Ile-Ife
Ifẹ̀ is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria founded sometime between the years 1000 BC and 500 BC.
Ifẹ̀ is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria founded sometime between the years 1000 BC and 500 BC. By 900 AD, the city had become an important West African emporium producing sophisticated art forms. The city is located in present-day Osun State. Ifẹ̀ is about 218 kilometres northeast of Lagos with a population of over 500,000 people, which is the highest in Osun State according to population census of 2006.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Ile-Ife
5 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Bronze Head from Ife
The Bronze Head from Ife, or Ife Head, is one of eighteen copper alloy sculptures that were unearthed in 1938 at Ife in Nigeria, the religious and royal centre of the Yoruba people. It is believed to represent a king.
1.3 km · sculpture from Ife · Wikipedia - 02Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University, formerly known as the University of Ife, is a federal university in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 by the regional government of Western Nigeria led by Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and classes commenced in October 1962.
5.6 km · A federal government-owned university located in the ancient Yoruba city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Founded in 1961 as the University of Ife. · Wikipedia - 03Ife National Museum
The Ife National Museum is a museum located in Osun State, Nigeria. The museum exhibits objects from ancient Ife, some of these objects are made of terracotta or bronze.
100 m · ethnographic and Archeological Museum in Ife, Nigeria · Wikipedia - 04Oke Ora
Oke Ora is an ancient community and archaeological site situated on a hill about 8 km east of Ifẹ̀, in between the city and the small village of Itagunmodi. Two important characters in the early history of Yorubaland; Oramfe and Oduduwa came from Oke Ora.
7.9 km · ancient community and archaeological site · Wikipedia - 05Federal University Oye Ekiti
Federal University Oye Ekiti is a government-owned and operated Nigerian university. The university has two campuses located in the ancient cities of Oye-Ekiti and Ikole-Ekiti.
2 km · university in Nigeria · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Getting to Ile-Ife
- Airports
- General Tunde Idiagbon (ILR), 107 km · Murtala Muhammed (LOS), 170 km · Cotonou Cadjehoun (COO), 271 km
- Ilorin/Ogbomosho → Ile-Ife84 km · quickest by road, 2h 25m · ₦5,750–7,650
- Lagos → Ile-Ife172 km · quickest by road, 3h 9m · ₦11,950–15,900
- Asaba → Ile-Ife279 km · quickest by road, 5h 26m · ₦18,600–24,800
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Ile-Ife
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Ile-Ife. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inFrom Lagos, a shared car costs ₦3,500-4,000 per person.
From Wikivoyage: Ile Ife, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01725 km
- 022,773 km
- 032,947 km
- 043,194 km
- 053,202 km
If you know how people move in Ile-Ife – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Ile-Ife
Ile-Ife is 26 km from Ilesa, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.