Many travellers have a layover in Nairobi before heading to another destination. Whether you are going for a Safari in Kenya or are visiting other African countries, Kenya Airways is one of African’s top airlines and chances are high you will have to stop in Nairobi. The same happened to me, flying from Brisbane to Johannesburg, I had scheduled a 4 hour stop in Nairobi.
Now, my advice for you guys is: Contact the airline and ask to postpone your next flight in order to have a full day to explore Nairobi, it’s definitely worth it. With only an extra 40$, I was able to spend 24 hours there!
Apply for a transit Visa
Easy and cheap, if you want to leave the airport and explore Nairobi during your layover you must apply for a Transit Visa. It only costs 21$ and you can do it online.
You can apply on the Kenyan government website, here: visa.go.ke/transit-visa.html
How to spend 24 hours in Nairobi?
Take a Uber from the airport to town, it is cheaper and safer than normal taxis. Plus the drivers are usually very friendly and well dressed.
I landed at 1pm and it took me almost an hour to reach the city; allocate more time if you go during rush hours as the traffic gets crazy.
Where to stay?
I recommend to stay in the neighbourhood of Westlands. It is the safest and most convenient location for tourists and expats and if you only have a night to spend in Nairobi and want to check out the nightlife it is definitely the place to be. There are some nice restaurants to try local meals and bars and clubs to enjoy the night!
I stayed at Joy Palace Hotel, 40$ for a twin room, clean and centrally located in Westlands.
Let’s explore Nairobi
Leave you bags at the hotel and take a Uber to go to the Central Business District. You can ask your driver to drop you off at the intersection between Moi Avenue and Kenyatta, and explore by foot from there. Check out Jamia Mosque and if it’s not too late in the afternoon, walk all the way to August 7th Memorial Park.
Walk back towards The Holy Family Minor Basilica and stroll around the busy streets full of locals about to leave the offices. You will notice a lot of people dressed fancy and with a suit. I personally wasn’t expecting that in Nairobi, but the town is developing fast and business are growing.
Must do in Nairobi:
Go to Kenyatta International Convention Center to enjoy the best possible view of Nairobi!
The entrance is 500 Kes ( about 5$) and it is really worth the price. You will access the KICC tower and go to the open rooftop at the 28th floor. Nairobi skyline is great and you can understand how the city is developing, with many skyscrapers around.
Important: be sure to be there before it closes. At the moment of writing the KICC tower closes at 6 pm from Monday to Friday and at 5 pm in the weekend.
From there cross the road and check the Parliament Buildings.
Do not take any picture (as I did) to avoid being taken by the police and asked for money, with the threat to be arrested. It took me an hour to get out of that unpleasant situation and luckily I ended up not giving any money to the Police.
If you still have some time walk around Uhuru Park before taking a Uber back to the hotel. Do not stay out in the CBD after it gets dark and the offices close, it is unsafe.
Local food and nightlife
Finally, dinner time. There are plenty of nice and cheap restaurants in Westlands at walking distance from your hotel and I recommend you to try some local speciality.
I ate at County 2 County Choma Grill and for only 10$ I had Tilapia with Ugali. Delicious!!
Ugali is is a type of maize flour porridge made in Africa, very traditional in Kenya, and it usually comes accompanied with fish or meat.
After dinner you can have some drinks at the bars in the area and check out 40Forty Lounge if you want to go clubbing! Keep in mind that you need to set an alarm for the early morning to go explore Nairobi’s most adventurous area.
Kibera Slum
Largest urban slum in Africa and home to more than a million people, Kibera Slum is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the world, with most of the inhabitants making less than 1$ per day. Diseases caused by poor hygiene are prevalent and clean water is scarce. Cases of assault and rape are common. There are few schools, but most people cannot afford education for their children. A great majority living in the slum lack access to basic services, including electricity, running water, and medical care.
It is not a place where tourists go and definitely not a place you can visit on your own. However, in the last few years some local guys have started a project to organize a few tours to raise money to help the community.
Hence I suggest going with Kevin (check him on Tripadvisor, Kevin Kibera Slum tours), a knowledgeable guy who lives in Kibera and works to improve the quality of life there. He picked us up at 7 am from the hotel and drove us to Kibera.
The tour was insane, the place is really undeveloped, dirty and smelly, and not for the faint hearted. We walked around Kibera for 3 hours and explored several parts of the slum. We went to a local school, visited Kevin’ s house and saw an open rubbish dump where people live. Tough experience, but very interesting.
You can read the article about my experience inside Kibera Slum if you wish to discover more and see some videos.
After the tour Kevin drove us directly to the airport (we had left the backpacks in his car) ready to catch a flight to South Africa!
Hope you enjoyed my suggestions for your 24 hour itinerary in Nairobi! if you have any advice on what else to do in Nairobi in such a short amount of time, leave it in the comments below!
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