The Nyeri Museum is small but worth the half-hour. It is housed in the former colonial-era District Commissioner's office on the southern edge of town and run by the National Museums of Kenya. Exhibits cover the history and material culture of the Agikuyu people — the dominant community in this part of central Kenya — alongside displays on the Mau Mau struggle and the colonial administration of Nyeri District.
The museum is short on flashy presentation but strong on context: a useful primer before heading into the Aberdares or up to Mount Kenya. The forest leader Dedan Kimathi, hanged here in 1957 and one of the iconic figures of the Mau Mau emergency, has a particular presence in the displays.