Nairobi History and Modern Culture Walking Tour
Recommended by 92% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Nairobi, Kenya
- 2 to 3 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Overview
Ideal as an introduction for first-time visitors to Nairobi (or anyone looking to enhance their understanding of the Kenyan capital), this tour ditches the dry historical information and gives travelers an insider’s view of the city. Highlights include Jamia Mosque, souvenir shopping at City Market, and a city-wide panorama from KICC. Bottled water and door-to-door, air-conditioned vehicle transfers are provided.
- Enjoy a varied itinerary that covers historical landmarks and cultural spots
- Learn how to speak in Swahili slang with a basic vocabulary lesson
- Get recommendations on Nairobi’s best eateries and hangouts
- A great option for a layover tour
What's Included
- Pickup and Drop-off
- Fruit Salad
- Shoe Cleaning
- Professional street photo
- Bottled water
- Entrance fee - Kenyatta International Convention Centre$4.00 per person
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
1
Jeevanjee Gardens
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
City Market
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Jamia Mosque
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
McMillan Memorial Library
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Kenyatta Avenue
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Sarova Stanley Hotel, Nairobi
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
7
Dedan Kimathi Statue
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
8
Moi Avenue
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
9
Kenyatta International Convention Centre
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
10
The Galton-fenzi Memorial
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 70 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 49 reviews
Katie_K, Mar 2026
I really enjoyed this tour! I didn't know much about Nairobi before arriving and was so grateful that the guide, Jacquie, was so knowledgeable about the history.
I did the tour on a Sunday morning. A lot of places were closed, so if you want a full marketplace and bustling people, don't go on a Sunday. It was perfect for me though, as the streets were quiet, we could walk in ease and ask plenty of questions and learn heaps.
Jacquie was so friendly and helpful, I would highly recommend this tour with her.
Tarin_T, Feb 2026
Booked this as a first day experience in Nairobi and I am so happy we did. Experience was as described in the booking.
Simon, our guide picked us up on time, and did an amazing job of explaining all the sites and giving pointers on how to respectfully experience the culture. He took pictures of us and overall is a great steward of Kenyan culture.
Part of the tour took us to the market where Mary had THE BEST MANGOS ever. Simon was kind enough to go back and get us some additional mangos.
This was worth the price.
10/10.
Grace_M, Feb 2026
We missed this excursion due to our lateness. I give this excursion a 5 star review because the provider reached out and offered us the walking tour later that day. That was exceptional for them to go out of their way to make sure we received what we paid for. I told them, "no worries, we will see you next time." Great company!
Hiab_D, Dec 2025
Leah was an incredible tour guide. She showed us around the historic sites in a way that was accommodating to our needs, answered all of our questions, and made the tour both enjoyable and super informative!
Hiab_D, Dec 2025
Leah was a fantastic tour guide and took us around Nairobi to hit up some monumental and historic sites while pausing every now and then to engage with locals and we even got a delicious fruit salad!
Peter_W, Oct 2025
Excellent walking tour around central Nairobi. Jacqueline (the guide) was very pleasant, had excellent English and gave a very good overview of the different parts/buildings in Nairobi as well as historical and current cultural information. N.B. the Convention Centre shuts to both tourists and local visitors when there are government meetings/summits/conferences going on which means you can't go to the top to look down over Nairobi.
Rick_W, Sep 2025
Leah is a very friendly and knowledgeable person who showed us around the Nairobi city, introducing all sorts of old and modern history, and made good recommendations for restaurants and other shops. We were so happy to have Leah on our first day right after arriving Nairobi, and we enjoyed our tour immensely with her. Thank you!
Brad_N, Aug 2025
Dennis was a treasure trove of information. He led the three of us on a very informative tour of the CBD.
Ismail_G, Jun 2025
Great tour in Nairobi. I really felt so safe as we went out with two guides. Overall I was in Kenya to do Safaris, however after this walking tour I am now convinced that a walking tour also have to be done by anyone visiting Nairobi.
We also received bracelets, fruits salad and Kenyan sweets including the price.
Jodie_B, Jun 2025
Great tour good way to view the city and get to know about the city!! Our tour guide Patrick super friendly and very knowledgeable
Kathryn_L, May 2025
Simon was awesome! He was fun and very informative. He knew the history of Nairobi and gave us a lot of info about the culture.
Nicolas_M, Apr 2025
Wonderful tour to learn about Nairobi. Our guide was awesome and we spent a wonderful time with him. Highly recommend this tour!
Lydia_G, Dec 2024
It is a 3 hour walking tour, including stairs in the Kenyatta tower. I would recommend participating in the morning when you are fresh and not in the afternoon when you might be tired from other activities, as was I. Shaz the tour guide and driver is very personable, knowledgeable and gave a good overview of what we were going to see then proceeded to show us. One other thing, for some reason the traffic was terrible and we sat in it at the pickup and drop off making the tour late to start and a very long day for Shaz.
