Kenya‘s capital city of Nairobi is the only capital in the world containing a national park. I stayed here for an amazing 3 day Maasai Mara safari. First, I spent time exploring the city’s attractions, including charming animal centres and the former home of Karen Blixen, author of memoir-turned-movie Out of Africa. These are the day trips from Nairobi you won’t want to miss.
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Quick overview of the best day trips from Nairobi
- Giraffe Centre – Feed endangered Rothschild giraffes and get up close to these gentle giants
- Elephant Orphanage – Meet rescued baby elephants and learn about conservation efforts
- Karen Blixen Museum – Visit the former home of the Out of Africa author
- Nairobi National Park – Safari just 7km from the city centre to see lions, rhinos and giraffes
- Hell’s Gate & Lake Naivasha – Bike or hike among wildlife and take a boat ride to see hippos
- Mount Longonot – Hike up a dormant volcano for spectacular Rift Valley views
- Coffee farm tours – Learn how Kenya’s world-renowned coffee beans are processed
Where to stay in Nairobi
I stayed in Westlands, just north of the city centre, which was perfect for exploring the city. It’s safe with easy access to tour pickup points and close to the Karen suburb attractions like the Giraffe Centre and Elephant Orphanage.
If you are looking for an affordable Nairobi hotel with loads of character, check out the fabulous Acacia Tree Lodge.
The best hostels in Nairobi include Mad Vervet Nairobi Backpackers Hostel, which has evening entertainment and a shared kitchen. The top-rated Jabulani Nairobi Backpackers Hostel serves a tasty continental, vegetarian or vegan breakfast.
Explore the map below to find the best accommodation deals in Nairobi for your dates:
How to plan your day trips from Nairobi
There are loads of wildlife centres and attractions within easy reach of the city, perfect for a day of exploring before you head out on safari. The city’s traffic can be full-on, so I recommend hiring a local driver or booking a tour for day trips from Nairobi. This is what we did and it made such a difference. Our driver Samson knew the best routes and we could just relax and enjoy the day.
Don’t forget to pack your copy of the Lonely Planet Kenya guide book to help plan your adventure.
The Giraffe Centre
The African Fund for Endangered Wildlife runs the Giraffe Centre as a not-for-profit educational and conservation organization, set up to protect the endangered Rothschild giraffes only found in this part of Africa. Its successful breeding programme has resulted in several giraffe couples being introduced to Kenya’s vast national parks to help continue the species.
Visitors stand on a raised observation platform where giraffes poke their heads through at eye level. You can hand-feed these gentle giants and learn about conservation efforts from the friendly and knowledgeable staff.
I recommend arriving soon after the centre opens at 9am, then you can help feed the giraffes their breakfast!
My experience at the Giraffe Centre
As Nairobi’s traffic can be full-on, our driver suggested we leave early in the morning for our first day trip. It worked out especially well for us, as we were the first visitors to arrive at the Giraffe Centre. This meant we got to help call the giraffes for their breakfast and see them ambling over from the grounds of the nearby Giraffe Manor.
We were standing on a raised observation platform, so once the giraffes had made their way over, they poked their heads through so we were face-to-face with these beautiful creatures.
Book your tickets in advance for the Giraffe Centre here.
Breakfast for these giraffes was grey pellets and I was squealing with delight as I fed them by hand. Their long purple tongues swiftly scooped up the food, while their prickly lips tickled my palm. Then, our guide invited us to kiss the giraffes. After seeing the look of shock and disbelief on our faces, he explained that giraffe saliva is actually antiseptic, which helps their tongue heal after eating leaves from their favourite prickly acacia trees. So we had nothing to worry about – all we had to do was put the pellet between our teeth and the hungry giraffe would do the rest.
It was actually a really fun and novel experience. Apparently giraffes often hang around with warthogs, and these snuffling, tusked creatures can also be seen roaming the centre and affectionately nuzzling each other. While their tall giraffe friends can quickly alert them to danger in the wild, unfortunately warthogs have short memories so they can forget that there’s a predator around and get gobbled up!
Book your tickets in advance for the Giraffe Centre here.
The Elephant Orphanage
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage rescues baby and adolescent elephants from life-threatening situations in the wild.
