How much does a trip to Nigeria cost? Daily budget and prices

Nigeria splits into two price worlds. Food, beer, suya and Uber are cheap if you hold dollars, because the naira has fallen. Anything with security attached — a hotel in Victoria Island or Ikoyi, a car with a driver, a private boat — is priced for expatriates and companies, not backpackers. That is why the daily totals jump so fast between tiers.

The table below is per person per day, sharing a room at mid-range and comfort, flights not included. Add a domestic flight (about US$120 one way, 2026 estimate) for each Lagos–Abuja or Lagos–Calabar leg, and treat boat days to Tarkwa Bay or a private beach as extra.

Use these as anchors when you are deciding where to sleep and whether to hire a driver. Prices move with the exchange rate, so re-check on arrival.

The currency is the Nigerian naira (NGN, ₦). Exchange rates have moved sharply, so change money only at banks or licensed operators and keep the receipt. Cards work in larger hotels, malls and restaurants in Lagos and Abuja, but card fraud is common: use a card with travel alerts switched on and never let it leave your sight.

Carry small naira notes for tips, suya and short trips. Bank transfers are the normal way locals pay, so many small businesses prefer a transfer to cash. From 2026 banks cap cash withdrawals per person at about ₦100,000 a day at ATMs and ₦500,000 a week in total, with a fee above that — check with your bank before you rely on ATMs.

Budget a buffer. Power cuts, a changed flight or a security-driven switch of hotel can add a night and a transfer at short notice.

The cheapest lever is where you sleep. A short-let or guesthouse in a well-policed area of Lagos costs a fraction of a Victoria Island hotel, and you spend the difference on Ubers into the areas you actually want to see. Eat where Nigerians eat: bukas, suya stands and mall food courts are cheap and busy.

The second lever is how you move between cities. A domestic flight is not cheap, but a long road trip costs a day, a driver and a night's hotel, and adds risk. For most visitors the flight is the better value. Within a city, Uber and Bolt beat a hired car unless you are covering several stops far apart.

Do not cut security. A cheaper hotel in a poorly lit area, or a shared car at night, is where budgets go wrong.

December is the most expensive month: Nigerians abroad come home, hotels in Lagos and Abuja fill, and domestic flights spike. Book those weeks early or avoid them. The rainy season (roughly April to October in the south) cuts hotel demand and prices, but it also brings flooded roads, delayed flights and fewer beach days.

Harmattan, the dry dusty wind from about December to February, is comfortable in the south and cool in the north, and it is peak pricing. If your dates are flexible, the shoulder weeks just outside December and just outside the heaviest rains give the best value.

These are per person, 2026 estimate, and assume you are sharing a room at mid-range. They exclude international flights.

Fix the visa and entry paperwork first, then the internal flights, then the hotels. In Nigeria the order matters because hotel prices and availability move with events you cannot see from abroad.