KenyaPlus — home
Your Kenya trip planner
Tell us what you love, how many days you have and who is travelling. We build a day-by-day itinerary, then check it for long drives, overloaded days and budget gaps — showing every estimate before you book.
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Experiences
The moments people cross the world for — each with where to go and what our checked sources say.
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Wildlife encounters
Herds of wildebeest and zebras plunging into the Mara River.
Where: Maasai Mara
Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Adventure and the outdoors
A dawn flight over the plains, ending with breakfast in the bush.
Where: Maasai Mara
Photo: U.S. Department of State · Public domain · original
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Wildlife encounters
Watch rescued orphans run out of the forest at the Sheldrick nursery.
Where: Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Nursery
Photo: GioRan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Wildlife encounters
Close encounters with the Rothschild giraffe in Lang'ata, Nairobi.
Where: Giraffe Centre
Photo: Syllabub · CC BY-SA 3.0 · original
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Wildlife encounters
Pink shorelines, hot springs and geysers at Bogoria and Nakuru.
Where: Lake Bogoria · Lake Nakuru
Photo: N Beenay · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Coast and sea
Kenya's oldest marine parks at Watamu and Malindi.
Where: Watamu · Malindi · Diani Beach
Photo: Sila101 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Culture and history
East Africa's best-preserved Swahili town, with no rush at all.
Where: Lamu
Photo: Galkey · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Adventure and the outdoors
Ride past zebras and buffalo, then walk the gorge — no vehicle needed.
Where: Naivasha
Safari planning
Straight answers to the questions people ask most — and where we don't have checked facts, we say so.
There is no single best park: it depends on the animals you hope to see, when you travel and how far you are willing to drive. Compare the safari destinations side by side, with every fact labelled.
Reserve entry for an adult is USD 200 for non-residents from July to December and USD 100 from January to June; Kenyan citizens pay KES 3,000 and KES 1,500 in the same seasons.
Sources: County Government of Narok: The Narok County Finance Act, 2023 — First Schedule, Maasai Mara National Reserve (Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 7, Narok County Acts No. 3) (opens in a new tab); County Government of Narok: Narok County Finance Bill, 2024 (draft, April 2024) — First Schedule (opens in a new tab) · checked 23 Oct 2026
The Narok County Finance Act, 2023 (Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 7), checked on 23 Oct 2026. The county's draft Finance Bill, 2024 proposed no change to these fees. We found no later Act; confirm with Narok County before you pay.
Camps, transport and conservancy fees are on top. KenyaPlus doesn't quote camp prices — add the quotes you receive to a trip and the budget totals them, with the reserve fees, for you.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve: It is known for the Great Migration of wildebeest and zebras, and is home to the Big Five: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros.
Source: Kenya Biodiversity — National Clearing House Mechanism (opens in a new tab) · checked 16 Oct 2026
Wild animals move freely, so no park can promise you will see all five on a given day.
The most dramatic part of the migration — when wildebeest and zebras cross the Mara River into the Maasai Mara — usually happens between July and October.
Sources: Magical Kenya (Kenya Tourism Board) (opens in a new tab); Kenya News Agency (kenyanews.go.ke) (opens in a new tab) · checked 16 Oct 2026
The best-time guide also covers when the herds return to the Serengeti and the rainy seasons.
Destinations
Start with what you have in mind. Each collection says how its places were chosen — nothing here is paid for or ranked by popularity.
Up to about 4½ h by road from Nairobi — KenyaPlus estimates, closest first.
Photo: Bett Duncan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Nakuru County
A freshwater lake in the eastern arm of the Rift Valley and a Ramsar wetland of international importance, with Hell's Gate National Park to its south.
90 km from Nairobi on the Nairobi–Nakuru highway
A national park of about 52 km² around a young volcano, 90 km from Nairobi on the Nairobi–Nakuru highway. Gazetted in 1983, its main draw is the challenging hike up to and around the crater rim.
Photo: Syllabub · CC BY-SA 3.0 · original
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Nakuru County
A national park around a very shallow, strongly alkaline lake, famous for its flamingos and a sanctuary for black rhinos.
