Top 30 Unusual Tourist Places In Nigeria

• Thursday, January 9, 2025
• By Admin
• 1 Comments

Nigeria as the most populous nation in Africa has several natural and artificial tourist attractions including exotic beaches, lush valleys, mountains, parks and gardens. 

In this compilation, 30 of these destinations including shines, cultural landmarks, ancient cities and more are termed unusual places in Nigeria for enlightenment and education purposes.

1. The Ibeno Beach

Photo credit:https://twitter@NigeriaStories

With its sandy beach, tranquil ambience and 245km stretch of sand bank Ibeno Beach is one of West Africa's longest beaches located in Ibeno town, Akwa Ibom State, South-South, Nigeria.

2. Obudu Mountain Resort

Photo credit: https://www.obudumountainresort.com/#service

Obudu Mountain Resort also known as Obudu Cattle Ranch is another Africa's finest and most interesting destinations when it comes to relaxation and vacations.

Located in Obudu, Cross River State,Obudu Mountain Resort is strategically situated above sea level on the Oshie Ridge of the famous Sankwala Mountains. The resort has a temperate climate, idyllic tranquility and beautiful scenery.

3. Ngwo Pine Forest

Photo credit: iamproudlynigerian.com

The Ngwo Pine Forest is a unique forest dynasty found in Ngwo community in Enugu State. The Pine is captivatingly prepared by Mother Nature to impress anyone who visits it.

Ngwo Pine Forest also has close proximity to the center of Enugu State and also plays host to a limestone sculpted

cave, a small waterfall that forms a shallow pool at the bed of the cave and a gently flowing stream. 

4.  Awhum Waterfall

Photo credit: gstactic.com

The Awhum Waterfall and cave with its numerous immaculate lakes and ancient monastery located at Awhum town, Enugu state is a wonder to behold, providing a beautiful scenery where water cascades from the mountain top forming a stream below, creating a religious and tourists' destination for local worshippers and visitors alike to scramble for its highly prized waters believed to possess curative or healing elements, capable of dispelling evil forces wherever the water is sprinkled.

5. Arochukwu Long Juju Slave Route

Photo credit: https://olatorera.com/the-long-juju-of-arochukwu/

The Arochukwu Long Juju Slave Route, Abia State has over the years remained a mysterious and exciting destination, with its six foot gully leading to its waterfall and ancient temple of judgment revered till date, is yet another natural wonder.

6. The Giant Footprint of Ukhuse Oke

(Photo Source: Voyageback #EndSARS on Twitter: "6. The giant footprint of ukhuse

The Giant Footprint of Ukhuse Oke, located between Ukhuse-oke and Ukhuseosi villages in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State, presents a very distinct footprints of a prehistoric giant permanently embedded on the flat granite rocks, locally believed to have been made when the world was still in its molten state, poses a mystery that yet to be unraveled by archaeologists and anthropologist.

7. Port Harcourt Tourist Beach

Port Harcourt Tourist Beach 

Photo credit: https://www.google.com/portHarcourt tourist beach

Port Harcourt Tourist Beach, located in the old Port Harcourt township, Rivers state, Nigeria is perfectly cited along the Kolabi Creek is one beach in Nigeria that doesn't produce noisy and splashy waves, also its dry sand beach makes it uniquely perculier across the country as host series of events all year round.

8. Port Harcourt Pleasure Park

The Port Harcourt Pleasure Park is a modern leisure centre with a state-of-the-art funfair machinery located between two military bases, the Nigerian Army barracks, 6th Division (a.k.a Bori Camp) and Nigerian Airforce Base, Port Harcourt, Rivers state. 

The park also has a wide range of in-door facilities suitable for all ages, as well as an International restaurant to cater to the taste buds of visitors.

9. Gashaki-Gumpti National Park

Photo Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Gashaka-Gumti-National-park_fig1_345766769

Gashaki-Gumpti National Park is a national park that offers a fascinating insight into life in medieval era in Nigeria. It is located within the Chappal Wadi, Mountain, Taraba State. It is Nigeria’s largest and most diverse National Park.

The Gashaki-Gumpti National has a  graceful savannah grassland and a rugged mountainous, steep slopes as well as deep valleys and gorges and is home to montane forests

10. Alok Ikom Monoliths

Photo source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/289567451033098616/

Alok Ikom Monoliths has 300 carved stones standing upright in circles, facing each other in groups with images and texts inscribed on them. A majority of the stones are carved in hard, medium-textured basaltic rock, a few are carved in sandstone and shelly limestone. 

The monoliths, located in Ikom, Cross River State are hewn into the form of phallus ranging from about three feet in height to about five and half feet and are decorated with carvings of geometric and stylized human features, notably depicting two eyes, an open mouth, a head crowned with rings, a stylized pointed beard, an elaborately marked navel, two decorative hands with five fingers, a nose, various shape of facial marks.

