Gqeberha
The Friendly City — a coastal Eastern Cape hub with beaches, ocean safari, and the gateway to Addo and the Garden Route's eastern end.
Trip Role
Ideal stay
Best for
Our take
The Eastern Cape's coastal hub — useful, friendly, and the natural gateway to Addo and the Garden Route.
The Eastern Cape's coastal hub — useful, friendly, and the natural gateway to Addo and the Garden Route.
- Trip Role
- Base
- Ideal Stay
- 1-2 days
- Best For
- Garden Route and Eastern Cape safari logistics
- Go If
- You're doing Addo, the Eastern Cape reserves, or the eastern Garden Route.
Why go
Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) is the Eastern Cape's coastal anchor — long beaches, an ocean-based wildlife scene (stingrays, penguins, whales), and the practical gateway to Addo Elephant and the eastern Garden Route.
What we love
The Donkin Reserve and the Route 67 art walk through the city centre.
What to know
Has the busiest airport in the Eastern Cape and sits 75km from Addo; a car is essential to reach the reserves. Long known as Port Elizabeth; officially renamed Gqeberha in 2021.
What's here
Best things nearby
Addo Elephant National Park
Malaria-free elephant country — one of the best places on earth to see elephants in volume.
Jeffreys Bay
South Africa's surf town — the world-famous right-hand point break at Supertubes and a laid-back beach culture.
Kenton-on-Sea
A holiday village between two rivers on the Sunshine Coast — beaches, Kariega Game Reserve upriver, and a family base.
St Francis Bay
A white-walled canal-and-beach village near Jeffreys Bay — surf, a canal estate, and a calmer Eastern Cape coast base.