Lagos

The streets around Balogun, in the heart of Lagos Island, form one of the largest markets in West Africa, a dense maze of stalls, warehouses and pavement sellers that spills over many blocks. It is best known for fabric: bolts of Dutch-style wax print, shimmering lace, aso-oke handwoven cloth and the bright Ankara that tailors across the city turn into made-to-measure outfits in a few days. Beyond textiles there are shoes, beads, cosmetics, kitchenware and almost anything else that can be traded.

It is crowded, hot and chaotic, and pickpockets work the busiest lanes, so carry little, keep your phone out of sight and, ideally, go with a local friend or a guide who knows the layout and can help with prices. Bargaining is expected.

TipGo on a weekday morning before the heat and crowds peak. Ask before photographing traders, many of whom do not want to be filmed.

A few minutes' walk south, Freedom Park occupies the site of the old Broad Street Prison, built after Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and later used to hold nationalists who campaigned against colonial rule. The prison was demolished in 1979 and the ground lay derelict until it was reborn, around the time of Nigeria's 50th anniversary of independence, as a memorial park and cultural venue. Fragments of the original walls survive among gardens, ponds and sculptures, and a bust of Fela Kuti watches over the grounds.

Today it is one of the most relaxed spaces on Lagos Island, with a food court, galleries and an open-air stage for jazz evenings, poetry, theatre and festivals. Check the park's events calendar before you go.

On 1 October 1960 the Union Jack was lowered and the green-white-green flag of independent Nigeria raised on this vast ceremonial ground, then a racecourse. Named after the country's first prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, it is now a huge paved square ringed by stands and offices, with towering statues of horses and an eagle at the gates and the Remembrance Arcade honouring soldiers who died in the world wars and the civil war. There is not much to do here apart from look, but it is a powerful stop for anyone interested in how modern Nigeria began.

Next to the square in Onikan, the National Museum, opened in 1957 and run by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, holds one of the most important collections of Nigerian art and archaeology. Look for the ancient Nok terracotta heads, bronzes from Igbo-Ukwu and Ife, carved masks and royal regalia from across the country's many cultures, and displays on the long road to independence. One of the most striking exhibits is the bullet-scarred car in which the military head of state Murtala Mohammed was assassinated in 1976.

The building is ageing and the labelling is patchy, and parts of the collection may be closed for maintenance, but a guided walk with one of the curators brings it to life.

TipPhotography rules vary by gallery and may carry a fee; ask at the entrance.

Head south onto Victoria Island and you reach the Atlantic, where Lagos is building a whole new city on the sea. Eko Atlantic sits on land reclaimed from the ocean where the popular Bar Beach once stood, protected by a long sea wall of concrete blocks nicknamed the Great Wall of Lagos. Gleaming towers, wide boulevards and a marina are rising here, aimed at banks, oil companies and the very wealthy.

The project is admired by some as a bold answer to coastal erosion and criticised by others as an enclave for the rich that may push storm surges onto poorer neighbourhoods along the coast. Either way, a drive along its boulevards is a vivid glimpse of where the city's money is heading.

Across the harbour mouth from Victoria Island, Tarkwa Bay is a sheltered, sandy cove created by the breakwater that guards the entrance to Lagos port. It can only be reached by boat, which keeps the crowds lower than at the mainland beaches, and the calmer water on the bay side makes it one of the few spots near the city where swimming is relatively safe. Surfers head for the ocean side, where small breaks roll in along the breakwater.

Hire a speedboat from one of the jetties on Victoria Island or Ikoyi for the short crossing; life jackets should be provided and worn. Be aware that thousands of residents of Tarkwa Bay and neighbouring waterfront communities were forcibly evicted in early 2020, and the beach's story is a sensitive one locally.

TipAgree the return pickup time and price before you leave the jetty, and do not pay the full amount until you are back.

Back on Victoria Island, Terra Kulture is one of the best introductions to contemporary Nigerian culture under one roof. Founded in 2003 by the lawyer and theatre producer Bolanle Austen-Peters, it has an art gallery, a restaurant serving dishes from across Nigeria, a bookshop and the Terra Arena, a theatre that stages musicals, plays and comedy, often about Lagos itself. It is also a venue for Nigerian language classes and talks.

TipBook theatre tickets in advance through Terra Kulture's website, especially for weekend shows.

On the Lekki peninsula, this gallery founded by the textile artist Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye is a destination in its own right. Its several floors are packed, almost from floor to ceiling, with thousands of works: paintings, adire indigo cloth, beadwork, sculptures and carvings by established and emerging artists from across Nigeria and beyond. Entry is usually free, and Mama Nike herself is often around to welcome visitors.

Everything is for sale, but no one minds if you come just to look. It is one of the largest privately owned galleries in West Africa and a good place to understand the range of the country's art.

Known locally as the Jakande or Lekki Market, this sprawling craft market off the Lekki-Epe Expressway is the place to shop for souvenirs. Lanes of small stalls sell carved masks and figures, talking drums, brass work, beads, leather bags, paintings and textiles from all over Nigeria and neighbouring countries.

Prices start high for visitors, so bargain patiently and with good humour, and compare a few stalls before buying. Remember that exporting genuine antiques requires official permission, so be wary of anything sold as old.

TipKeep receipts for larger pieces of art in case they are queried at the airport.