11. Isaac Boro Garden Park

Photo source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0T0Vv2FRgY & https://www.google.com.ng/travel/entity/key/ChgI0_Dxp_uC4O7jARoLL20vMDEwd2I4bXgQBA

Isaac Boro Park was built in 1970 by the then Military Government of Nigeria as a garden park in honour of an activist, freedom fighter, late Major Isaac Adaka Boro, who was killed during the Nigerian civil war.

The park, believed to be the tomb of Major Boro has several statues and monuments immortalizing and depicting him as a child in his mother's arms, as well as a gallant young soldier proudly bearing his rifle and ammunitions, flanked by other military hardwares.

Isaac Boro Park is situated in Port Harcourt, opposite the Mile One Flyover, close to the Old Government Reserved Area and regularly plays host to the annual armed forces remembrance day celebrations, as well as other state and non-state events.

12. Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort 

Photo source: http://flexibleconcept.blogspot.com/2015/04/checkout-tinapa-lakeside-hotel

Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort is a perfect holiday destination, located in the serene city of Calabar, Cross River State has earned its place as a top-notch leisure and trading hub in West Africa.

It is a place where you can mix modern sophistication with nature. It has about 860,000 square feet of lettable retail space, an entertainment strip that houses a digital cinema, restaurants, a mini amphitheater, casino, and children’s arcade, not to talk of the Studio Tinapa for Nollywood, as well as its night clubs and pubs. 

13. Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove

Photo source: https://www.google.com/Osun-Osogbo+Sacred+Grove

Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, located in Oshogbo, Osun State, is dotted with several shrines, sanctuaries, sculptures and art works built in honour of the goddess of fertility, Osun.

As a result of the sacredness of the grove, fishing, hunting, poaching, felling of trees and farming are highly prohibited within it. 

14. Emotan Statue

Photo source: https://www.osazeamadasun.com/blog/the-story-of-emotan-of-the-benin-kingdom?format=amplitude 

The Emotan Statue is a life-sized statue designed in honour of Emotan, a trade chieftain who traded at the Oba's market in the Ancient Benin Kingdom during the reigns of Oba Uwaifiokun and Oba Ewuare the Great.

Located opposite the Oba market in Benin City Edo State,  the Emotan Statue stands majestically, clad in her traditional wrapper and a headgear that is associated with royalty in the Benin Kingdom.

15. The Royal Palace Of Oba Of Benin

Photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace_of_the_Oba_of_Benin

The Royal Palace of the Oba of Benin is distinctive and holds a huge collection of sculptural pieces of Benin Obas in bronze, ancestral shrines and ivories. 

Stories from the grapevine has it that most visitors to the The Royal Palace Of Oba of Benin are curators, archaeologists or historians as the Palace is a celebration and preservation of the rich Benin culture.

16. Sukur Cultural Landscape

Photo source: https://medium.com/@EnrouteNigeria/the-sukur-kingdom

The Sukur Cultural Landscape and the Palace of the Hidi (Chief) on a hill dominating the villages below, is a physical expression of a society and its spiritual and material culture remarkably intact.

Madageli in Adamawa State houses the Sukur cultural landscape,  populated with traditional cemeteries and ritual terraced areas and sacred symbols, a vivid reminder of its extensive remains of a once flourishing iron industry. The Sukur Cultural Landscape is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

17. Queen Amina’s Wall

Photo source:https://twitter.com/noorcompier/status/1356234008217214976?lang=ar

Queen Amina is renowned for her ingenuity in military exploits and strategies built the wall as one of her defence mechanisms and it later became a prototype of fortification used across the length and breadth of Hausa civilization. Today, the Queen Amina’s Wall stands majestically as a monument in the modern city of Zaria in honour of her heroic achievements.

18. Surame Cultural Landscape

Photo source: https://hotels.ng/places/monument/983-surame-cultural-landscape

When it comes to the wonders of human creativity, ingenuity and civilisation, the Surame cultural landscape stands out. 

Located at the ancient city of Surame in Sokoto State, it was created in the 16th century by Muhammadu Kanta Sarkin Kebbi, who controlled an empire in the region. The town was abandoned in about 1700s when the capital moved to Birnin Kebbi. It is however a site flourishing in ancient historical elements.

19. Oban Hills, Cross River State

Photo source: https://crossriverwatch.com/2013/04/as-unesco-declares-oban-hills-in-cross-river-a-world-heritage-site/amp/

The Oban Hills located in Oban, Cross River State is home to a lot of wildlife and plants. Dotted with hills which lie within the Cross River National Park Division, established in 1988, constitutes an important wildlife and natural habitat for several animal species and plants, some of which are unknown to science and as such have been attracting much international attention.

The Oban Hills is renowned for its diverse Scientific, Educational and Tourism potentials, being one of the oldest rainforests in Africa identified as a biodiversity hotspot and home to 16 primate species which have been recorded in the park including rare primates like Chimpanzees and Drills, an endangered primate related to the Mandrill.

20. Oke-Idanre Hill

Photo source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idanre_hills.jpg

The Oke-Idanre Hill gives tourists access to a lot of spectacular valleys that are interspersed with inselbergs and high plain above the sea level. It has Omi Aopara; the thunder water, Agbooogun footprint, burial grounds, shrines and the Owa’s palace.

