Sarah Baartman
Graaff-Reinet
The fourth-oldest town in South Africa, ringed almost entirely by Camdeboo National Park and full of Cape Dutch architecture.
Founded in 1786, Graaff-Reinet has one of the largest concentrations of national monuments in the country, most of them along its wide central streets around the Dutch Reformed church.
Camdeboo National Park surrounds the town on nearly every side, and the Valley of Desolation viewpoint is a short drive from the centre.
Why people come to Graaff-Reinet
- Valley of Desolation and Camdeboo National Park
- Cape Dutch streetscapes and the Reinet House museum
- Karoo cuisine and country hospitality
- A natural stop on the route between the coast and the interior
Things to do in Graaff-Reinet
National park
Camdeboo National Park
Graaff-Reinet
The SANParks reserve that almost entirely surrounds Graaff-Reinet, holding the Valley of Desolation, the Nqweba Dam and Karoo game-viewing loops.
View detailsNatural landmark
Valley of Desolation
Graaff-Reinet
Dolerite columns standing 120m above the Karoo plain, reached on a tarred road from the park gate — the classic late-afternoon drive out of town.
View detailsSucculent collection
Obesa Nursery
Graaff-Reinet
A working nursery holding one of the world's better-known private collections of succulents and cacti, on the edge of town.
View detailsWhere to eat in Graaff-Reinet
Restaurant
Polka Café
Graaff-Reinet
A restaurant in a restored Parsonage Street house, one of the town's standing dinner options alongside the hotel dining rooms.
View detailsRestaurant & pub
Coldstream Restaurant
Graaff-Reinet
A Church Street restaurant in a historic building, serving Karoo staples in a town where lamb is the local speciality.
View detailsWhere to stay in Graaff-Reinet
Historic hotel
Drostdy Hotel
Graaff-Reinet
The hotel built around the 1806 drostdy building and the restored cottages of Stretch's Court behind it, in the middle of the historic centre.
View detailsGuest houses
Karoo guest houses
Graaff-Reinet
Graaff-Reinet has an unusual number of Cape Dutch and Victorian houses working as guest accommodation, most within walking distance of Church Street.
View detailsCulture & heritage in Graaff-Reinet
Museum
Reinet House
Graaff-Reinet
The old Dutch Reformed parsonage on Murray Street, now a period museum, with a grapevine in the yard planted in the 1870s.
View detailsChurch & landmark
Dutch Reformed Church (Grootkerk)
Graaff-Reinet
The Gothic-revival church standing at the head of Church Street, the building the whole town plan points towards.
View detailsMuseum
Old Library Museum
Graaff-Reinet
Part of the Graaff-Reinet Museum group, holding Karoo fossil material and a collection of Eastern Cape rock art reproductions.
View details