Welcome to Port Elizabeth and Addo!

There is a lot for the average visitor to see and do in Port Elizabeth and Addo. For starters, you could enjoy a day out on the beach. Port Elizabeth's water sport facilities are excellent, and visitors like to go boating and on whale watching trips and tours in Port Elizabeth. And for those who prefer an easier pace, there is the Humewood Golf Course, one of the best in the region.

Taking a Port Elizabeth tour of the older parts of the city is a great way to learn about its history. There is something terribly romantic about the old Victorian buildings with their sombre woodwork and plaster railings. Fort Frederick is even older, and was built in 1799 by the British. (A note for history enthusiasts: Port Elizabeth was named after the wife of one of the governors of this region when it was under British rule). Art lovers must tour the King George Art Gallery. The Donkin Heritage Trail is another notable tourist attraction.

Port Elizabeth is home to museums of another sort as well. The St. Croix Motor Museum is very popular among lovers of vintage cars. The cars are displayed by the dozens, each representing an era of elegance and luxury. You can also hop on to a steam train for a very short ride on a narrow gauge track.

Nature lovers will love exploring the nature trails near the city. The Van Staden's Reserve is resplendent in its natural beauty - the lush green stalks and delicate blooms add to the picturesque loveliness of the land.

Not far from Port Elizabeth lies the town of Addo, a famous game reserve. Elephants and lions are two of the chief residents of the park. You may also spot leopards and rhinos. You can immerse yourself in a wildlife adventure by staying at the government run guesthouses in Addo or at a private Addo farmhouse inside the reserve. Jeep tours in Addo and elephant rides are two of the most popular ways of exploring the forest, but you can also explore by horse-back, guided walks and hiking.

Port Elizabeth's laidback lifestyle is in sheer contrast to its gleaming infrastructure, quality Port Elizabeth hotels and growing economy. The Windy City, as the locals call it, is easily explored. Many Port Elizabethans will proudly tell you that it takes no more than twenty minutes to cover the distance between any two points in town. You can use our Port Elizabeth and Addo map to find a hotel in Port Elizabeth and Addo based on its location. While it looks no larger than a provincial town to many European visitors, Port Elizabeth is replete with history, having been home first to indigenous African, and then to trading Dutch and British communities.

All is not hunky-dory with the city's past however. Much before the apartheid regime, there were the Boer Wars and the conflict between African communities and European settlers. Today, Port Elizabeth is a much quieter and peaceful place, with only the old monuments bearing testament to an eventful, and often violent, past of this old city.