Discover Nigeria
Landmarks & Culture
Historic sites nestled amid rivers and rain forests, breathtaking mountain vistas, pristine beaches and exotic wildlife reserves.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. Nigeria has the third-largest youth population in the world, after India and China, with more than 90 million of its population under the age of eighteen. Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa and is among the world's largest economies by nominal GDP and purchasing power parity.
Nigeria boasts a number of museums and monuments, game reserves, and other natural and historical sights — alongside a rich cultural melange of festivals, music, dance, and everyday traditional markets.
Natural Tourist Sites
Where to go
Zuma Rock
Niger State, near Abuja
A beautiful giant rock along the Kaduna–Abuja Highway, used for defensive purposes by the Gwari people during the inter-tribal wars.
Olumo Rock
Abeokuta, Ogun State
A massive granite outcrop rising 137 metres, which served as a shelter and fortress for the Egba people during the Yoruba inter-city wars.
Kura Falls
77km from Jos, Plateau State
Set within rich savannah vegetation with mountainous ranges and lakes — ideal for picnics, bird watching and nature trails.
Shere Hills
Jos Plateau
The apex of the Jos Plateau at 1,829 metres above sea level — excellent for picnics, mountaineering, sightseeing and camping.
Obudu Cattle Ranch
Cross River State
Located at the exotic Oban Obudu Plateau, over 5,200 feet above sea level, about 350km from Calabar.
Gurara Waterfalls
Niger State
Nigeria's premier falls, off the Minna–Suleja road — one of the nation's greatest holiday resorts.
Agbokim Waterfalls
Cross River State
A beautiful scenic attraction — water from the falls runs into a large pool surrounded by thick vegetation.
Yankari National Park
Bauchi State
A large wildlife park in south-central Bauchi State, northeastern Nigeria — Nigeria's best-known game reserve.
National Parks & Reserves
Eight national parks, endless wilderness
Yankari National Park
Bauchi State · est. 1956, opened 1962
Nigeria's premier game reserve — 2,058 km² of savanna woodland around the Gaji River, stocked with elephants, baboons, waterbucks, crocodiles, hippos, roan antelope and buffalo. Its jewel is the Wikki Warm Springs, flood-lit at night, with a bathing area stretching 600 feet. Best visited November–May.
Gashaka-Gumti National Park
Taraba State
A 6,000 km² wilderness — Nigeria's most ecologically diverse conservation area, home to chimpanzees, colobus monkeys, lions and leopards, and to Chappal Waddi (2,409 m), Nigeria's highest mountain.
Cross River National Park
Cross River State
The last remaining rainforest in Nigeria and among the richest in Africa: forest elephants, lowland gorillas, leopards, and the white-faced monkey found nowhere else on earth.
Kainji Lake National Park
Kwara / Niger States · est. 1979
Savanna woodland around the Kainji Dam and its 136 km lake — whose waters cover Old Bussa, where the explorer Mungo Park died in 1805. Antelope, lions, hippos and crocodiles.
Mambilla Plateau
Taraba State, bordering Cameroon
A high grassland plateau averaging 1,800 m — cool air, tea plantations, cattle ranches and rolling green hills unlike anywhere else in the country.
Obudu Ranch
A 40 sq-mile plateau at 5,200 ft — cool air, waterfalls, a gorilla camp and a cable car to the top. The forested drive east has earned it the nickname “Nigeria's Amazon.”
The Coast
800 km of Atlantic coastline
Bar Beach (Victoria Beach)
Victoria Island, Lagos — the most popular beach among Nigerians.
Tarkwa Bay
A sheltered bay by Lagos harbour, reached by boat; swimming safe even for children.
Coconut Beach
Badagry, amid coconut groves toward the Benin border.
Lekki Beach
On the Lekki Peninsula — palm-frond shelters and weekend crowds.
Eleko Beach
30 miles down the peninsula; quiet, private, no traders.
Calabar Beach
Two miles of sand at the mouth of the new Calabar River, by boat or canoe.
Museums
- National Museum, Lagos (with branches in Jos, Benin and Kaduna)
- Ife Museum
- Oron Museum
- Esie Museum
- Kano Museum
- Owo Museum
- War Museum, Umuahia
- Calabar Museum
- Centre for Black African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos