Nairobi eSIM
In Nairobi you connect to Safaricom or Airtel, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 33 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Safaricom and Airtel
- Typical speed in Kenya
- 33 Mbps typical, 7 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Nairobi
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $9.89 | $9.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $6.30 | $18.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $5.58 | $27.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $4.59 | $45.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $4.14 | $82.89 |
How Kenya compares across Africa
- Regional typical speed
- 29.5 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, Safaricom, Airtel
- 5G
- Yes, non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Rwanda, 34 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Tunisia, 33 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 3: Nairobi, Mombasa, Maasai Mara
Landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
- Airport
- NBO / HKJK
- Distance
- 18 km from the centre of Nairobi
- Also serves
- Wilson Airport (WIL)
Getting into Nairobi
- Rail link from JKIA to central Nairobi (NBO)
- City Bus Route 34 (NBO)
- Nairobi Expressway / A109 Mombasa Road (NBO)
Worth knowing about Nairobi
- Nairobi has two airports with very different jobs: Jomo Kenyatta, 18 km southeast, for international flights, and Wilson, about 4 km south of the CBD, which is the base for safari and light-aircraft operators.
- A rail link between JKIA and central Nairobi went into operation on 7 December 2020, so the airport is no longer road-only.
- The Nairobi Expressway, completed in 2022, was built specifically to relieve congestion on Mombasa Road, the main airport route.
- The Madaraka Express standard-gauge trains do not terminate in the city centre: the Nairobi Terminus is at Syokimau near the airport, about 20 km from the CBD, with a transfer to metre-gauge trains for the last leg.
- The Madaraka Express to Mombasa leaves Nairobi Terminus three times a day in the January 2026 timetable: an inter county train at 8:00 arriving 14:00, an express at 15:00 arriving 20:30, and a night train at 22:00 arriving 3:55.
- On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays a long distance train also runs from Nairobi Terminus to Suswa via Rongai, Ngong and Maai Mahiu, leaving at 8:50 and returning from Suswa at 16:05, according to Kenya Railways.
Sources for this page
Other cities in Kenya we cover
- Maasai Mara
- 212 km from Nairobi, nearest airport MRE
- Mombasa
- 442 km from Nairobi, nearest airport MBA