Things to do in Ibadan
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Ibadan
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season and the best window overall, with minimal rain and the most sunshine for outdoor picks.
Harmattan brings dry dusty air and cooler nights; go early for clear tower and rock panoramas.
Festival month for Oke Ibadan and the Ibadan Cultural Festival, as heat builds and first rains break.
Rains establish; the forest and gardens are lushest and muddiest, with low prices and crowds.
Peak wet season and the worst logistics, but August brings the World Sango Festival at Oyo.
Rains retreat in a green shoulder month with easing humidity and good value.
What's on
- Oke Ibadan Festival Mid March, dates vary by year
The traditional festival of the city's founding hill, timed to the early rains.
- Ibadan Cultural Festival About 15 days ending in March, dates vary by year
CCII celebration of Yoruba heritage climaxing at Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba.
- World Sango Festival August, about 10 days, in Oyo town
UNESCO recognised festival for Sango with drumming, devotees and diaspora visitors.
- Isese Day 20 August
Oyo State public holiday honouring traditional religion, within Sango festival season.
Best things to do in Ibadan
Bower's Tower
A 60 foot tower on Oke Are with the definitive panorama over Ibadan's sea of brown roofs.
Mapo Hall
Ibadan's 1929 colonial city hall on Mapo Hill, with a small museum and a terrace view over the old core.
Odu'a Museum and Hall of Fame
Yoruba artefacts and a hall of fame high inside Cocoa House, with the best enclosed view in the city.
National Museum of Unity
Nigeria's unity museum for the southwest, strongest taken with a guide who brings the galleries to life.
Agodi Gardens
Ibadan's big green weekend park, with lawns, a lake, horse rides, a small zoo and asun and suya stalls.
University of Ibadan Zoological Garden
The city's best animal visit, a shaded campus zoo with lions, giraffe and crocodiles that families love.
Tunde Odunlade Arts & Culture Connexions
A living gallery and performance space run by a major Yoruba artist, where contemporary Nigerian art is for sale.
New Culture Studios
Demas Nwoko's hillside studio and amphitheatre, an architecture pilgrimage site built from the hill's own earth.
Where to stay in Ibadan
Jericho GRA and Iyaganku GRA
first visit, quietest and safest feeling base
Leafy reservation area streets with the best hotels, Martha's Kitchen and the National Museum of Unity nearby.
Old and New Bodija
food, university access and lively practical stays
Professional heartland with the densest cluster of good restaurants and mid range hotels near the university.
Ring Road and Oluyole Estate
business, events and early departures south
Commercial spine with malls, conference hotels and the easiest access toward the Lagos Ibadan expressway.
University of Ibadan, Agbowo
academic visits and campus and zoo days
A green, ordered campus base that trades Jericho nightlife for calm and the zoo inside the gates.
Think twice about
- Beere, Mapo and Oke-Ado old core
Historically rich and essential by day with a local, but dense, congested, poorly lit at night and without visitor grade hotels.
- Dugbe market core
A commercial maelstrom by day that empties after the markets close, with no reason to sleep in it.
- Iwo Road interchange and motor park fringes
The city's great transport scrum, with tout and petty theft density to pass through briskly, not live in.
Best restaurants in Ibadan
Ibachi
Ibadan's most polished restaurant, a Chinese fine dining room with a teppanyaki grill for occasion dinners.
Marthas Kitchen
The city's long standing special occasion restaurant, continental plates from a serious catering kitchen.
Cafe Chrysalis
A garden cafe in Old Bodija for smoked meats, Nigerian taster plates and a leisurely terrace afternoon.
Kokodome
A poolside Ibadan institution for Lebanese mezze, a swim and an afternoon that can run into its midnight club.
Wimpy Ibadan
The Jericho side Lebanese table locals recommend, grills and mezze at casual prices for mixed groups.
Mama Ope Restaurant
Ibadan's amala institution for over three decades, steaming abula and legendary rice and beans in a clean hall.
