The dense, energetic downtown — skyscrapers, markets, museums, matatus and the crackling pulse of the city, with budget and business hotels. Central and full of life, if chaotic and best avoided alone at night; the base for travellers who want to be in the thick of urban Nairobi, close to the museum, cathedral and markets, and don't mind the intensity.
A look around
What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.
€80–170
typical per night in Kenya
The sensible middle
Typical prices for Nairobi — neither steal nor splurge.
Where it sits
The circle is City Centre and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.
How far is everything?
From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.
- The Maasai Market9 min taxi2.9 km
- A Kibera community tour15 min taxi4.9 km
- Nyama choma & Kenyan food21 min taxi7.0 km
- Bomas of Kenya28 min taxi9.5 km
- Nairobi National Park29 min taxi9.8 km
- The Giraffe Centre40 min taxi13.2 km
- The Karen Blixen Museum43 min taxi14.2 km
- Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage43 min taxi14.3 km
On your doorstep
What you’re living next to if you stay here.
- 6.Nairobi National Museum — Kenya's flagship museum — superb halls on human origins (Kenya is the 'cradle of mankind', with some of the world's most important hominid fossils), the country's astonishing birdlife and mammals, and its diverse cultures and history, plus a snake park in the leafy grounds. A rewarding, air-conditioned couple of hours and a great primer on Kenya's nature and heritage; a cultural highlight of the capital, near the centre.
- 12.City Market — A bustling historic covered market in the heart of downtown — a colourful crush of stalls selling flowers, fruit, spices, crafts, curios and, in the back, fresh fish and meat, with vendors calling out and haggling over Maasai carvings and beadwork. A vivid, sensory plunge into everyday Nairobi commerce and a good central spot for souvenirs; go with your bargaining hat on. A lively, authentic slice of the city centre.
- 13.The Railway Museum — A charmingly old-fashioned museum telling the story of the 'Lunatic Express', the British railway whose building gave birth to Nairobi itself — vintage locomotives and carriages (including the one from the man-eating lions of Tsavo story), photos and memorabilia in a sleepy trackside setting. A quirky, atmospheric hour for history and train buffs, and a window into the colonial origins of the city. Offbeat and endearing.
When are you staying?
Booking.com & Airbnb open searched to City Centre; flights via Google Flights.