Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein was founded in 1846 and now has a population of around half a million people.
J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, was born in Bloemfontein in 1892. Despite Tolkien's fame, there is surprisingly little commemorating him in the city.
In 1923, the African National Congress (ANC) political party was founded in Bloemfontein.
Today, Bloemfontein is a compact city surrounded by sprawling suburbs.
The city centre is safe to walk around during the day, but many of the city's activities are focused on the Waterfront and Mimosa malls and on the large sporting complex. Second Avenue, north of the Waterfront mall, has the majority of the city's bars and restaurants.

By plane

• Bloemfontein Airporta number of flights to major South African cities take off from here, operated by South African Airways and SA Airlink. and Mango airlines and Cemair fly to Cape Town

See Air travel in South Africa for more information.

By train

Bloemfontein is a major rail junction in the middle of South Africa, however services have been reduced to trains from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth and East London three times a week. Trains are run by Shosholo Zameyl. is in the city centre, on the corner of Maitland and Harvey streets.

By car

The N1, N6 and N8 national highways meet in Bloemfontein, making it easily reachable from any part of the country.
The N1 northbound from Bloemfontein towards Gauteng is a toll road.

Distances

• Bloemfontein-Johannesburg: 398 km
• Bloemfontein-Cape Town: 1004 km
• Bloemfontein-Maseru: 137 km
• Bloemfontein-Port Elizabeth: 677 km
• Bloemfontein-Kimberley: 160 km

By bus

A number of bus services offer connections to major South African cities.

• Greyhound

  phone: +27 83 915-9000

• Intercape Mainliner

  phone: +27 21 380-4400

• Translux

• SA Roadlink

  phone: +27 11 333-2223

By car

As with most of South Africa, it is best to hire a car.

• Avis

  phone: +27 51 433-2331
  address: Bloemfontein Airport

• Tempest Car Hire

  phone: +27 51 433-2146
  address: Bloemfontein Airport

• Hertz

  phone: +27 51 400-2100
  address: Bloemfontein Airport

• First Car Rental

  phone: +27 51 430-0390
  address: Bloemfontein Airport

• Anglo Boer War Museum

  phone: +27 51 447-3447
  address: Monument Road
  For a history on the war 1899 to 1902

• Boyden Observatory

  phone: +27 84 429-9080
  address: Mazelspoort Road
  Explore the southern skies under dark and clear Free State conditions

• Choet Visser Rugby Museum

  phone: +27 51 436-4124

• Fire Station Museum

  phone: +27 51 405-8730
  address: Erlich Park Fire Station, Church Street
  17 vintage fire engines, cars, bikes steam engines and even ox wagons.

• National Botanical Garden

  phone: +27 51 436-361
  address: Rayton Road,off Dan Pienaar Drive

• National Museum

  phone: +27 51 447-9609
  address: 36 Aliwal Street
  Home to the Florisbad skull.

• Naval Hill and Franklin Game ReserveThe reserve has various wild animals (nothing dangerous) and is located on top of a hill overlooking the centre of the city. There is a driving circuit weaving around the edge of the hill. You can also park the car near the observatory and go for a walk / have a picnic.

• Oliewenhuis Art Museum

  phone: +27 51 447-9609
  address: 16 Harry Smith Street
  Outstanding art museum in a beautifully restored Cape-Dutch style house and gardens. Oliewenhuis hosts ever changing temporary displays of contemporary art and photography, whilst upstairs is a more traditional permanent exhibition. There is a very nice cafe in the sculpture garden at the back and is the ideal retreat from the city's sterile shopping malls.

• Women's Memorial

• Presidency Museum

  phone: +27 51 448-0949
  address: Pres. Brand Street
  This former residence of presidents of the Orange Free Stare Republic has been restored to what it would have been at the turn of the century.

• Queens Fort Military Museum

  phone: +27 51 447-5478
  address: 116 Church Street
  Exhibitions on the two Boer wars and the apartheid struggle.

• SA Armour Museum

  phone: +27 51 402 1959
  The SA Armour Museum, on the grounds of Tempe Military Base, exhibits various items dealing specifically with military armour. The SA Armour Museum consists of an indoor-, outdoor-, and reference library area. Some of the more interesting exhibits include South African built apartheid era riot control vehicles, and some old Soviet tanks the South African's captured in Angola.

• Go to the Waterfront
• Play a round of golf
• Visit one of the numerous game reserves in the area and go sightseeing / hunting
• Take a walk through the tree-lined President Brand Street and visit the various museums
• Take a drive through the northern suburbs and see the lush gardens
• Visit the City Zoo just behind the Waterfront shopping mall. This zoo is home to a stuffed Liger a cross between a lion and a tiger, that was bred at the zoo in the 1930s. This specimen holds the world record for being the largest ever living cat. And at 798 kg you can see why!

