A guided walking tour in Nairobi is one of the best ways to experience the city and discover interesting spots. Our Nairobi CBD Walk begins at the Lionel Graton Plaque near the General Post Office (GPO). This is “distance zero,” as all distances from Nairobi start from here.
The first destination is the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC), a building synonymous with Kenya, often used as a landmark to depict the country. The KICC is a 105m tall structure, with a viewing deck on the rooftop, where you’ll have a panoramic view of the city.
From up here, you can see some of Nairobi’s green parks and appreciate the beautiful skyscrapers donning the city’s skyline. Worth mentioning is the GTC, an office complex that rises 43 floors, making it one of the tallest buildings in Africa. This tower is located in Westland’s and is an architectural piece to marvel at.
A stone throw away from the KICC is the Holy Family Basilica Cathedral-the first stone building in Nairobi.
After KICC, we will head to the Nairobi National Museum for a chance to learn about Kenya’s rich heritage. Established in 1929, the museum is home to collections of Kenya’s history, culture, nature, and contemporary art. Here, you can learn about events that shaped Kenya, from the precolonial period to post-independence.
Next on the tour is lunch at a local restaurant, giving you a good opportunity to try the local cuisine. There’s no shortage of popular restaurants serving the best local cuisine. A great option is “Carnivore,” which also happens to be one of Africa’s best restaurants.
After lunch, we head over to the Bomas of Kenya, located on Lang’ata road, some ten kilometers from the CBD. Bomas is derived from a Swahili word, Boma, meaning homestead. It, therefore, means homesteads of Kenya.
Here, you’ll get to visit replicas of traditional villages from 23 of Kenya’s 45+ ethnic groups. The venue has a large auditorium where you can watch traditional dance and music performances in the afternoon. You will learn a lot about the traditional lifestyles and customs of Kenya’s native communities at the Bomas.
Wrap up the day with a night in Westlands, the city’s entertainment hotspot. Westlands, found in the northwestern part of the city some 2 miles from the CBD, has several popular nightclubs where locals and foreigners dance the night away.
