15 best places to visit in Kenya

Kenya packs savannah, snow-capped mountains, flamingo lakes, rainforest and white-sand beaches into one country. Here are the fifteen places we'd send a first-time visitor, starting with the safari classics.

1. Maasai Mara

Kenya's most famous reserve, with big cats all year and the Great Migration from about July to October. Five to six hours from Nairobi by road, or an hour by plane. Read our guide to the migration, month by month.

2. Amboseli National Park

Herds of elephants with Kilimanjaro behind them. About four hours from Nairobi, and best with two days. See our Amboseli guide.

3. Nairobi

Don't rush through the capital. Nairobi National Park has rhinos and lions ten minutes from the city, and the baby elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Giraffe Centre are close by. See a half-day safari in Nairobi National Park.

4. Lake Naivasha and Hell's Gate

Boat rides among hippos, a walk with giraffes on Crescent Island and cycling past zebras in Hell's Gate. Under two hours from Nairobi, so it works as a day trip.

5. Lake Nakuru

A compact park with black and white rhinos, Rothschild's giraffes and, depending on the water level, flamingos on the shore. Combine it with Naivasha on a two-day Rift Valley road trip.

6. Ol Pejeta Conservancy

The last two northern white rhinos, Kenya's only chimpanzees and views of Mount Kenya. About three and a half hours north of Nairobi. See our Ol Pejeta guide.

7. Mount Kenya

Africa's second-highest mountain, at 5,199 m. Trekkers climb to Point Lenana; everyone else enjoys the views from the lodges around Nanyuki and Naro Moru.

8. Samburu National Reserve

Hot, dry and quiet, with animals you won't see in the south, like Grevy's zebra and the gerenuk. Five to six hours north of Nairobi. See Samburu and the Special Five.

9. Tsavo East and West

Kenya's biggest wilderness, with red elephants, lava flows and Mzima Springs. It sits between Nairobi and the coast, so it is easy to add to a beach trip. See our Tsavo guide.

10. The Aberdares

Misty forest, waterfalls and the famous tree hotels, Treetops and The Ark, where you watch animals at a floodlit waterhole through the night. See unique stays in Kenya.

11. Diani Beach

Long white sand, palm trees and a calm lagoon south of Mombasa, with snorkelling, diving and colobus monkeys in the coastal forest.

12. Watamu

A smaller, quieter beach town north of Mombasa, inside a marine park. Turtles, reef snorkelling and the ruins of Gede, a medieval Swahili town, close by.

13. Lamu

An island where the old town has hardly changed in centuries: narrow lanes, carved doors, dhows in the harbour and no cars. Fly from Nairobi or Mombasa.

14. Lake Bogoria

Hot springs and geysers steam along the shore, and in many years the lake turns pink with flamingos. About five hours from Nairobi.

15. Kakamega Forest

Kenya's last patch of the great Guinea-Congolian rainforest, in the west. A paradise for birdwatchers, with monkeys, butterflies and giant trees.

When to visit Kenya

For safari, the dry months from late June to October are best, with the migration in the Mara. January and February are also dry, with fewer visitors. The coast is good most of the year, apart from the long rains, which usually fall from April to June.