.
Learn how women prepare food & cook, weave necklaces and wrist bands, how to milk goats, and many other lessons from the community. You can also visit the cattle market and the shopping town. The Maasai are one of the very few tribes who have retained most of their traditions, lifestyle, and lore. Unlike many other tribes in Kenya, the Maasai are semi-nomadic and pastoral. They live by herding cattle and goats.
While the tribes work to retain their culture, sharing it with the world through village visits and the selling of handmade goods has become necessary to survive. Visiting a Maasai village is a wonderful way to learn about the culture and support the community at the same time.
This is a good night to dine at your hotel. Your 5 days in Nairobi are more than half over and you have a very early morning wake-up tomorrow. Many hotels in the city have roof-top dining. While they don’t all rival the Tribe Hotel, they are still a great place to see the sun set and relax after a long day of touring.
Day 4 – Nairobi National Park and the Heart of Downtown
Today you will experience two extremes! You will start your day with an invigorating game drive in Nairobi National Park. But in the afternoon you will learn about the life of a child living on the streets of Nairobi!
Nairobi National Park
Wake up before dawn as your guide will arrive around 6:00 a.m. to take you to Nairobi National Park. This protected area right outside the city is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including lions, leopards, cheetahs, zebras, and many more. Take a guided tour, enjoy a picnic lunch, and marvel at the breathtaking beauty of the Kenyan landscape.
Book a Private Game Drive so you (and your friends if traveling with someone) can enjoy the open roofed safari vehicle all to yourself. Or you can also book a Group Game Drive if that is your preference. Either way, I suggest the morning game drive to see the most wildlife. It is early, but it is worth it. Ask your hotel the night before and they will make you a boxed breakfast since you will leave before the breakfast service opens.
Storytelling Tour with a Former Street Child
One of the most impactful tours I have ever experienced is the NAI NAMI: Nairobi Storytelling Tour with Street Children. This is a private tour so each participant is paired with a guide who formerly lived on the streets. My guide, Typhoon (pictured with Deidra and I above), began living on the streets of Nairobi at the age of 9. He was born in the slum, but his mother forbade him to go into the city to beg for food with his friends. But one day, after not having anything to eat the day before, he joined his friends. He ate more that night than he ever remembered but was ashamed to return home.
Once he reached 14, he could no longer fill his stomach by begging, so he turned to crime. He was arrested at age 19 and went to prison. Just like in the U.S., prison either wakes a person up or hardens them. Typhoon used his three year incarceration to learn to read and write. Now he works with a non-profit to help get kids off the street. He serves as a coach and mentor to the boys as well as raising money by guiding these tours.
This tour was eye-opening and heartbreaking. We saw parts of Nairobi we never could have entered without our escorts and were able to help street children ourselves by paying for them to eat at a street kitchen operated to provide them with nourishing food. I can’t say this tour was “fun,” but it certainly made a strong impression on my heart.
Day 5 – Coffee, Souvenirs & Home
It is almost time to say farewell after 5 fabulous days in Nairobi. But first, your trip would not be complete without touring a coffee farm and grabbing those final souvenirs
Tour a Coffee (or Tea) Farm
Sleep in this morning before departing on a Private Tour of a Nairobi Coffee Farm and Factory. Learn about Kenyan coffee production, tour a coffee estate, and enjoy a sample of rich Kenyan coffee.
If tea is more to your taste, consider this Small-Group Tour of the Kiambethu Tea Farm instead. Learn about the history and process of making tea and tour the farm. This tour is a bit longer, but it includes a farm-fresh 3-course lunch (and tea) with a view of the Ngong Hills.
Shopping
Round out your day exploring different markets and sampling the wonderful street food of Nairobi. Check out the City Market in the city center. You will find dozens of stalls selling woodcarvings, spears, drums, and more. Of course, if you are looking for a true Nairobi shopping experience, then head to the Toi Market. This is where the average Nairobian will look for second hand or cheap home goods, clothing, and even fresh food.
If you saw something special at the Maasai Village but failed to grab it, then you might want to visit a Maasai Market. These markets are a hub of activity, offering everything from jewelry and clothing to crafts and food. The items for sale are beautiful and diverse, but be prepared for very aggressive vendors. Also, note that the market only operates on certain days and (despite what the map says) the location changes weekly. Ask your hotel concierge for current information.
Looking for a more structured (and less hot) shopping experience? Nairobi is also blessed with malls filled with stores and restaurants. Check out the Two Rivers Mall. This is the largest shopping center in East Africa. Or, you could explore the Village Market where you will most likely find local traders displaying unique African artifacts.
At this point you are likely beyond exhausted from your 5 days in Nairobi – or you may even have a late night flight home. Call it an early evening so you can pack your gear and rest before you head to the airport for your flight.
Getting Around Nairobi
Nairobi is a fairly walkable city, in sections. Tourists can navigate the historical areas near the Railway Museum, National Archives, Jamia Mosque, and uptown area with GPS assistance. Although beware of keeping your eyes on your screen. Not only will you miss the sights of everyday life, but you open yourself up to thieves. Also, not all areas of interest are close enough together to travel on foot and sidewalks are often in poor condition, blocked, or non-existent.
Uber works well in the city and is great for getting to the main destinations and tour starting points. The easiest way to get from place to place is through guided tours. Fortunately, there are a host of both shared and private tours available. Tours are also very reasonably priced. This means private tours are quite affordable and a great value. Several tours are listed above. Here are some additional options that may also work for you:
- Nairobi Half-Day Tour in a Museum, Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Center
- Day Tour: Giraffe Center, Elephant Orphanage and Nairobi National Park
- Giraffe Center, Elephant Orphanage, Beads Center & Bomas of Kenya Tour Nairobi
- Explore local Market Matatu Ride & Make Kenyan Cuisines with a Home Cook
Accommodations in Nairobi
There are several great places to stay in Nairobi. I highly recommend the Four Points by Sheraton Hurlingham. This hotel is located within walking distance of a grocery store and the Yaya Center shopping mall. It is also on the side of town heading toward Nairobi National Park and Karen (where Kobe Tough, the Giraffe Center, Karen Blixen Museum and other places of interest are located). This makes traffic to and from these sites much more manageable.
We transferred to the Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge at Lake Nakuru National Park for a few days after our Nairobi stay. When we came back to the city we stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton Airport Hotel. This location was very easy for taking day trips outside of Nairobi and offered a quick (and free) transfer to the airport.
Nairobi Airport security is a little different than in the U.S. Travelers have to get out of the vehicle and walk through security when it passes through the gates. Then you get back in the vehicle and ride to the terminal. This hotel is behind this secure check-point. This was great when I had to leave the hotel at 2:30 in the morning to catch my 5:00 a.m. flight. Had we stayed just on the other side of those gates I would have needed 30 extra minutes, and if we had stayed in the city I would have needed an hour or more extra. I am not saying you should change hotels the night before your flight, but if you find yourself returning to the city after time away, this is a smart choice.
What are you waiting for? Plan your 5 days in Nairobi today!
Book your trip to Nairobi today and start exploring this amazing city! Also consider taking on extra days to explore a few places outside the city! There are so many places to see and Reasons to Visit Kenya. What are you waiting for?
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