Port Harcourt

Port Harcourt is a gulf city and capital of Rivers State in Southeast Nigeria and is the centre for the blooming oil industry in the country. Most speak English, but Igbo is the dominant language.

Understand

Get in

By plane
  • Port Harcourt International Airport, PHC. There are now direct flights from Europe operated by Air France and Lufthansa. It is also less than an hour in the air if you fly in via Lagos or Abuja

By train

Rail service to Port Harcourt is limited to a once-weekly train from Kano, via Kaduna run by Nigeria Railway Corporation. The terminus 🌍 Port Harcourt Central railway station is located on Station Rd.

By car

By bus

By boat
  • From Nembe by ferry.

Get around

See
  • Borikiri Market.
  • Port Harcourt Zoo.
  • Izumini River - an hour's drive outside of the city
  • Port Harcourt Pleasure Park

Do

Learn

Buy
  • Fabrics.
  • Traditional carvings and paintings.
  • Hand tooled leather boxes and trunks of all shapes and sizes.

Eat

Rice, egusi soup with eba or fufu, pounded yam, papper soup, ogbono soup.

Budget

Suya - A kind of spicy meat kebab. Available at the side of any road cooked over charcoal. Wash it down with a Coke, called locally a mineral, or a bottle of the local Guinness or Maltina.

Mid-range

Splurge

Drink

There is great night life here.

Try Cheers Bar in GRA every Sunday! Place is absolutely packed with guys and girls being treated to awesome music by Nick and Smart. Food is great, service is friendly and the beers are cold!

Also on weekends Wine Bar, Bunga Villa (as the locals call it) and Aristo House are great!

Sleep

Budget

Mid-range
  • 🌍 Hotel Presidential, Aba Road, ☎ +234 84 901307. A locally owned hotel, centrally located and has recently undergone renovations. 
  • Mina Hotels is a relatively nice and clean place - the rooms are quite large and do not have that "wet" and old smell other hotels in this price range usually have. Prices start at around 40-50 USD/night (2005 winter).
  • 🌍 Swiss Spirit Hotel & Suites Danag (Swiss Spirit Hotel & Suites Port Harcourt), 79 Ken Saro Wiwa Rd., Port Harcourt, ☎ +234 703 746-1745, e-mail: . Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 10:00. Swiss Spirit Hotel & Suites Danag is located in the capital city of Rivers State, Port Harcourt, with its 144 rooms & suites. Situated in one of the most bustling cities of Nigeria, the hotel is situated along the city's commercial district on the formerly known Stadium Road, making the hotel a prime and vibrant destination in Port Harcourt.
    Swiss Spirit Hotel & Suites Danag is a 30 minutes drive from the Port Harcourt International Airport & merely 5 mins drive from the Air Force Base and the Port Harcourt Stadium.     From US$ 50. (updated Jun 2018)

Splurge

Le Méridien and Novotel are the two hotels in town which offers high-quality accommodations.

  • 🌍 Le Méridien Ogeyi Place, 45 Tombia Street, ☎ +234 84 461770, fax: +234-84-461771. 
  • 🌍 Hotel Novotel Port Harcourt, 3 Stadium Road, ☎ +234 84 461540, e-mail: . 
  • Swiss International Mabisel - Port Harcourt (Swiss International Mabisel Hotel), No. 9 Mabisel Avenue, Off Peter Odili Rd., Port Harcourt,, ☎ +234 905 388-6166, e-mail: . Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 10:00. Located in an ideal location within easy access to major corporate companies in Port Harcourt, Swiss International Mabisel Hotel offers well-appointed and comfortable rooms. Its state of the art facilities, and exquisite bars and dining options, welcomes both business and leisure travelers.
    On the southern tip of Nigeria in the heart of the Niger Delta is Port Harcourt, “The Garden City”. Swiss International Mabisel Port Harcourt is 40 minutes’ drive from the Port Harcourt International Airport and is situated in the business district and at close proximity to major corporate locations in Port Harcourt.     From US$ 80. (updated Jun 2018)

Connect

You will hardly be able to find your way in Nigeria especially in Port Harcourt unless you have been provided earlier direction.

Stay safe

Port Harcourt is the centre of oil business in Nigeria. Some people have a strong feeling that the oil is "stolen" from them by local government in cooperation with foreign companies. There are frequent riots, worker strikes and regular reports of kidnapping.

Some bars and clubs, nevertheless, seem relatively safe even during the night.

Cope

Go next

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