A short drive further along the peninsula, Elegushi is the city's party beach, a private stretch of sand owned by the Elegushi royal family and reached through a gate where an entry fee is charged. On weekends it fills with music, horse rides, grilled fish and suya stands, beach bars and crowds dancing late into the evening.

The Atlantic here is rough, with powerful waves and strong rip currents that cause drownings every year, so paddle at most and never swim after drinking. Keep valuables to a minimum.

Set up in 1990 by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, this 78-hectare reserve protects a slice of the wetland and swamp forest that once covered the whole peninsula. Boardwalks lead through the trees, where you may see mona monkeys, monitor lizards, crocodiles and plenty of birds. The highlight is the canopy walkway, about 400 metres long and billed as one of the longest in Africa: a series of swaying rope-and-plank bridges strung between platforms high above the forest floor.

There is a separate charge for the canopy walk, and you should be reasonably steady on your feet. A family park, picnic areas and a library make it popular with Lagos families at weekends.

TipArrive when the gates open in the morning, when it is cooler, the monkeys are active and the walkway is quietest.

Opened in 1990 and running for nearly 12 kilometres across the lagoon, the Third Mainland Bridge is the longest of the bridges linking Lagos Island to the mainland, and the backbone of the city's daily commute. Crossing it, ideally outside rush hour, is a sight in itself: the lagoon stretches away on both sides, with fishermen in dugout canoes, sand dredgers and the stilt houses of Makoko to the west. Stopping on the bridge is not allowed, so take in the view from a moving car or ride-hailing taxi.

Below the bridge, Makoko is a fishing community built largely on stilts over the lagoon, with houses, churches, schools and shops linked by canoe. Many residents trace their roots to Egun fishing communities from the Badagry coast and neighbouring Benin. Makoko is often described as a slum or the "Venice of Africa", and both labels sit uncomfortably with the people who live there. The community has faced repeated demolitions and eviction threats, which makes outside attention a delicate matter.

If you want to visit, do so only with a guide who belongs to the community or works through a community-run project, so that your fee stays local and residents have agreed to the visit. Do not just turn up with a camera: ask before photographing anyone, and never treat people's homes as a spectacle.

In Ikeja on the mainland, the house on Gbemisola Street where Fela Anikulapo-Kuti lived in his later years is now a museum to the father of Afrobeat. Fela named his commune the Kalakuta Republic and declared it independent of the military state; his earlier compound was burned by soldiers in 1977, an attack in which his mother, the activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was fatally injured. The museum keeps his bedroom much as he left it, along with his clothes, saxophones, record sleeves and photographs, and his tomb lies in the front yard.

There is a small rooftop bar, and the whole place feels less like a shrine and more like a home where the music never quite stopped.

A short ride away, the New Afrika Shrine was opened in 2000 by Fela's children Femi and Yeni Kuti, to replace the original Shrine where their father played until his death in 1997. It is a huge open-sided hall with a stage, food stalls and a fiercely loyal crowd, and live shows by Femi Kuti, his son Made Kuti and other members of the family and their bands are among the great musical experiences in Africa. Every October, around Fela's birthday, the Felabration festival brings a week of concerts and events.

TipShows start late and run long. Check the Shrine's social media for the current schedule, take a trusted taxi there and back, and keep your belongings close.

About 60 kilometres west of central Lagos, close to the border with Benin, the old lagoon town of Badagry was one of the busiest slave ports on the West African coast, and today it is the most moving place in Lagos State. The Badagry Heritage Museum, in a colonial-era District Officer's building, uses chains, shackles and documents to tell the history of the trade. Nearby, the Seriki Abass slave museum preserves the barracoon where a local slave dealer held captives before sale, and the Mobee family museum keeps relics passed down from the period. Badagry also has the first storey building in Nigeria, a mission house completed in the 1840s.

From the town, boats cross the lagoon to Gberefu Island, where a path leads past a spirit well to the beach and the Point of No Return, a memorial arch facing the ocean at the spot where enslaved people were loaded onto ships bound for the Americas. This is a place for quiet reflection rather than selfies.

TipHire a local heritage guide in town; the guides know the history in depth and arrange the boat. Leave early from Lagos, as traffic on the Badagry Expressway can be heavy.

About 100 kilometres north of Lagos, in Ogun State, the granite outcrop of Olumo Rock towers over the city of Abeokuta, whose name means "under the rock". In the 19th century the Egba people took refuge among its caves and crevices during the wars that followed the collapse of the Oyo empire. Guides lead you past shrines, old hiding places and resident elders, and you can climb steps carved into the rock or take the lift to the summit for a sweeping view over the rooftops, churches and mosques of the city.

Abeokuta is also famous for adire, the indigo-dyed cloth, which you can buy and watch being made at the Itoku market near the rock. It makes an easy and rewarding day trip by road from Lagos.

Further north-east in Osun State, on the edge of the city of Osogbo, this dense forest along the Osun river is one of the last sacred groves of the Yoruba, believed to be the home of Osun, the goddess of fertility and the river. Shrines, sculptures and paths run through the trees, many of them created from the 1950s onwards by the Austrian-born artist Susanne Wenger and the local artists of the New Sacred Art movement, who worked with priests to restore and protect the grove. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 2005.

Every August, the Osun-Osogbo festival draws huge crowds for a procession to the river. At around four hours each way by road from Lagos, it is best done as an overnight trip.

TipDress modestly, follow your guide's lead on where you may walk and photograph, and do not touch the shrines or sculptures.