The Lekki-Epe Expressway Drive: A One-Day Route With 6 Stops
Lekki-Epe Expressway with palm trees lining the road at sunset
A 65-kilometre one-way drive from Lekki Phase 1 to Epe with six stops, timed to beat the return traffic if you leave by 5pm.
Stop 1 to 3: Phase 1 to Ibeju-Lekki
Leave your hotel at 8am. Stop 1 (8:30am): Lekki Conservation Centre, 90 minutes. Stop 2 (10:30am): Lufasi Nature Park in Ibeju-Lekki, another 45 minutes. This one is smaller than LCC but has the whistling thorn tree and a decent playground for kids.
Stop 3 (noon): coffee and pastries at Amen Estate's cafe, or if that's closed to non-residents, roadside boli and fish at any of the vendors just past Eleko junction. You are now roughly 35 kilometres from Phase 1 and heading into resort territory.
Stop 4 to 6: Eleko to Epe
Stop 4 (12:30pm): Eleko Beach. Public beach, pay the 2,000 naira gate, eat grilled fish under the shacks for lunch. Cleaner than Elegushi and much quieter on weekdays. Give it two hours. Stop 5 (3pm): Onigambari Lake or the Epe Fish Market if you time it right (better at dawn, but afternoon is workable).
Stop 6 (4:30pm): Michelin Suites Epe for a coffee or an early dinner. Turn around by 5pm. If you leave Epe after 6pm on a Sunday you will hit the Ajah bottleneck and pay for it in an extra hour. Sleep in Phase 1 or, if you’re doing this over two days, at Whispering Palms further west.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Lekki Phase 1.
No. The Lekki-Epe Expressway is fully paved and toll-good all the way to Epe. A regular sedan is fine. Watch the two tolls: currently 300 naira at Admiralty and 200 at Ibeju-Lekki.
Not comfortably. Danfos run the route but stop everywhere. Book a Bolt driver for the day at around 45,000 naira, or hire through your hotel. There is no train and the BRT does not go past Ajah reliably.
