Things to see in South Africa

To see

Addo Elephant National Park

Addo, Eastern Cape

Home to more than 600 elephants plus lions, buffalo and rhino.

sanparks.org ↗

To see

Hole in the Wall

Coffee Bay, Eastern Cape

Detached cliff with a wave-carved arch on the Wild Coast.

To see

Mountain Zebra National Park

Cradock, Eastern Cape

Cape mountain zebra, cheetahs and Karoo views.

sanparks.org ↗

To see

East London Museum

East London, Eastern Cape

Home of the coelacanth identified in 1938.

To see

Bayworld

Gqeberha, Eastern Cape

Museum and oceanarium on the beachfront.

To see

Donkin Reserve

Gqeberha, Eastern Cape

Pyramid memorial and lighthouse on the Route 67 art walk.

To see

Valley of Desolation

Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape

Dolerite pillars above the Karoo in the Camdeboo National Park.

To see

Observatory Museum

Makhanda, Eastern Cape

Victorian building with a working camera obscura.

To see

Nelson Mandela Museum

Mthatha, Eastern Cape

Museum in Mthatha with the Qunu youth centre nearby.

To see

The Owl House

Nieu-Bethesda, Eastern Cape

Helen Martins's house and garden of concrete sculptures.

To see

National Women's Monument

Bloemfontein, Free State

Memorial to women and children who died in South African War concentration camps.

To see

Oliewenhuis Art Museum

Bloemfontein, Free State

Art museum in gardens in the former official residence.

To see

Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Clarens, Free State

Sandstone cliffs, hiking trails and grassland game.

sanparks.org ↗

To see

Vredefort Dome

Parys, Free State

World Heritage Site and the oldest and largest visible meteorite impact structure on Earth.

To see

Cullinan Diamond Mine

Cullinan, Gauteng

The mine where the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond was found.

To see

Apartheid Museum

Johannesburg, Gauteng

Moving museum telling the story of apartheid and South Africa's road to democracy.

apartheidmuseum.org ↗

To see

Constitution Hill

Johannesburg, Gauteng

Former prison complex that now houses the Constitutional Court.

To see

Maropeng Visitor Centre

Muldersdrift, Gauteng

Official visitor centre of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.

maropeng.co.za ↗

To see

Freedom Park

Pretoria, Gauteng

Heritage site and memorial on Salvokop.

To see

Jacaranda season

Pretoria, Gauteng

Thousands of jacaranda trees bloom purple from about late September to November.

To see

Union Buildings

Pretoria, Gauteng

Seat of government, with terraced gardens and a 9-metre statue of Nelson Mandela.

To see

Voortrekker Monument

Pretoria, Gauteng

Granite monument and museum on a hill south of the city.

vtm.org.za ↗

To see

Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum

Soweto, Gauteng

Remembers the 1976 student uprising.

To see

Vilakazi Street

Soweto, Gauteng

The street where Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu both lived; visit the Mandela House museum.

To see

Rorke's Drift

Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal

Mission station battlefield of 22–23 January 1879.

To see

Durban Botanic Gardens

Durban, KwaZulu-Natal

Africa's oldest surviving botanic garden, established in 1849.

To see

Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park

Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal

Africa's oldest proclaimed game reserve, famous for rhino conservation.

To see

Howick Falls

Howick, KwaZulu-Natal

95-metre waterfall right next to town.

To see

Nelson Mandela Capture Site

Howick, KwaZulu-Natal

Steel-column sculpture where Mandela was arrested in 1962.

To see

Isandlwana battlefield

Nqutu, KwaZulu-Natal

Site of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War battle.