Donkin Reserve

Port Elizabeth

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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 Elizabeth Donkin, wife of Sir Rufane Donkin, governor of the Cape Colony in the 1820s – who named PE after his beloved spouse. A heritage trail leads between the park's monuments and artworks, which narrate important periods of the city's history, and form part of the wider Route 67 trail through the centre.

Parking is free, but a common scam is to try to trick tourists into paying anyway. Ask at the tourist office here for more information.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Kings Beach

    Kings Beach

    1.78 MILES

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

  • Family of elephants in Addo Elephant National Park.

    Addo Elephant National Park

    29.08 MILES

    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…

  • Schotia Game Reserve

    Schotia Game Reserve

    29.99 MILES

    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…

  • SANCCOB

    SANCCOB

    5.36 MILES

    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…

  • Campanile

    Campanile

    0.27 MILES

    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

    South End Museum

    0.68 MILES

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

  • Bayworld

    Bayworld

    1.93 MILES

    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…

  • Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum

    Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum

    0.56 MILES

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View more attractions

Nearby Port Elizabeth attractions

1. No. 7 Castle Hill

0.11 MILES

This museum-house, occupying a picturesque cottage dating from 1827, evokes a settler family's life during the mid-Victorian period.

2. Campanile

0.27 MILES

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…

4. South End Museum

0.68 MILES

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

5. Kings Beach

1.78 MILES

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

6. Bayworld

1.93 MILES

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…

7. Hobie Beach

2.27 MILES

The beach of choice for windsurfers, sailors and kite-surfers, and sunbathers will also love it.

8. SANCCOB

5.36 MILES

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…

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