One of the world’s most successful programmes of its kind, the trust has successfully hand-raised over 300 orphaned elephants and rhinos since 1977, eventually returning them to protected areas.
The centre and its associated charity offers the chance to sponsor one of these amazing creatures, as well as doing valuable conservation and anti-poaching work to protect them.
This is a good mid-morning stop on your Nairobi day trip. Public viewing is only available from 11am-12pm daily, when the orphaned elephants are brought out for their milk feeding. Visitors can watch the babies play and hear their individual rescue stories.
My experience at the Elephant Orphanage
The Elephant Orphanage had more of a touristy vibe than the Giraffe Centre. Men dressed as Maasai warriors greeted us at the entrance and inside there were far more visitors.
We heard the stories of each elephant – their name, age, character and why they were there. Perhaps they fell down a well or saw their parents killed by poachers. Unfortunately most of the reasons they’d been abandoned so young was because of humans, directly or indirectly.
Despite their traumatic experiences, these cute elephant kids certainly seemed happy and enjoyed lapping up their morning milk.
Book your tickets in advance for the Elephant Orphanage here.
Where to stop for lunch
After your morning at the Giraffe Centre and Elephant Orphanage, you’ll want to grab lunch before heading to the Karen Blixen Museum. The Karen area has several excellent restaurants. Popular choices include Tamarind Brasserie for international cuisine, Mama Rocks for gourmet burgers, or Matteo’s for Italian food. Your tour driver will likely know the best spots and can recommend places based on your budget and preferences.
Our lunch stop
For lunch, we visited the Nairobi Mamba Village. Here, we enjoyed a leisurely al fresco meal and marvelled at the many local schoolchildren who were visiting that day.
On display were fearsome crocodiles, giant tortoises, monkeys and ostriches.
While we had a nice time, the facilities are a bit run down. I’d recommend checking out one of the Karen restaurants mentioned above instead.
That said, it’s fun to feed their ostriches with nearby foliage. But you have to be careful as they forcefully snap it from your hand and could probably take a finger off in the process!
Karen Blixen Museum
Set at the foot of the Ngong Hills is the Karen Blixen Museum. The Danish writer Karen and her nobleman husband moved here in the 1910s to set up a coffee plantation. The farmhouse became world famous following the 1985 Oscar-winning movie Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, and based on Blixen’s autobiographical novel of her life there.
The museum is a reconstruction of how the house might have looked during Blixen’s time, featuring period furniture, some original pieces and photographs from her years in Kenya. The grounds are beautifully maintained with indigenous trees and plants.
My experience at the Karen Blixen Museum
This was the final stop on our Nairobi day trip. While this is an iconic place to visit, with its cultural relevance for the area, I was somewhat disappointed. The museum itself is simply a reconstruction of how the house might have looked during Blixen’s time there, with some original pieces.
I left feeling like it would be more meaningful for fans of the book and film, rather than for the casual visitor like me. That said, I would like to watch the movie, now I’ve had a glimpse into this celebrated author’s life. Especially since Meryl Streep is one of my favourite actresses.
Book your tickets in advance for the Karen Blixen Museum here.
Other day trips from Nairobi worth considering
While the Karen suburb attractions made up my personal itinerary, there are several other excellent options for day trips from Nairobi that come highly recommended:
Nairobi National Park
Located just 4 miles (7km) from the city centre, Nairobi National Park is the only national park in the world located in a capital city. Here you can spot lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, buffalo and giraffes against the surreal backdrop of the city’s skyline.
Game drives typically last 3-4 hours and work perfectly as a morning or afternoon excursion. This is an excellent introduction to safari experiences if you’re short on time but still want that wildlife fix.
It must be a bizarre but brilliant sight watching zebras graze with skyscrapers in the distance.
Book a half-day game drive in Nairobi National Park for this unique experience.
Hell’s Gate National Park and Lake Naivasha
For a proper adventure, a popular full day trip from Nairobi is to Hell’s Gate National Park and Lake Naivasha. Located around 56 miles (90 km) from Nairobi, Hell’s Gate is one of the few parks in Kenya that you can walk or cycle through. With dramatic rock formations, deep gorges and geothermal hot springs, its landscape inspired the scenery in Disney’s The Lion King.