Photo: Galkey · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Kenyan highlands, east of the Rift Valley
Africa's second-highest peak at 5,199 m, an extinct volcano about 193 km north-east of Nairobi. Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, first inscribed in 1997.
Laikipia, near Nanyuki
A wildlife conservancy in Laikipia near Nanyuki. It describes itself as the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, home to the last two northern white rhinos, and the only place in Kenya to see chimpanzees.
Photo: Matteo Frigo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Central Kenyan highlands
A national park of about 766 km² in the Aberdare (Nyandarua) mountains, gazetted in 1950 and managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service, with moorland, bamboo forest and forested ravines.
Photo: Arthur Buliva · CC BY-SA 3.0 · original
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Baringo County
A narrow, shallow, alkaline lake on the Rift Valley floor, protected as Lake Bogoria National Reserve since 1981, with hot springs and geysers on its western shore. It is part of the Kenya Lake System World Heritage Site.
Photo: Ninaras · CC BY 4.0 · original
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Kajiado County
A national park in southern Kenya near the Tanzanian border, famous for its large elephant herds and views of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak.
Places where at least 4 of the Big Five are on record in our checked sources, most first.
Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Narok County
A reserve in southwestern Kenya, the northern part of the Mara–Serengeti ecosystem shared with Tanzania, known for the Great Migration of wildebeest and zebras.
Photo: Richard Mortel · CC BY 4.0 · original
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Taita-Taveta County
Kenya's second-largest national park, about 9,065 km² in Taita-Taveta County, with the Big Five, more than 600 recorded bird species and a volcanic landscape of lava flows and springs.
Photo: Alexmbogo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Nairobi City County
Kenya's capital city, with Nairobi National Park — home to the endangered black rhino — a short drive from the central business district.
Photo: Matteo Frigo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Central Kenyan highlands
A national park of about 766 km² in the Aberdare (Nyandarua) mountains, gazetted in 1950 and managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service, with moorland, bamboo forest and forested ravines.
Photo: Nina R · CC BY 2.0 · original
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Eastern Kenya, east of Meru town
A national park of about 870 km², 350 km from Nairobi, protected since 1966 and managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service — where George and Joy Adamson raised Elsa the lioness.
Places KenyaPlus tags for beach holidays.
Photo: FredD · CC BY-SA 3.0 · original
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Kwale County
One of Kwale County's top tourism sites, known for its white sandy beaches.
Photo: Bahnfrend · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Mombasa County
A historic port town whose Fort Jesus, built by the Portuguese in 1593–1596 to protect the port, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Photo: Ruslik0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Kilifi County
A coastal town in Kilifi County, about 120 km north-east of Mombasa, with the Vasco da Gama Pillar — a national monument managed by the National Museums of Kenya — and Kenya's first marine protected area.
Photo: N Beenay · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
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Kilifi County
A beach area on Kenya's north coast with Watamu Marine National Park and Reserve, a protected area since 1968 managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service, known for coral reefs and nesting sea turtles.
Before you book
Many itineraries look fine on paper and fall apart on the road. The Reality Check reviews your plan against clear rules — travel time between places, how full each day is, time at each destination, routing and your own budget figures — and tells you what it could not check.
Practical guides
What to know before you go, with a source for every statement.
Who needs Kenya's eTA, who is exempt and for how long, the documents to have ready, and how long approval takes — from the official portal.
Who pays which rate at Kenya's national parks and the Maasai Mara, how seasons and children's ages change the fee, and what costs extra.
Kenya's two rainy seasons, when the wildebeest migration usually reaches the Maasai Mara, and what that means for planning.
The Nairobi–Mombasa train, domestic flights from Wilson Airport, and realistic road times between Kenya's main destinations.
Kenya's currency and banknotes, what you need to register a local SIM card, the official languages, and the plastic-bag ban — from official sources.
Which side Kenyans drive on, the legal speed limits, roundabouts, and what the tourism board says about licences — from Kenyan law and official sources.
Our standards
Every fact on KenyaPlus carries one of four labels.
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