Tigoni, Kiambu County · 30 km from Nairobi
Tigoni tours: e-bike rides, tea farm walks and hikes
Guided small-group days in the tea country north-west of Nairobi, and a local guide to everything else Tigoni has to offer.
Tigoni, Kiambu County
The green edge of Nairobi
Half an hour past Nairobi's northern suburbs the traffic thins, the air cools, and the land folds into hills covered in tea. This is Tigoni: a farming area in Limuru, on the lip of the Great Rift Valley, and the closest real countryside to the city.
Most people know it as the green blur outside the car window on the way to Naivasha. Stop, though, and it opens up: red-earth farm roads between the rows, tea pickers moving through the fields with baskets on their backs, old cypress and eucalyptus windbreaks, and farm kitchens serving lunch in their gardens.
We run guided e-bike rides, tea farm walks and hikes here, and we wrote this site to be the most useful guide to Tigoni you can find, whether you book with us or not.
- From Nairobi
- About 30 km
- Drive
- 45–90 minutes
- Altitude
- Over 2,000 m
- Rains
- Mar–May, Oct–Dec
- Known for
- Tea, farm lunches
- County
- Kiambu
A morning in tea country
E-bike tour · 2 hours · KSh 3,500
Ride the farm roads
The best of Tigoni is on the back roads, and an electric bike is the easiest way to see a lot of them. The motor takes the sting out of the hills, so you can look around instead of at your front wheel.
Rides last two hours, start at 9:00, 12:00 or 15:00, and run with up to six riders and a guide who stops wherever the view is worth it. If you can ride a bicycle, you can do this.
Tea farm tour · KSh 4,500
Walk between the rows
From the road, tea looks like a flat green carpet. Up close it is a working crop: bushes pruned to waist height, pickers taking only the top two leaves and a bud, and collection points where every basket is weighed before the leaf goes to the factory.
Our guided tea walk takes you along the footpaths between the rows and explains what you are seeing, from the soil to the cup of chai.
Hiking tour · from KSh 3,000
Follow the tracks into the trees
Between the tea fields run shaded lanes, red-earth tracks and footpaths through eucalyptus and indigenous forest. Many cross private farms, which is where a guide makes the difference.
We match the route to your group, from an easy loop on farm tracks to a longer walk with climbs. On misty mornings, which are common from June to August, the forest sections are at their best.
Custom day · quoted per group
Plan a day for your people
Birthdays, anniversaries, family visits, team days: Tigoni is a natural choice when you want the day to feel like an occasion without a long drive.
Tell us the date, the group and what you have in mind. We combine our activities with lunch and, if you need it, transport, and send you one plan and one price.
A century of tea
History
How tea came to Tigoni
Tea arrived in Kenya in the early 1900s, and the cool, wet Limuru highlands were among the first places it was planted. In 1910 A.B. McDonell bought land in Tigoni and named it Kiambethu. His family describe him as one of the first people to grow, make and sell tea commercially in Kenya, and they still run the farm today.
Tea spread from these early plots across Kiambu and on to the great estates of Kericho, Nandi and Mount Kenya. Kenya is now one of the world's largest tea exporters, but Tigoni keeps the older pattern: family farms and smaller estates, with workers' villages tucked into the valleys between the fields.
Read more in Tigoni tea country: history and how to visit.
Eat around Tigoni
Leave room for lunch
A day in Tigoni usually ends at a table. The area is known for farm food: cheese made a few kilometres away, vegetables from the fields around Limuru, and long lunches in gardens.
Brown's Food Co. hosts farm lunches built around their cheeses. Muna Tree Café at Brackenhurst has garden tables next to replanted indigenous forest. Kiambethu Tea Farm serves lunch with its pre-booked tea tours, and The Fig & Olive is a family-run café and deli.
These are independent businesses; book ahead at weekends. The full where-to-eat guide has more.
Plan your visit
Getting there, weather and where to stay
Getting here: drive up Limuru Road through Ruaka and Banana, or take Waiyaki Way and the Nakuru highway. Allow 45–90 minutes. Full directions →
Weather: several degrees cooler than Nairobi, with long rains from March to May and short rains from October to December. Bring a warm layer whatever the month. When to visit →
Staying over: retreat centres, country hotels and farm cottages make a night in the tea easy. Where to stay →
Questions
Visiting Tigoni: common questions
Where is Tigoni?+
Tigoni is a farming area in Limuru, Kiambu County, about 30 km north-west of Nairobi city centre. It sits above 2,000 metres on the edge of the Great Rift Valley escarpment and is best known for its tea farms.
How do I get to Tigoni from Nairobi?+
Most visitors drive up Limuru Road through Ruaka and Banana, or take Waiyaki Way and the Nairobi–Nakuru highway to the Limuru turn-off. Allow 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on traffic. Matatus run from Nairobi to Limuru town, and you can take a taxi from there.
What is there to do in Tigoni?+
The main draws are tea farm visits, walks and bike rides through the tea fields, farm lunches, cheese tasting, golf at Limuru Country Club, and day trips to the Rift Valley viewpoint and Kereita Forest.
How much does a Tigoni tour cost?+
Our e-bike tour is KSh 3,500 per person, the tea farm tour is KSh 4,500 per person, and hiking tours start at KSh 3,000 for Kenyan citizens. Custom days are quoted per group.
Is Tigoni good for a day trip?+
Yes. It is one of the closest countryside escapes to Nairobi. Leave before 8:00, do one activity in the morning, have a long lunch and head back by 16:00 to miss the evening traffic.
How do I book?+
Message us on WhatsApp with your date, group size and the activity you want. We confirm availability, the meeting point and the total price before you pay.