The Idanre Hill, or Oke Idanre is located in Idanre town in Ondo State. The Idanre hill is well-known for its landscape. It is also a 

UNESCO World Heritage Site.

21. Ogbunike Cave

Photo source: https://guardian.ng/sunday-magazine/ogbunike-cave

Ogbunike Cave, holds an historical and spiritual significance and operates within the official hours of 8am to 6pm daily.

Its steep walkway, descending into the cave has 317 steps, It is also a UNESCO Heritage Site. Located in Ogbunike, Anambra State, makes an ideal tourist destination and as a mark of its sacredness, fighting, stealing, felling of trees and menstruating women are forbidden from the cave.

The cave annually hosts the "Ime Ogbe" festival in commemoration of the discovery of the cave. 

22. Ancient Kano City Wall

Photo source: https://www.nigeriagalleria.com/Nigeria/States_Nigeria/Kano/Kano-City-Wall.html

The Ancient Kano City Wall is an impressive medieval engineering, attesting to the local craftsmanship and ingenuity that flourished in Kano in the 14th century when it was built and still does today.

The Ancient Kano City Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and embodies a spiritual and cultural significance in the consciousness of the locals.

23. Coconut Beach

Photo source: https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/travel-a-tourism/pleasure-of-badagry-coconut-beach

The Coconut Beach has a breathtaking and beautiful ocean view, creating the perfect ambience for relaxation as it is situated 20 miles before the Republic of Beni and surrounded by several coconut trees.

Located in Badagry, Lagos State, The Coconut Beach tells the story of tourism more elaborately and clearly than its counterparts. 

24. Lagos Bar Beach

Photo source: https://www.nigeriagalleria.com/Nigeria/States_Nigeria/Lagos/Bar-Beach-Lagos.

The Lagos Bar Beach thrills its visitors with the cool sea breeze, sandy beach and ocean side walks. Located close to the center of the magnificent Victoria Island.

The Lagos Bar Beach is one distinctive beach in Nigeria that doesn't have plants or even coconut trees around or within it, giving people who love sunbathing while cooling down with the seabreeze.

25. Millennium Park

Photo source: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/millennium-park-abuja-nigeria-gm514159408-87953317

Millennium Park is Abuja's largest public park. Situated in the Maitama district, it was inaugurated on December 4 2003 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

26. Nana Living History Museum

Photo source: https://nigeriatravelsandtours.com/nana-living-history-museum-and-koko-river-cruise

The Nana Living History Museum provides an insight into the lives and times of the Itshekiri people especially during their trading era they had with the British explorers. 

In several rooms of the museum, framed photos of close friends of Chief Nanna such as Tonwe Ogiri, Fregene Omatseye, Chief Ogbe Yonwuren, George William Neville and Seidu Olowu are displayed.

The Nana Living History Museum is situated in Koko, Warri in Delta State, Nigeria and was built by a powerful 19th century influential Itshekiri chief and merchant, Chief Nana Olomu Ebrohimi, who was the fourth in his rank to hold the position of Governor of Benin River.

27. Oloibiri oil well

Photo source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/60-years-after-nigerias-first-crude-oloibiri-oil-dries-up-natives-wallow-in-abject

The Oloibiri well is among the oldest oilfields in Nigeria. Crude in commercial quantity was first explored and exported in February 1958. 

Now serving and monument, the Oloibiri oilfield wellheads still stand erect to withstanding the environmental and natural forces as crude oil has allegedly dried up within the field.

28. New Afrika Shrine

Photo source: https://media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2018/07/New-Afrika-Shrine.jpg

When you feel like indulging yourself with  the legendary Afrobeats and Juju genre of music played by our own legend Fela, then the New Afrika Shrine is where you should visit. 

The Afrika Shrine is regularly visited by millions of tourists from all over the world to pay homage to its founder, the Afrobeats legend, Fela Anikulapko Kuti and his disciples.

Located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, the new Afrika Shrine showcases photo galleries of Fela and music performances by his children and other African legends.

To symbolise it resilience, the Afrika Shrine is replacement of the original Shrine that was burnt down in 1977 by a military junta. 

29. Abuja Arts And Crafts Village

Photo source: https://www.travelonigeria.com/images/destination/1461730401_0!!-!!DSCF1621.jpg

Abuja Arts and Crafts Village hold loads of artifacts and handicrafts for visitors to see and even buy.

Located at the Central Business District in Abuja, the Abuja Arts and Crafts Market, Jabi, is one destination in the nation’s capital residents may not know exist, but has over the years become an attraction to tourists and holiday makers.

30. Yankari National Park

Photo source: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Yankari_National_Park

If you desire to see wild animals in their natural habitats in Nigeria, Yankari Game Reserve, situated in Yankari, Bauchi State is where you should be.

Yankari National Park covers an area of about 2,244 square kilometres (866 sq mi) and is home to several natural warm water springs, as well as a wide variety of flora and fauna. Its location in the heartland of the West African savanna, making it a unique destination for tourists and holidaymakers to watch wildlife in its natural habitat.