Things to Do in Nakuru

October 31, 2026

Travel advice, 31 October 2026: the US State Department rates Kenya at Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”) and an Ebola outbreak is being reported in Nairobi. Nakuru is outside the do-not-travel areas that the US and UK governments list. Read the UK government Kenya advice and the CDC Kenya notice before you book.

Nakuru sits on the floor of the Rift Valley at about 1,850 m, so mornings and evenings are cool and a fleece helps on a dawn drive. The town is the base for a wildlife park, a volcanic crater with a view over the rooftops, a prehistoric site with a small museum, and a castle built between 1938 and 1954.

Game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park

The park is run by the Kenya Wildlife Service and lies a short drive south of the town centre. Drives are done in a vehicle, with your own car or a tour vehicle from a lodge or operator. Expect lions, leopards, buffalo, black and white rhinos, Rothschild’s giraffes and plenty of baboons. The park holds four of the Big Five, because there are no elephants. More than 400 bird species have been recorded, and pelicans and fish eagles are the dependable sightings.

Flamingo numbers move between the Rift Valley lakes and can be low, so treat them as a bonus and not the reason to come. Rising water has diluted the lake and cut the algae the birds feed on.

Menengai Crater

The rim of Menengai Crater is close to the town and gives a view over Nakuru and across the caldera, with geothermal steam plants visible on the rim. Local tradition says the name refers to a battle fought there in the 1850s. Two walks are described: about 4 km round trip from the viewpoint, and about 7 km through the caldera, leaving by the London estate. The slopes are steep ash that turns slippery, flash floods follow rain, and falls and rescues have been reported, and isolated paths carry a crime risk. Go with a local guide, never alone.

Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site and Museum

Hyrax Hill is about 4 km from the centre on the Nairobi side of town. Mary Leakey excavated here in 1937 and 1938, and the site holds Neolithic burials and Iron Age stone enclosures, plus three Sirikwa houses at a second excavation. The museum is in a farmhouse and has three galleries on ethnography, the archaeology of the site and natural history. Entry is KSh 500 for visitors from outside Africa (children KSh 250), KSh 400 for residents and visitors from the rest of Africa, and KSh 100 for Kenyan and East African citizens. Opening hours are generally 08:30 to 17:30.

Lord Egerton Castle

The castle near Njoro, about 15 km off the Nakuru to Eldoret road, has about 52 rooms. Maurice Egerton built it between 1938 and 1954, and the local story is that he built it to impress a woman who had turned him down. Fees are quoted anywhere from KSh 100 to 860 for Kenyans and USD 5 to 60 for foreigners, so ask before you go. One recent visitor paid KSh 250 and found no guide on site, so bring your own reading.

Paying and getting in

Park fees for Lake Nakuru National Park are published by KWS for 24 hours: USD 90 for a non-resident adult and USD 45 for a child aged 5 to under 18, with under 5s free. Kenya residents pay KSh 2,025 and KSh 1,050, and East African citizens KSh 1,500 and KSh 750. A car costs KSh 600 a day. Pay online through KWSPay and do not count on paying cash at the gate. These rates come from the October 2025 KWS fee schedule , and the fees were challenged in the High Court, so confirm on KWSPay before you travel. Gate availability changes with water levels, so confirm which gate is open with KWS or your lodge.

Most visitors need a Kenya eTA before flying, from etakenya.go.ke . Apply at least three working days before you travel.

Booking

Browse park drives and local tours at GetYourGuide .