Mama Adija Eatables
The old school amala joint near Adeoyo, cash only, where the amala stays hot with gbegiri and ewedu until evening.
Turaya Food Center
The Yemetu entry in the city's amala canon, a no frills food centre serving locals the full abula.
Outdoor things to do in Ibadan
IITA Forest Reserve
A protected rainforest fragment with guided bird walks, trails, wetlands and lakes on the IITA campus.
Eleyele Lake
Ibadan's reservoir lake for boat cruises and kayaking, prettiest in the late afternoon from the water.
Ibadan Golf Club
The city's championship 18 hole course, a members club that receives arranged guests in green surroundings.
IITA Golf Course
A relaxed 9 hole course inside the IITA campus, paired best with a forest walk and a campus lunch.
Magnus Paintball Game Arena
Ibadan's best group game, a marshalled paintball arena in the woods inside Agodi Gardens.
Olumo Rock Tourist Centre
A guided climb up the Egba people's fortress rock, with caves, shrines and the region's great summit view.
Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort
A full sports resort day with pitches, courts, a pool and a mini zoo in extensive grounds outside the centre.
Best hotels in Ibadan
Golden Tulip Ibadan
The city's flagship hotel in Jericho GRA, the most consistent international standard operation Ibadan offers.
Best Western Plus Ibadan
An international brand business hotel in Iyaganku GRA with a pool and gym, often the top end's best value.
Mahogany Hotel and Suites
A well kept boutique scale hotel in quiet Jericho, popular with families who want GRA calm without flagship prices.
Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre
A long established 63 room conference hotel near Palms Mall, spacious and battle tested rather than boutique.
Adis Hotels
A comfortable New Bodija hotel praised for cleanliness, well placed for the university and Bodija restaurants.
Le Ville Hotel and Suites
The value find, a neat small hotel opposite the National Museum that puts a Jericho address within budget reach.
U.I. Hotel
The university's own hotel inside the green campus, simple, orderly and calm at a budget price.
Is Ibadan expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | NGN 35,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | NGN 85,000 a person |
| Splurge | NGN 220,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- New Culture Studios: a few days ahead
- Ibadan Cultural and Historical Tour: weeks ahead
- IITA Forest Reserve: a few days ahead
- Ibadan Golf Club: weeks ahead
- IITA Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Golden Tulip Ibadan: weeks ahead
- Ibachi: a few days ahead
- Marthas Kitchen: a few days ahead
- Book Jericho and Bodija hotels ahead for December, UI graduations and big owambe weekends.
- Arrange IITA stays, forest guides and Ibadan Golf Club guest play before you travel.
- Reserve Ibachi and Martha's Kitchen for weekend evenings, and book a good driver guide days out.
- Buy Lagos to Ibadan train seats early for Friday, Sunday and December departures.
Is Ibadan safe?
- Do intercity legs to Lagos, Abeokuta and Oyo in daylight with a known driver on known routes.
- Base in the GRAs or Bodija estates, keep a low profile on wealth, and avoid political gatherings.
- Carry malaria precautions, sealed bottled water, a power bank and medical evacuation insurance.
Ibadan travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- International sites sell the Ibadan day tour at 500 to 620 US dollars; the same day books locally for far less.
- Agodi Gardens on a public holiday afternoon is heaving; go on a weekday instead.
- Do not judge Ibadan by Lagos standards for nightlife and polish; its goods are space, history and food.
- At Bodija and Dugbe markets keep valuables hidden and ask before photographing traders or goods.
Getting around Ibadan: public transport and more
- Retain a car and driver by the day through your hotel; Ibadan's sights sit 20 to 40 minutes apart.
- Bolt and inDrive work in Bodija, Jericho and Ring Road, but keep cash for when the apps fail.
- The Lagos to Ibadan train ends at Moniya on the northern edge, so pre arrange your pickup.
- Do not use okada motorcycle taxis, and do not self drive as a first time foreign visitor.
Who Ibadan suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Ibadan your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store