Dmitriy_B, Jun 2024
The guide Dennis was sharing some history of Nairobi and showing us sights as advertised in the description. However, the during the walk we were subject to endless soliciting by beggars of all ages. The worst part of the tour was a visit to local market where we faced with not negotiations but open extortion. 5 people literally blocked our way out until we bought some staff from them overpaying at least 3 times. Bad experience!
Response from Host, Jul 2024
Am sorry Dmitry for this negative experience you had. While we try to caution and protect you from all this, we have no control over the attitudes and behaviours of people external to the tour. As stated in the oral briefing before the tour, the best way to get out of this is to ignore anybody trying to get your attention negatively and when they insist, strongly saying NO always works.
We however apologize for this unfortunate turn of events.
Sharidan_C, Apr 2024
a MUST do if you’re visiting nairobi!! dennis is a phenomenal guide and was extremely knowledgeable (and excited) to share the city’s rich history. the entire tour was awesome and ended with a spectacular rooftop experience. i would certainly book him again!! just be prepared to turn down several beggars and local people trying to overcharge you for small items. the constant pressure and solicitation from others was a bit distracting but dennis did an awesome job at deterring them and keeping things calm and enjoyable.
MELANIE_M, Apr 2024
Our your guide, Dennis was very knowledgeable on history, culture, and current events. We wished he would have been our first tour because he pointed out a lot of tourist trappings that allowed us to thoroughly enjoy the rest of our trip.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your kind words
Bernal_S, Nov 2023
I was very curious about visiting the central area of Nairobi. Prof. Dennis is an excellent guide and very knowledgeable. We explained very well the history of the city and ensured we felt safe. The views of the city are amazing.
Monica_D, Oct 2023
My sister and I had a flight transfer late in the evening so in the meantime we decided to do a Nairobi city tour.
Simon was in touch with us via WhatsApp and was there to pick us up at the airport (and drop us at the end of the tour just at the entrance of the airport).
During our car ride he explained some stuff to us about our surroundings and we got to know each other a bit.
We had a nice lunch with him in Nairobi then we started our tour with some indications on how to act in the city.
He was an amazing guide and person. Passionate, knows his stuff, always quick to answer our questions with a smile. He even kindly offered us a drink, sugar cane with lemon, so good!
We got to see and learn a lot, incredible view from the helipad at the rooftop of the KICC, after sunset pretty view of the buildings with the lights on…
Simon made everything interesting and fun at the same time!
mike_d, Sep 2023
Wholly discredited company= don't deal with these morons
Like all other tourists, I have a plan for limited time in Nairobi
On arrival at a local airport from the Masai Mara - which has very limited internet/wifi connections, I get this clown sending a WhatsApp message stating he has made a second booking with another group of people at the same time of mine.
Without consultation, he bounces me to a 2pm timeslot from 11.00am
He doesn't know what my plans are and certainly doesn't know I had already booked and paid for another adventure with Viator later that day - the two simply clashed
Refusing to provide me with a refund at firsts which after furious WhatsApp messaging, I threatened action against him, I did get my refund
Simple greed, found a sweeter booking and bounced mine at last moment-then arrogantly refusing to refund and still wanting to pick me up at his new time-he even tried to excuse himself by saying he was only offering a new suggested time - he wasn't - he was clearly after the money
Not to be trusted is Viator, they take your money and back off from the contract - they certainly do not vet their subcontractors that permit this scam to continue
Viator won't do anything here, so boycott Viator until they correct their business sense
Response from Host, Sep 2023
Thank you for your feedback Mike. It is unfortunate that you would call us names without meeting any of us. At the time of request to change the time of your tour, we were unaware of your tight schedule. It is regrettable than instead of declining to our kind request and informing us of your schedule, you replied threatening to put out a bad review even after we apologized and offered to go back to the original time. We refunded the money immediately after we had exhausted all our offers and I even came to your hotel to clear the air but you were unavailable.
We still thank you for your feedback which helps us in communicating with our clients.
All the best in your travels.
Martine_R, Jul 2023
We had small explanation at each important point of Nairobi city, the rooftop view is definitely a must and we even had a time to grab a coffee at a local coffee shop.
We had a great time with Denny, definitely recommend this tour ☺️
Response from Host, Jul 2023
Great feedback. Thank you. All the best in your travel endeavors. Welcome to Kenya again.
Crystal_H, Oct 2022
We learnedabout new cultures and walked the city of Nairobi. We were able to visit the fish market and have lunch.
Response from Host, Oct 2022
Thank you for booking us. It was my pleasure to be at your service.
From $22.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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