New in Lagos State or planning a visit? This piece discusses the top tourist attractions in Lagos where you can visit for fun, relaxation and sightseeing, with videos to give you a realistic overview of the places.
Sit back, relax, and explore with us.
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Tourist Attractions in Lagos – An Introduction
I have never spoken with Christopher McDougall, but I believe this famous quote from his book – Born to Run, would have been inspired by living in Lagos.
Lagos, popularly known as ‘Eko’ is a megacity, a commercial nerve, and one of the most populated states in Nigeria. The city provides residents and visitors with endless sights, sounds, and activities with tons of recreational places like beaches, resorts, museums, art centers, markets, malls, etc. There’s also an abundance of historical and cultural landmarks in Lagos.
Comprehensively, Lagos is a tourist attraction for everyone, whether you’re in the city alone, with friends, or with family.
This article will cover the top Lagos attractions regarding tourism in Lagos, Nigeria. First, a quick preview of the map of Lagos State.
Map of Lagos State
Top Tourist Attractions in Lagos State
The National Museum
The National Museum is one of the tourist monuments attractions in Lagos. You may not know a lot about Nigeria until you visit the National Museum which is located around the Muson Center in Onikan. It’s a historical and cultural destination in the country and an excellent place to see ancient distinguished Nigerian archaeological and ethnographic artworks.
The National Museum was established in 1957, just before Nigeria gained independence, and has been a place of tourist attraction in Lagos, Nigeria.
The museum houses the bullet-ridden car of the country’s former Head of State – the late General Murtala Mohammed, who was assassinated in 1976, during one of the military coups in Nigeria. It also has galleries dedicated to Benin brasses, Nok Terracottas, etc.
You can also take mind-blowing selfies here if you are a picture-loving person.
The Lekki Conservation Center
The Lekki Conservation Center, located at Lekki Conservation Centre Road in Lekki Peninsula, is a 78-hectare (190-acre) natural tourist attraction in Lekki, Lagos state. It is the best place to see natural savannah habitats and swamps with wildlife presence and is located in one of the best areas to stay in Lagos.
When you visit the Lekki Conservation Center, you get to immerse yourself in the beauties of nature. You can even climb above tree canopies on the longest canopy bridge walk in Africa. The canopy walk is about 401-meter long and is amongst the most visited tourist attractions in Lagos Island, Lagos State. It is an engineering feat and a wonderful suspended swinging bridge walkway.
The family Park located in the conservation center is a world-class picnic ground and offers nature walks, picnic & sporting facilities that other tourist attractions in Lekki don’t offer.
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The New Afrika Shrine
The New Afrika Shrine is an entertainment sanctuary and is the host location of the annual Felabration music festival. The original shrine was built by Afrobeat Legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti in 1970 and was unfortunately burnt down in 1977.
The New Afrika Shrine, which is amongst the top places to visit in Ikeja and Lagos mainland, was built as a replacement and is managed by legendary Fela’s children.
The tourist center is among the fun places in Ikeja Lagos, an area with several top-class hotels, and is mentioned as one of the top places to stay in Lagos.
Fela shrine is a place to catch real fun as it showcases photo galleries of Fela and music performances by Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti, thus making it a top tourist attraction in Lagos.
You can visit the shrine on Thursday night for a free show with Femi Kuti. Similarly, on the last Saturdays of the month, Seun Kuti, the last of the Fela boys, does magic on stage.
The open-air entertainment center, The New Afrika Shrine, is located on Adeleye St, Ikeja, Lagos.
The best time to visit is during the annual Felabration music festival. But you can also stop by on Thursday and Sunday when Femi Kuti plays and the last Saturday of the month when the energetic Seun Kuti plays. You can get a drink for less than N2000 here and enjoy afrobeat music.
When you’re there, know that you’re having a good time at one of the most visited tourist attractions in Ikeja Lagos, Nigeria.
The Freedom Park
The Freedom Park is a memorial and leisure park area in the middle of Lagos Island, Nigeria, formerly Her Majesty’s Broad Street Prison. Architect Theo Lawson designed and constructed the park to preserve the history and cultural heritage of Nigerians.
The park is a tourist attraction with monuments that reveal the Lagos colonial heritage and history of Her Majesty’s Broad Street prisons. It was built to commemorate the 50th-anniversary independence celebration in October 2010 and serves as a National Memorial, a Historical landmark, a Cultural site, and an Arts and Recreation Center.
It has an open-air stage, museum, amphitheater, and Wole Soyinka Gallery. Most events that happen here are free, but the entrance fee is N200, and the food and drinks prices are reasonable.
Although built as a conservative of culture and heritage, the park has also become a venue for social events and a top tourist attraction in Lagos, Nigeria.
Nike Art Gallery
Nike Art Gallery is arguably the most extensive art gallery in West Africa, and Nike Davies-Okundaye owns it. You can rarely discuss tourism in Lagos, Nigeria, without mentioning Nike Art Gallery located on No. 2, Elegushi Road, 3rd Roundabout, Epe Expressway, Lekki Lagos.
Housed in a five-storey tall building, it boasts a collection of about 8,000 diverse artworks from various Nigerian artists. The gallery offers a total Nigerian experience. Tourists are welcomed with drumming and singing by the hospitable staff of the gallery in full Nigerian costume.
Even for local tourists, the experience at Nike Gallery is exciting. First, there is the adire/batik crash workshop that trains visitors on how to make batik, then, the taste of traditional Nigerian delicacies like akara and puff puff. There is a dance class that tests one’s flexibility and foot dexterity. The biggest thrill is roaming the place filled to the brim with old, classic, and modern Nigerian artworks in different media.
One could spend hours moving around the place of attraction. The Nike Art Gallery experience is always something tourists look forward to. Fortunately, the gallery is open seven days a week, often holding art exhibitions, workshops, and cultural days.
Terra Kulture
Terra Kulture is the one-stop tourist attraction for creative arts. They offer creative arts like literature, language, drama, visual arts, comedy, culinary, music, film, fashion design, and dance. You can’t get all that art in one place anywhere else in Lagos.
Terra Kulture is on plot 1376, Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island, Eti Osa, Lagos.
The artistic place promotes the richness and diversity of Nigerian languages, arts, and culture and has several arms aimed at achieving that:
- The Language School
- The Craft Shop
- A Reading Centre with current books on Nigeria
- A Gallery,
- A Multi-purpose Hall.
The hall has facilities for drama presentations, conferences, and seminars, and the place has a cozy restaurant portraying the richness of Nigerian Cuisine. It offers some delicacies you can’t find in other restaurants in Lagos.
TK is the home to contemporary visual arts and theatre arts in Nigeria and houses over one thousand collections of art pieces from all across Nigeria. Terra Kulture also hosts book-reading events and organizes exhibitions and excursions for school children, foreigners, and Nigerians. It has hosted book readings by renowned authors such as Chimamanda Adichie, Sefi Atta, and Wole Soyinka in the past.
With its 250-seater hall for Nigerian arts and culture, it is undoubtedly one of those popular tourist spots in Lagos Nigeria.
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Wrapping Up on Tourist Attractions in Lagos
Lagos is truly a beautiful and vibrant city with lots of tourist attractions and things to do. If these top tourist attractions in Lagos don’t catch your eye, the Lagos noise and people will. So, if you’re looking for things to do in Lagos this weekend, you sure have options to choose from. Note that there are several hotels in Lagos State where you can lodge while in the city. If you enjoyed this article on top tourist attractions in Lagos State, do well to share the article and leave a comment.
