Lamu Island
Island home to Lamu Old Town, a UNESCO-listed Swahili settlement of narrow lanes and carved wooden doors where donkeys outnumber cars.
Lamu
Narrow lanes and carved wooden doors characterise this car-free island town, whose Swahili heritage is listed by UNESCO.
Attractive locations
Lamu Fort
Fort on the Lamu waterfront built in the early 1800s, later used as a prison and now a cultural venue.
Lamu Museum
Waterfront museum on Swahili history and culture, with carved doors, ceremonial horns and traditional household items.
Manda Island
Island across the channel from Lamu, reached by boat, with beaches, mangrove creeks and ruins. Lamu's airport is on the island.
Shanga
Archaeological site on Pate Island with the ruins of a medieval Swahili town, including a mosque and pillar tombs.
Lamu Old Town
Historic Swahili town of narrow lanes, carved doors and coral-stone houses with no cars; donkeys and boats are the main transport. It is a World Heritage site and the heart of Lamu.
Takwa Ruins
Ruins of a seventeenth-century Swahili town on Manda Island, with a mosque and a tall pillar tomb among mangroves. Visitors reach it by boat from Lamu.
Airports
Manda Airport LAU
It is about 2 km in a straight line from Lamu.
Malindi International Airport MYD
It is about 139 km in a straight line from Lamu.
Scams and safe taxis
Weather by month
Each month shows its average temperature in °C and its mm of rain per month.
- Jan27.9 °C11 mm
- Feb28.1 °C5 mm
- Mar28.8 °C29 mm
- Apr28.7 °C118 mm
- May27.4 °C230 mm
- Jun26.2 °C99 mm
- Jul25.5 °C51 mm
- Aug25.5 °C33 mm
- Sep26.0 °C36 mm
- Oct26.9 °C88 mm
- Nov27.5 °C98 mm
- Dec28.1 °C55 mm
Driest months: Jan, Feb, Mar. Wettest months: Apr, May, Jun.
Costs
Prices here are about 34% of US prices (World Bank, 2025). This compares a country's overall prices, not the cost of a trip.
Who can help
Emergency
999 or 112.
ngo
Kenya Red Cross Society
Helps with: Kenya's national Red Cross society. Its contact page lists a head office in Nairobi, a main phone line and a toll-free number, 1199.
Who qualifies: People in Kenya who need Red Cross help or information.
Phone: +254 703 037 000
Address: South C (Bellevue), Red Cross Road, off Popo Road, Nairobi
un agency
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Kenya
Helps with: The UN migration agency, with a head office in Nairobi. Its work covers migration management and crisis response, and it lists a call centre and a medical enquiries line.
Who qualifies: Migrants and organisations working on migration in Kenya. It is not a help service for ordinary tourists.
Phone: +254 709 889 000
Address: Sri Aurobindo Avenue, off Mzima Spring Road, Lavington, Nairobi
embassy
Diplomatic Directory (Kenya Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Helps with: For a lost passport or serious trouble, contact your own country's embassy. The ministry's Diplomatic Directory (May 2025 edition) is the official list of foreign missions in Kenya.
Who qualifies: Citizens of each country, through their own country's embassy or high commission.
Address: Old Treasury Building, Nairobi
local government
Emergency number 999 (police, ambulance and fire)
Helps with: Reaches the police, ambulance and fire services in Kenya. The number comes from UK government travel advice.
Who qualifies: Anyone in the country, including visitors, can call this number.
Phone: 999