The route through the park is relatively flat and if you’re lucky you’ll see zebras, warthogs, gazelles and the occasional giraffe. The real highlight is hiking down into the narrow gorges afterwards.
Nearby Lake Naivasha is home to over 400 bird species, including fish eagles and pelicans. The boat ride gets rave reviews – you’ll see hippos lounging in the water at close range, and boat captains sometimes feed the eagles to give you spectacular close encounters.
Book your place on the popular Hell’s Gate and Lake Naivasha day tour from Nairobi.
Mount Longonot
If you’re feeling adventurous, why not take a day trip from Nairobi to Mount Longonot, a dormant volcano 37 miles (60 km) from the capital.
Your day will start at around 6am, so you can avoid the midday heat. You’ll need decent fitness levels and proper hiking shoes for the loose volcanic soil. Make sure you bring plenty of water. The hike is around 5 miles (9 km) beginning gently, then becoming steeper. If you’re lucky, you might spot giraffes, zebras and antelopes along the trail.
The real reward is the view from the top, which is spectacular on a clear day. You can peer down into the crater and see the steam vents that prove this volcano isn’t completely dormant. Looking beyond, you’ll see the Great Rift Valley stretching into the distance with Lake Naivasha glinting below.
Book a Mount Longonot hiking tour with transport from the city.
Coffee farm tours
For something more leisurely, a tour of Fairview Coffee Estate is a delightful half-day trip from Nairobi. Kenya’s coffee industry produces some of the world’s finest beans but is surprisingly little-known among Kenyans themselves, as most of it gets exported.
Here, you can learn about the coffee-making process from bean to cup. You’ll walk through the plantation, see how the beans are processed, roasted and ground. Afterwards, you’ll have the opportunity to taste this local coffee.
Book a Fairview Coffee Estate tour including transfer from Nairobi.
Frequently asked questions about day trips from Nairobi
How many days are needed in Nairobi?
Two to three days works well for most people. This gives you a full day to visit the main attractions in the Karen neighbourhood (the Giraffe Centre, Elephant Orphanage and Karen Blixen Museum), plus time for other activities like Nairobi National Park and exploring the city itself. If you’re planning a Maasai Mara safari, many people spend a day or two in Nairobi before or after the trip.
Can you do a day trip from Nairobi to Maasai Mara?
A day trip to Maasai Mara is not recommended, as it involves 5-6 hours of driving each way and the entrance fee is expensive. It’s better to do a 3 day Maasai Mara safari or if you don’t have time, visit the Nairobi Nature Park inside the city.
Where do foreigners hang out in Nairobi?
Foreign visitors and expats typically gather in neighbourhoods like Westlands, known for its restaurants and bars, and Karen, which has a more suburban feel with cafés and the famous Giraffe Manor. For nightlife, Westlands and the nearby Kilimani neighbourhood have the most popular spots.
What are the best short road trips from Nairobi?
Beyond the Karen attractions, excellent short road trips include Lake Naivasha (90km, 1.5 hours), Hell’s Gate National Park (90km, 1.5 hours), and Kiambethu Tea Farm (30km, 1 hour). For weekend trips, Lake Nakuru National Park is around 2.5 hours away and combines stunning flamingo populations with other wildlife.
Reflecting on the best day trips from Nairobi
As we made our way back into the city in the taxi, driven by our excellent driver and guide, Samson, I reflected on our action-packed day trip from Nairobi.
The highlights were definitely the Giraffe Centre and the Elephant Orphanage. Both do important conservation work to protect Kenya’s wildlife, and they’re fun places to visit. Feeding the giraffes by hand was such an unexpected experience. Watching the baby elephants play together, knowing their tragic backstories but seeing how happy and resilient they are, was genuinely moving.
Looking back, I wish I’d had time to visit Nairobi National Park – it looks amazing to see animals like zebras and giraffes grazing with the skyscrapers in the background.
Our day trip from Nairobi was amazing and full of surprises. It’s funny to think at the beginning of the day I had no idea I would be kissing giraffes!
Next up, read more about what to expect on a 3 day Maasai Mara safari from Nairobi.
