Must-see attractions in Eastern Cape

  • Valley of Desolation, Camdeboo National Park, South Africa.

    Valley of Desolation

    Eastern Cape

    The park’s most popular sight, the Valley of Desolation is a hauntingly beautiful valley with outstanding views – the rugged, piled dolerite columns are…

  • Nelson Mandela Museum

    The Wild Coast

    Set aside at least two hours for this inspiring museum right in the centre. It offers visitors a fascinating journey through the life of Nelson Mandela…

  • Kings Beach

    Port Elizabeth

    Sandy central beach, popular for sunbathing and swimming in the shallows. Take extreme care when swimming; the current is very strong.

  • Ann Bryant Art Gallery

    Eastern Cape

    This mixed late Victorian and early Edwardian mansion has a good collection of South African paintings from landscapes to city scenes, featuring the likes…

  • Camdeboo National Park in South Africa.

    Camdeboo National Park

    Eastern Cape

    Camdeboo National Park covers an area of 194 sq km and almost completely surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet. There are plenty of animals including…

  • Family of elephants in Addo Elephant National Park.

    Addo Elephant National Park

    Sunshine Coast

    Located 70km north of Port Elizabeth, South Africa's third-largest national park protects the remnants of the huge elephant herds that once roamed the…

  • Hluleka Marine Protected Area coastline, Hluleka, Eastern Cape, South Africa

    Hluleka Nature Reserve

    The Wild Coast

    Approximately midway between Coffee Bay and Port St Johns, this nature reserve is known for its spectacular coastline of rocky seashores, pristine beaches…

  • Mountain Zebra National Park

    Eastern Cape

    This underrated national park, 12km west of Cradock, is on the northern slopes of the Bankberg Range (2000m), covers 280 sq km and has superb views over…

  • Schotia Game Reserve

    Sunshine Coast

    The smallest (and busiest) private reserve in the Addo area, Schotia is contiguous with Addo (accessed from the N10 south of Paterson). Aiming to evoke…

  • Silaka Nature Reserve

    The Wild Coast

    This small reserve, 6km south of Port St Johns, is worth a visit if you want to soak up the stunning scenery. It runs from Second Beach past Third Beach…

  • Church Square

    Sunshine Coast

    Grand colonial edifices, university buildings, the 19th-century Anglican cathedral and colourful Victorian and Edwardian shopfronts all overlook this…

  • Amakhala Game Reserve

    Sunshine Coast

    This reserve roughly 70km from PE is well worth a stay: it's beautiful, tranquil and easily accessible, and it supports a large diversity of fauna,…

  • Dwesa Nature Reserve

    The Wild Coast

    One of South Africa's most remote and beautiful reserves, Dwesa Nature Reserve blends lush forests, winding rivers, open grassland and rugged coastline,…

  • Owl House

    Eastern Cape

    The idiosyncratic vision that inspired artist Helen Martins (1897–1976) to turn her home and studio into a singular work of outsider art is the bedrock of…

  • Schreiner House Museum

    Eastern Cape

    Olive Schreiner is best known for her classic Karoo novel, Story of an African Farm. Published in 1883 under the pseudonym Ralph Iron, this provocative…

  • Donkin Reserve

    Port Elizabeth

    This pleasant hilltop park is a good place to get your bearings, particularly if you climb to the top of the lighthouse. The pyramid is a memorial to…

  • Sibuya Game Reserve

    Sunshine Coast

    A few kilometres north of Kenton-on-Sea, Sibuya is a wonderfully scenic place to see a variety of wildlife, including a few lions, white rhinos, elephants…

  • Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area

    Eastern Cape

    One of South Africa's largest conservation areas, Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area is a World Heritage Site between the Kouga and Baviaanskloof mountains,…

  • Kariega Game Reserve

    Sunshine Coast

    An upmarket (but not luxurious) choice, this 100-sq-km reserve 14km north of Kenton-on-Sea offers a chance to see the Big Five (although leopards are very…

  • Amathole Museum

    Eastern Cape

    Established by the London Missionary Society in 1826, King William’s Town (known as ‘King’) was a colonial capital and an important military base in the…

  • Mkambati Nature Reserve

    The Wild Coast

    North of Mbotyi and 30km south of Port Edward lies this breathtaking (and largely underrated) reserve, which encompasses 77 sq km of grassland, dotted…

  • Drostdy

    Eastern Cape

    A drostdy was the landdrost’s (local administrator's) residence and included his office and courtroom as well as his family’s living quarters. The Graaff…

  • Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve

    The Wild Coast

    The private Inkwenkwezi is well worth a visit (or a stay). It's beautiful, upmarket, well organised and features the Big Five (although the elephants and…

  • Qunu

    The Wild Coast

    The roadside village of Qunu is the home town of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who grew up here in the 1920s. The area has yet to fully capitalise on its…

  • Ecoshrine

    Eastern Cape

    Well-known mixed-media artist Diana Graham, a passionate environmental advocate, has created a concrete sculpture garden dedicated to the forces of nature…

  • SANCCOB

    Port Elizabeth

    Most of the world's remaining 25,000 breeding pairs of endangered African penguins are found around Algoa Bay; they are threatened by currents pushing…

  • Pumba Private Game Reserve

    Sunshine Coast

    A fantastic, luxurious and exclusive reserve, Pumba is home to the Big Five (including a pride of white lions – a rarity in Africa…

  • Big Pineapple

    Sunshine Coast

    Local farmers own the Big Pineapple, a few kilometres from the village en route to Port Alfred. This fiberglass replica of a pineapple stands 16.7m high –…

  • Shamwari Game Reserve

    Sunshine Coast

    Shamwari Game Reserve, roughly 40km east of Addo, is one of the most exclusive, luxurious and internationally renowned reserves. Accommodation here ranges…

  • Campanile

    Port Elizabeth

    This bell tower, visible from the city centre, was erected to commemorate the landing of the 1820 British settlers. Unfortunately, it’s near the entrance…

  • South End Museum

    Port Elizabeth

    Multimedia exhibits relate the history of South End, a vibrant multicultural district destroyed by apartheid bulldozers during forced removals between…

  • Bayworld

    Port Elizabeth

    In desperate need of modernisation, this complex includes a museum, an oceanarium and a snake park. The Xhosa gallery and the First People of the Bay…

  • Birch’s Gentlemen’s Outfitters

    Sunshine Coast

    Birch’s is one of a number of historic shopfronts overlooking Church Sq. It has a marvellously old-fashioned ‘slider’ (a pulley system that sends money…

  • Big Tree

    Eastern Cape

    Just east of Storms River on the other side of the N2 is the Big Tree, a 36m-high yellowwood that’s over 800 years old, and a forest with many fine…

  • Second Beach

    The Wild Coast

    Second Beach is Port St Johns's heart and soul. Locals come to this idyllic stretch of sand to while away the hot days and party as the sun goes down…

  • International Library of African Music

    Sunshine Coast

    There are 200 or so instruments to examine here – you can listen to field recordings and try to emulate what you’ve heard on nyanga (pan) pipes from…

  • Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre

    Eastern Cape

    The models and fossil casts here depict prehistoric animals (gorgonopsians, dicynodonts and the like) around 253 million years old – 50 million years…

  • Old Library

    Eastern Cape

    This former library, built in 1847, houses a wide-ranging collection of historical artefacts. There's fossils from the Karoo, displays on Khoe-San rock…

  • Reinet House

    Eastern Cape

    This Dutch Reformed parsonage, built between 1806 and 1812, is a beautiful example of Cape Dutch architecture, with high ceilings and yellow wood floors…

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