Visiting for a few days and wondering about some of the best things to do in Lagos in 24 hours? Here’s a tested itinerary that you can check out! For this particular itinerary (and there will be more shared on this blog), my starting point was the Lagos mainland. Ikeja GRA to be precise. However, as all the major activities are on the Island, I would suggest that the environs around the Lagois Island should be yours, if possible.
I had a Saturday open up during my recent visit to Lagos and decided to check out some of my favourite places with my sister in tow. After grabbing breakfast, we set out in an Uber to the Island. Our first stop was the Nike Art Gallery.
Things to Do in Lagos in 24 Hours: Visit the Nike Art Gallery
Visiting Nike Art Gallery Location: 2 Elegushi Beach Road in Lekki Price: Free Entry Opening Hours: 10 am - 6 pm Mon- Sat | 1 pm - 6pm Sun
The Nike Art Gallery is one of the most popular places to visit in Lagos. It is a multiple-story building housing thousands of artworks from all across the country.
If you’re a lover of art and galleries, then this place is a must-visit on your 24-hour itinerary. If you’re visiting from the Lagos Mainland, it makes sense to start here as this stop is before all others in the area.
The Nike Art Gallery also offers some traditional experiences if that’s something you’re interested in. You will need to contact them before your visit to have this organized for you. However, if you plan to make all the stops on this itinerary, simply walking around the gallery and spending a few minutes there will be enough.
Things to Do in Lagos in 24 Hours: Take a Walk in Lekki Conservation Centre
Visiting the Lekki Conservation Centre Location: Km 19 Lekki - Epe Expy, Lekki Penninsula II Lekki, Lagos Price: ₦1,000 for entry & the boardwalk + ₦1,000 for the Canopy Walkway Opening Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm daily
After spending some time at the Nike Art Gallery, my sister and I headed to one of my favourite places in Lagos – the Lekki Conservation Centre, stopping briefly at a fast-food restaurant to get a packed brunch.
Ideally, I’d visit this place as soon as it opens up to experience it before the influx of visitors. But having stopped first at the art gallery, we arrived at about 11:45 am. There were a few groups already inside when we arrived, however, it didn’t diminish the experience for us.
We decided to skip the canopy walkway during this visit (I’ve been on it multiple times), so it fell off the list of activities to do here. Instead, we walked the entire length of the boardwalk before finding a spot in the picnic area to have lunch. After that, we headed to the next stop on our itinerary – the beach.
Things to Do in Lagos in 24 Hours: Check out the Beach
Visiting Laguna Beach Location: Okun-Ajah Road, Eti-Osa, Lekki Price: Weekends - ₦2,000 | ₦1,000 Weekdays Opening Hours: 10:00 am - 11:00 pm Mon - Fri | Closes 12 pm Sat & Sun
Lagos has a number of beachside facilities and resorts to visit and for this one, we chose to spend our time at Laguna Beach, a small private beach club in Ajah. My friend, Diusor, graciously offered to host us here and my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
Even though it had rained practically every day of my stay in Lagos, we were lucky to have a pleasantly sunny day at the beach! The beach club was relatively quiet when we arrived (at about 2 pm) – which I loved. We managed to savour some quiet moments before a few more people trooped in and DJ began blasting music through the speakers.
We spent two hours here before heading to our fourth and final stop for the day – Terra Kulture.
Things to Do in Lagos in 24 Hours: Catch a Stage Play at Terra Kulture
Visiting Terra Kulture Location: Plot 1376 Tiamiyu Savage St, Victoria Island Price: Varies Opening Hours: 9:00 am - 10:00 pm daily
Terra Kulture is another one of my favourite places to visit in Lagos. I like to come here to watch stage plays amongst other activities. The stage play showing on the day of our visit was called “Omugwo” and it was brilliant!
The immersive theatre had the audience sharing the same space as the actors and it worked well! I’d definitely recommend that you go see the play when it is showing again at Terra Kulture.
Things to Do in Lagos in 24 Hours: End the Day with Dinner at your Favourite Restaurant
My plan was to end the day with dinner either at Nok by Alara or 343 Degrees North, but since I needed to get back to the mainland, I chose to call it a day after the stage play and have dinner at Ikeja instead.
Overall, it was a great day out in the city for us. Considering that Lagos is quite notorious for her traffic, I was happy that we didn’t have to deal with bad traffic situations and we were able to fit all these stops in our itinerary.
And now, I’d love to hear from you! What are some of your favourite things to do in Lagos? Also, what would you include in a 24-hour Lagos Itinerary?
Interestingly, I have lived in Lagos all my life and I have not even visited some of these places, when I think of traffic, I just sit back home. I totally enjoyed reading this. Thank you.
I can relate. Lagos traffic will truly humble you! I think Saturdays and Sundays, off wedding season, might be good for a tour like this and if your base is on the island, even better.
Lagos is beautiful – lots of tourist attractions and recreational centres. However, whenever you’re planning a trip to Lagos, look out for traffic congestion somewhat inevitable.
Planning with the traffic in mind is very important!