Trips worth planning around

Two nights is enough for a dawn game drive, the Karen museums and one proper night out — if you sleep in the right suburb. Here is the hour-by-hour plan, with room rates from KSh5,500 to KSh45,000.

Seven nights lets you settle into one suburb, walk three forests, eat across four cuisines and still fit an overnight in the Rift Valley. Here is the week, with apartment rates from KSh6,000 a night.

Three days in Nairobi for under KSh9,000 a day, including a bed, three meals and the entry fees that actually matter. Matatus, guesthouses and the two attractions worth paying for.

Three days with the good rooms, a private guide and the tables worth booking, from KSh45,000 hotel nights to a KSh60,000 helicopter hour. What is actually worth the money in Nairobi.

Ninety kilometres northwest of Nairobi, past the Rift Valley escarpment, sits a freshwater lake with hippos, a walkable gorge and a volcano you can climb before lunch. Entry fees from KSh3,400.

One hundred and sixty kilometres up the Rift Valley for rhinos, flamingos and a fever-tree forest. Lake Nakuru entry is about KSh7,800 non-resident, and the drive is three hours each way.

Sixty-three kilometres southeast of Nairobi, Machakos is the closest proper town escape: hill views, a lakeside park, wood carvers and lunch for KSh400. Matatus cost KSh200.

Forty-five kilometres up the eight-lane superhighway to waterfalls, a 2,146-metre hill with buffalo on it, and pineapple country. Fourteen Falls entry runs about KSh500 and matatus cost KSh150.

Thirty kilometres northwest and 400 metres higher, Limuru is tea country: farm lunches from KSh4,000, a 100-year-old estate house, and the Rift Valley viewpoint 20 minutes further on.

Nairobi sprawls across roughly 700 square kilometres, and the neighbourhood you pick decides whether you spend 20 minutes or 90 in traffic. Here are the eight areas worth your week, with honest nightly rates in KSh.

Nairobi sits 1,795m above sea level almost exactly on the equator, so temperatures barely move all year — highs hover between 21C and 26C. What changes is rain, dust and hotel pricing, and those swing hard across four distinct seasons.

Nairobi has no metro, one commuter rail line and around 20,000 matatus. Here is what each option actually costs, from a KSh60 matatu hop to a KSh2,500 airport ride, and when to use which.

Nairobi runs on M-Pesa, not cash or cards — over 30 million Kenyans use it. Here is what things actually cost, from a KSh50 matatu fare to a KSh8,000 hotel night, and how much to tip.

Nairobi's reputation runs harder than its reality, but the risks are specific and predictable. Follow about six rules — starting with never walking after 6.30pm sunset — and most visits pass without incident.

Kenyan food in Nairobi runs from KSh200 plates of ugali to KSh1,200-a-kilo goat ribs. These are the ten dishes to eat and the kinds of places that do them properly.

Nairobi's markets range from a colonial-era produce hall on Muindi Mbingu Street to a Maasai craft market that changes location every day of the week. Here are the eight worth your time, with what to pay.

You can eat extremely well in Nairobi for under KSh1,300 a meal — often for a third of that. Here are twelve dishes under the line, where to find them, and how to eat for KSh1,000 a day.

Nairobi has a genuinely free day in it — parks, cathedrals, galleries and a CBD walking loop — plus a second tier of places that cost KSh100 to KSh600. Here are 30-plus options sorted by what you actually pay at the gate.

Nairobi drinks late and loud across three main belts, and the gap between a great night and a bad one is about four kilometres of road. Here are the venues worth booking, the ones to skip, and what a Tusker costs in each — from KSh200 to KSh800.

Nairobi sits one degree south of the equator, so the sun drops between 6.25pm and 6.50pm all year and the whole show lasts about 25 minutes. These are the 12 spots worth timing your day around, from a free park bench to a KSh800 rooftop cocktail.