Nairobi 3-Day Itinerary: National Park, Karen and Karura Forest

This three-day Nairobi itinerary groups sights geographically so you spend your time on trails and game tracks rather than in cross-town traffic: days one and two focus on the southern wildlife belt of Langata and Karen, while day three explores the northern forest and museum quarter. Before you travel, book your Sheldrick elephant nursery slot and eCitizen park pass; see our practical briefing.

Day 1: Dawn Game Drive in Nairobi National Park and the Elephant Nursery

• Early morning (at first light): enter Nairobi National Park through the KWS Main Gate in a pop-up-roof 4x4 safari vehicle for a four-hour game drive tracking black and white rhinos, lions, buffaloes and giraffes against the morning skyline, stopping at the Ivory Burning Site Monument and the Hippo Pools.
• Late morning: drive around to the KWS Central Workshop Gate for your pre-booked one-hour visit at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Nursery to watch the orphaned elephant calves drink their milk bottles and wallow in red mud.
• Afternoon: enjoy a long garden lunch in Langata (such as at the Matbronze Cafe or Cultiva), browse the lost-wax bronze wildlife sculptures, and walk the raised timber boardwalks of the Nairobi Safari Walk before an early evening rest.

Day 2: The Giraffe Centre, Karen Blixen Museum and Kazuri Beads

• Morning: arrive early at the Giraffe Centre in Langata to hand-feed endangered Rothschild's giraffes from the upper wooden platform, then stroll the shaded 1.5-kilometre Gogo River Bird Sanctuary trail opposite the entrance.
• Midday: take a ten-minute ride west into leafy Karen to tour the 1912 stone farmhouse and coffee-estate grounds of the Karen Blixen Museum facing the Ngong Hills, followed by lunch at a garden restaurant along Karen Road or at the Talisman.
• Afternoon: join a free guided workshop tour at Kazuri Beads Factory to watch women artisans hand-shape and glaze ceramic beads from Mount Kenya clay, then spend the evening in Karen or Westlands.

Day 3: Karura Forest Waterfalls, Nairobi National Museum and KICC Rooftop

• Morning: head to Gate A or Gate C of Karura Forest for a two-hour walk through indigenous upland forest to the 15-metre waterfall, bamboo groves and Mau Mau caves, stopping for a Kenyan AA coffee on the River Café forest deck.
• Early afternoon: visit the Nairobi National Museum on Museum Hill to explore the Cradle of Humankind hominid fossil gallery (Turkana Boy), the East African bird collection and Joy Adamson's botanical paintings.
• Late afternoon and evening: ride up to the 28th-floor open-air helipad of the KICC for a farewell 360-degree view over Nairobi, then celebrate your last night with charcoal-grilled nyama choma, ugali and kachumbari before your onward flight or SGR train.