• Soetdoring Nature ReserveA pleasant Free State nature reserve close to Bloemfontein. What sets it apart are the lions in the small enclosure in the middle of the park – although the enclosure is big enough to mean that you are not guaranteed to see the cats. The rest of the reserve is pleasant with open plains, wooded areas and a dam – there are no dangerous animals in the main park so walking is allowed. There is a one-day hiking trail which follows the Modder River, easy enough for families with young children.

• University of the Free State

  phone: +27 51 401-3219
  address: Bloemfontein

• Central University of Technology (CUT)

  phone: +27 51 507-3911
  address: Bloemfontein

The ongoing expansion of the Waterfront mall means that Bloemfontein now has two branches of each of the standard South African chain stores (the other branches being in the Mimosa Mall 2 km up the road). There is a craft market near the Waterfront mall on the first Saturday of the month. Many shops close Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday.

People eat early in Bloemfontein - even by South African standards, if you arrive at a restaurant after 7:30PM, especially on a weeknight, you may get some funny looks from the staff, and rushed service as they try to get you out the door so they can lock up and go home.

• Fishpaste restaurant and bar

  phone: +27 51 430-2662
  address: 31 President Steyn ave, Westdene
  The place to go. Excellent food in an interesting atmosphere.

• Mexican Restaurant

  phone: +27 51 430-4526
  address: 19A Second Avenue Westdene
  There isn't much that is Mexican about this place, except for the big Aztec statue that overlooks the dining area. Seafood and steakhouse. One of the city's more upmarket steakhouses. Fantastic food and service in a beautiful restaurant with a selective bar.

• Cape Town Fish Market

  phone: +27 51 436-6148
  address: Eeufees Road
  Branch of the popular CTFM chain. Worth the trip into the northern suburbs.

• Beethoven's Cafe Restaurant

  phone: +27 51 448-7223
  address: Victorian Square, Second Avenue
  A good choice for breakfast, lunch or a light dinner, and a tad more sophisticated (by Bloemfontein standards) than the chain restaurants in the shopping malls. The only downside is that the terrace overlooks the car park.

• New York's

  phone: +27 51 447-7279
  address: 60 Medene Centre, Second Ave
  One of the better steakhouses in town, although not the best. Not a bad choice for families.

Budget

• Bains Caravan Park

  phone: +27 51 451-1115
  address: 31 Kimberley Rd

• Naval Hill Backpackers

  phone: +27 51-4307266
  address: Belville drive
  Dorm beds.

• Tuscany Lodge

  phone: +27 51 447-3399
  address: 3rd Avenue
  Spotlessly clean and functional hotel in a good location equidistant between 2nd Streets restaurants and the Waterfront mall - and Mimosa mall is a 10 minute walk. Secure parking, full English breakfast, en-suite bathrooms, air conditioning and DSTV. A good alternative to the considerably more expensive City Lodge up the road.

Mid-range

• Bains Game Lodge

  phone: +27 51 451-1928
  Serviced chalets.

• Bloemfontein Spa

  phone: +27 51 436-1567
  address: Raytonweg, Lilyvale

• City Lodge

  phone: +27 51 444-2974
  address: Cnr Nelson Mandela Drive & Parfitt Avenue

• Florentia Guest House

  phone: +27 82 853-7472
  address: 2c Louis Botha St, Waverley
  Safe parking and accommodation.

• Hobbit House

  phone: +27 51 447-0663
  A boutique hotel, a good choice if you are with your intended. From R500 per room inc. breakfast.

• Like A Rock

  phone: +27 51 421-0559
  address: 6 Blink-Vosperdstr. Pellissier
  German-speaking management.

• President Hotel

  phone: +27 51 430-1111
  address: 1 Union Avenue

Splurge

• Halevy Heritage Hotel

  phone: +27 51 403-0600

• Southern Sun Bloemfontein

  phone: +27 51 444-1253
  address: Cnr. Nelson Mandela and Melville Drive, Brandwag

Bloemfontein is much safer than most other cities. You can walk around downtown during the day time (although it will be eerily quiet after the shops close). The Waterfront and other shopping malls are safe and patrolled with 24-hour security, and 2nd Street (the main restaurant strip) is fine day and night. The dodgy areas to avoid if possible are near the train station and anywhere east of the railway lines (where the traditional townships are located).

• Visit the beautiful Karoo town of Graaff-Reinet and the Mountain Zebra National Park in the south.
• Heading east you will reach Thaba 'Nchu, 60 km outside Bloemfontein, which has a luxury hotel and casino complex as well as Maria Moroka Nature Reserve. 130 km from Bloemfontein is the pleasant town of Ladybrand close to Lesotho and its capital city of Maseru.
• The N6 will take you to East London and the N1 will take you to Gauteng (which is a toll road) or Cape Town