Nairobi City Sightseeing Bus Tour

The city centre and the KICC tower

Nairobi grew from a railway supply depot of 1899 on the line between the coast and Uganda into the largest city of East Africa, and the compact central business district still follows that early grid. The loop starts on Koinange Street and passes the landmark that defines the skyline: the KICC, the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, a cylindrical tower of 1973 with a rooftop helipad and a viewing deck. The deck ticket is not included; on days when it is open you can buy it on the spot and see the city, the hills and, on a clear morning, the plains of the national park.

Around the tower stand the Parliament buildings with their clock tower, City Hall, the law courts and the old colonial-era offices that your guide places in the story of independence in 1963. This is the part of the Nairobi city tour that makes the rest of the map make sense.

Uhuru Park and the green side of the capital

Nairobi's nickname, the Green City in the Sun, comes from the parks and tree-lined avenues that cool the centre at an altitude of about 1,700 metres. Uhuru Park, laid out in 1969 beside the business district, is the best-known: lawns, an artificial lake, the freedom monument and the view back across the water to the towers, a favourite photo stop on this Nairobi bus tour. Next to it, Central Park and the Nairobi Arboretum, planted in the early 1900s, hold hundreds of tree species and colonies of monkeys.

The ride continues along the avenues of the hill districts where embassies, the university and the hospitals sit under jacaranda trees that flower purple in October and November. Your guide explains how the city is organised, from the matatu minibuses painted with graffiti to the new expressway that cuts across the skyline.

Historic streets, markets and the railway heritage

Between the modern towers the loop passes the older face of the city: the mosques and the Jamia Mosque's twin minarets, the Indian-style shopfronts of the downtown streets, the McMillan Memorial Library and the railway station district where the Nairobi story began. The City Market and the Maasai curio stalls show the craft side of Kenya, from soapstone carving to beadwork, and there is usually a short stop where you can step off for photos.

The guide's commentary mixes history with how people live now: the morning rush, the hawkers, the sports clubs and the neighbourhoods where the city's many communities meet. This is the context that makes things to do in Nairobi easier to choose afterwards, whether you go on to the museum, the giraffe centre or a game drive in the national park.

Shared, Sunday or private: choosing your loop

The classic shared tour runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 09:00 from Koinange Street in an air-conditioned sightseeing van with a guide, lasting about four hours. On Sunday afternoons at 14:00 the loop runs in the large electric sightseeing bus, when the centre is quieter and the city's creators and photographers are out on the streets. For your own group we offer a private departure in the electric bus on any day, with hotel pickup and drop-off in Nairobi and the guide to yourselves.

The best time to take a Nairobi city tour is the first morning of your stay, so that the rest of your days fall into place, or during a layover of eight hours or more between flights. Bring a light jacket, as mornings are cool at this altitude, and your camera for the Uhuru Park view.