Places to visit in 48 Hours in Nairobi City, Kenya

People often go to Africa for the animal experiences, but Nairobi, Kenya is a bustling cosmopolitan city. To get a real taste of Nairobi you must interact with the people, visit ancient cultures that have lived off the land for generations and rub elbows with the millennials who are shaping the vibrant city scene of Nairobi. First of all, two days in Nairobi city is nowhere, near enough but if you only have a taste of this part of Kenya make it count. If I could only spend two days in Nairobi they’d be Sunday and Monday to get a good variety of places to visit. This list of places covers the gamut of animal experiences and cultural experiences to be had on your visit to Nairobi.

Day One Places to Visit in Nairobi

8:00 am – 9:00 am Grab Breakfast |Dine on Chapati, and samosas. Nairobi has a heaving Indian presence that goes back pretty far as does the rest of Kenya. Breakfast is the best time to sample this local fare a breakfast of fresh fruits and warm Chapati is not to be missed. The mixing of the cultures can be experienced most easily on the side of chapati served at almost every meal. If you want a more traditionally Kenyan side dish to opt for Ugali, a starchy side dish similar to West African fufu. Visit a local eatery in Nairobi to truly get the vibe of the city and skip over familiar places to eat, such as KFC.

9:00 am – 4:00 pm Visit Maasai Women|Take a two-hour drive outside of Nairobi and visit the Maasai women in the town of Ngong, located in Kajiado Kenya. Get up close and personal with women who are living off of the land and walking the line between preserving the ancient ways of their culture, and navigating the modern world. We booked our tour here on Airbnb. This experience outside the bustling city life of Nairobi Kenya was one of the most life-changing things I’ve ever had the privilege of experiencing. Learning how strong women navigate the new world with the vanishing skills they learned from their mothers was really eye-opening. You learn so much from these women about strength and perseverance, one of my favorite parts was having the Maasai women ask us questions about our life.

For people who like to shop, this is also the perfect first stop, as the women have the beautiful hand-beaded jewelry synonymous with Maasai tribespeople, for sale at the end of the experience. Of all the places we visited in Kenya that had beadwork for sale this was the cheapest and highest quality we’ve seen. If for no other reason patronize these women so you have an idea of how much you should be paying for Maasai handicrafts.

4:00 pm – 5:30 pm K1 Klubhouse| The place to visit if you want to see and be seen in Nairobi. It’s the perfect place in the city to people watch, and rub elbows with people shaping the Nairobi social scene. On our visit to Nairobi, we met people not only from Kenya but visiting, from places all over Africa. If you have the pleasure of visiting on a Sunday (the only reason I recommend Sunday and Monday as the best time to visit Nairobi) then you’re in for a real treat. There’s an all-day brunch served community style on a long picnic table that runs the length of the establishment and a flea market that runs all night with most vendors leaving at sundown. I went for the flea and was not disappointed. There were vintage clothing vendors and contemporary African brands. Traditional African market fare, like woven baskets and Ankara, were presented in new contemporary styles, think dip died baskets and Ankara streetwear.

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Alan Donovan African Heritage House | If you’ve only got 48 hours in Nairobi be sure to stay at the African Heritage House. If you can’t stay the night in this breathtaking museum, be sure to go on a sunset tour of the grounds and enjoy the tea time. Everywhere you look you are surrounded by magic in this place. The residence housed in a building reminiscent of a Malian castle is stuffed to the brim with a lifetime of treasured collected during Alan Donovan’s extensive trips throughout Africa. The walls covered in sumptuous tapestries frame layers upon layers of meticulously placed precious artifacts. Sadly Alan himself was in the US when I visited Kenya but, the men who work on the property lovingly care for each piece in this home and administer a level of service that you are hard pressed to find in a five-star establishment. A morning tea time and an evening turndown service where mosquito nets are lovingly arranged around layers of sumptuous bedding will have you never want to visit any other place in Nairobi. You can book your stay directly through their website.

9:00 pm – 12:00 am | I’ve got old knees so midnight dancing is rarely in the cards for me. If you’ve got young knees then totally stop into

Places to Visit in Nairobi on Day Two

6:00 am – 9:30 am Nairobi National Park Safari|Nairobi is unique in being the only capital city in the world to have a protected national park within its borders. Picture standing watching gazelles graze with a view of the high rises in Nairobi City, skyline rising in the distance, that is the magic of Kenya. The animals are best spotted in the early morning hours and the late evening hours so if you’re an early riser this 6:00 am Nairobi mini safari just outside the heart of the city will be one of the best places to visit. Entrance to the park for non-Kenyan residents is $43 per adult and $22 per child and most tour operators do not cover it in their fees, this tour at just $35 per adult is the best-priced tour I’ve come across.

