Kenya: The 23 Best Places to Go in 2023 via Condé Nast Traveler

Go for: City hotspots, island getaways, and dazzling safari lodges

​​Kenya has long been a big draw for safari travelers, but there’s much more to see beyond the Masai Mara—and there are compelling new reasons to crisscross the country.

While Nairobi was often relegated to one-night layovers en route to the bush, innovative new hotel concepts like The Social House Nairobi, which opened just before the pandemic, are beckoning visitors to linger awhile. The 83 sleek rooms are brimming with local products, like Kenyan coffee and toiletries, and the four restaurants and café are hot spots for Nairobi’s creative set to converge.

Nairobi’s restaurant scene is also thriving, with creative kitchens like the farm-to-table Cultiva, the brainchild of Ecuadorian chef Ariel Moscardi, who fell in love with Nairobi during a short visit; he’s now at work on an experimental chef’s-table offshoot called Aya set to open next year. Plus, on the heels of opening her home to guests as the art-filled Eden Nairobi in 2021, designer Anna Trzebinski has now set her sights on the coast. She’s taken over three apartments in the beguiling island archipelago of Lamu, filled them with furniture and decor she designed, and will unveil them as Jannah Shela in 2023.