10:00 am – 10:45 am Giraffe Center | If you’re following this schedule as we did you’ll have just enough time to empty your bag of giraffe good into the mouths of your eager long-necked friends at the giraffe center. Located in the posh Nairobi City neighborhood of Karen the Giraffe Center is one of the only places in Nairobi City where you can view the rare Rothschild’s Giraffe.

11:00 am – 12:00 pm David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust | Baby Elephants, need I say more?

This is often one of the first places people tend to visit in Nairobi, and with good reason. There is only a 1-hour window to see the animals, during the public viewing between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm. Get there early or arrive slightly 15 minutes late as the first few minutes into this time you’ll probably be standing in the line to enter. Since baby elephant viewing is open for such a short time, expect LOTS of people. Don’t be shy about squeezing your way to the corral, when we went there are heaps of tourist with long-range lenses aiming to catch shots of baby elephants but everyone was polite and stepped aside for children to get a closer look. They bring all the young elephants down for feeding in two installments. While a rather monotonous gamekeeper tells you all about the elephants as they frolic and feed before you. Separated from the audience by nothing but a thin rope, this is one of the best places to visit in Nairobi to get up close and personal with elephants. The baby elephants completely unbothered by our oos and ahs get close enough to the single rope coral for you to stroke them, however, be mindful of your children’s hands and feet as baby elephants are not sure-footed and easily step or fall on people in the audience.

There are a lot of elephant orphans in the park, some were recused from drought, starvation, poaching, etc hence this is the first and most successful elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world, and one of the places you must see on a visit to Nairobi, Kenya. Be sure to wear clothing you don’t mind getting dirty as the entire area center is covered in red clay dirt that manages to settle on everything.

You can also adopt an elephant beforehand or do it on the day, it costs $50 for the year, and then you can go back at 5-6 pm for an intimate meeting with your elephant in its stockade with its keeper and you can wander the grounds to see the other infant elephants, mostly around 1-3 years old. Other animals on the premises available to view after hours are a blind rhino and a giraffe.

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Nai Nami Tour | When people think of places to visit in Kenya they often think of the animals, but the people of Nairobi, Kenya are what give the heart of the city its lively pulse. No trip to Nairobi would be complete without a tour of the city by the people who know the Kenyan city like the back of their hand.

Nai Nami tours are given by men who lived on the streets as children and now give tours of the cooler, more authentic parts of Nairobi. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Three of the founding members are in a group called the @nairobeez so if you’re lucky like us you’ll get a tour around the city by legitimate Afrobeats STARS.
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This off the beaten track tour was family-friendly and super safe, informative and really special. When our toddlers got tired these gentle giants took turns carrying them around town and across busy intersections without missing a beat.

The tour guides were hands down the highlight of our visit, selflessly sharing the city of Nairobi with us on an intimate level; by weaving their personal stories of trials and triumphs they infused more color in the most mundane places of an already vibrant city. Each adult in your party gets their own personal tour guide which really elevates the experience and makes each time you take the tour just as unique. One of the guides even went as far as offering their own sunglasses to one of our crying toddlers when we forgot ours at home. Here’s a snippet of the Swahili lesson we received on the tour where you can see to see what kind of vibe happens when New York and Nairobi link up.

Nai Nami, meaning. They have in-depth knowledge into the grittier real Nairobi, on the pulse of the real heartbeat of the city.

4:30 pm – 5:30 pm Le Mac | This brand new residence is one of the most interesting places to visit if you want to get a real feel for how cosmopolitan a city Nairobi really is. There is a 24th-floor outdoor glass sky deck that surrounds the building that visitors can experience for free. It’s one of the best places to take in soaring views of Nairobi city below. The observation deck is only one of the attractions the building has, as the open to the public space high up on the 24th floor also has multiple pools and a bar that serves tapas.

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Nyama Mama | Grab dinner in this beautiful boutique setting. Traditional Kenyan food is so artfully seasoned and filled with fresh ingredients it’s not to be missed. Nyama Mama serves authentic Kenyan dishes fare serving authentic dishes in a reimagined way. If you have to eat in one place on your visit to Nairobi Nyama Mama is a must.

If you land in the bustling city of Nairobi be sure to visit these fun places.

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