Wikivoyage:Past events/World Cup 2010

Visas

The South African Department of Home Affairs, +27 12 810-8911, have details on visa requirements. Many nationalities are exempt for visa requirements. It is advisable that, if you require a visa, you apply for it with time to spare. Home Affairs are sure to be flooded with visa requests at the last moment and turnaround times may be longer than normal.

Tickets

Tickets will be made available by FIFA from the 20th February, 2009 via their website, www.fifa.com, and information will be posted here. Ticket prices for round of 16 matches range between US$ 100 to $ 200 pp (ZAR 700 to ZAR 1400). Plan on buying tickets early; fact being 2-3 million fans are expected to show up. FIFA gives accreditations for Official Travel Agencies (OTA's) across the globe to sell packages that include guaranteed tickets. This includes experienced, highly reputable international companies such as Thomson Sport in the UK and Cartan Tours and Great Atlantic Travel in the USA.

Accommodation

Best to plan your stay and book early.
June/July when the games are held is also one of South Africa's school holiday periods. Not only will you be competing for accommodation with a larger than normal number of international visitors, you will also have local holiday makers to contend with. Cape Town, and to a slightly lesser extend Durban, is especially popular as a holiday destination for people from Gauteng at this time of year.
A number of the venues are not generally regarded as tourist destinations and do not have the infrastructure to accommodate large numbers of visitors. It might be cheaper and easier to find accommodation a bit further afield and travel to the matches. You can, for example, quite easily drive from Pretoria to Rustenburg to watch a match and be back in Pretoria for dinner.

By air

South Africa has 10 airports that act as international ports of entry to the country. The larger and most used are OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airport
Prior to and during the World Cup, a number of additional international flights may also be scheduled to some of the other international airports. A new airport has been opened for Durban, King Shaka International Airport, 30 km north of Durban.
See Air travel in South Africa for detailed information.

By train

Gautrain, South Africa 80-kilometre mass rapid transit railway system in Gauteng Province, South Africa that will link Johannesburg, Pretoria, and OR Tambo International Airport.
Gautrain Network
The Gautrain rail network will be 80 kilometers long. Gautrain is connected to other forms of public transport:
Taxis
Buses
Current Metrorail public train system
Traveling at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour, Gautrain will only take 40 minutes to travel between Johannesburg and Pretoria, but this link will not be finished for 2010. From Sandton to the OR Tambo International Airport it will only take 10 to 20 minutes. Commuters on this route can check in their luggage at the Sandton Station before arriving at OR Tambo International Airport.
The cost for traveling on the Johannesburg/Pretoria route will be between R13.00 and R29.00, depending on distance. The cost of traveling to a station with the Gautrain Bus Link will be between R4.00 and R11.00.
Gautrain Stations
There will be security cameras and security guards on patrol in the stations and the parking areas. Only passengers who have an electronic ticket will have access to Gautrain?s stations and the parking areas. Motorists can travel to the stations and leave their cars at the safe parking bays that are being built at the stations. Parking at the station could cost around R6.00 a day.
Ten station locations have been identified:

• Johannesburg Park Station - (underground station)
• Rosebank - (underground station)
• Sandton - (underground station)
• Marlboro - (station at grade)
• Midrand - (station at grade)
• Centurion - (station on structure)
• Pretoria - (station at grade)
• Hatfield - (station at grade)
• Rhodesfield - (station on structure)
• OR Tambo International Airport - (station on structure)

Gautrain website

By bus

South African commuters busses:
Golden Arrow
Long distance bus services in South Africa:
Greyhound
Citiliner
Translux
MegaBus

By car

For distances up to about 400 km, a rental car generally your best option as public transport is limited and a car will give you the most freedom to go where you want when you want. The road infrastructure in South Africa is generally very good.
The section on road travel on the main South Africa entry will give you a lot more detailed information.

The following cities will play host to matches during the tournament:

• Bloemfontein
• Cape Town
• Durban
• Johannesburg
• Nelspruit
• Port Elizabeth
• Polokwane
• Pretoria
• Rustenburg

The following cities will host training camps for the competing nations:

• Free State Stadium

  address: Corner Att Horak Ave and 1st Avenue, Bloemfontein
  Capacity: 40,000. A rather old (1952) stadium being upgraded.

• African Renaissance Stadium

  address: Greenpoint, Cape Town
  Capacity: 70,000. A new stadium under construction.

• Moses Mabhida Stadium

  address: Jacko Jackson Drive, Durban
  Capacity: 70,000. A new stadium that will replace King's Park Stadium.

• Soccer City

  phone: +27 11 494-3640
  address: Nasrec Road, Nasrec, Johannesburg
  Capacity: 94,700. An existing stadium being upgraded from a capacity of 90,000.

• Ellis Park

  phone: +27 11 402-8644
  address: Staib St, Doornfontein, Johannesburg
  Capacity: 60,000. An existing stadium being upgraded from a capacity of 55,000. Ellis Park is the cultural home of South African Rugby.

• Mbombela Stadium

  address: Nelspruit
  Capacity: 40,000 (Under construction)

• Peter Mokaba Stadium

  address: Polokwane
  New stadium. Capacity: 45, 000. Building started April 2007 and is expected to be completed in March 2009.

• Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

  address: Port Elizabeth
  (Under construction)

• Loftus Versfeld Stadium

  address: Kirkness st, Pretoria
  Capacity: 50,000

• Royal Bafokeng Stadium

  address: Rustenburg
  Capacity: 40,000

An unofficial self-updating Google Earth Placemark is available for those travelers who want to see where the stadiums are.

• Cool Britannia

  address: Cape Town International Convention Center - where to view games when you can't be at the stadium
  Capacity: 10,000

Take care not to pay exuberant prices for counterfeit 2010 World Cup merchandise. The SA Revenue Service reported on January 27, 2007 that they have already confiscated more than R2 million worth of counterfeit goods displaying the 2010 logo. The goods included kit bags, football balls and socks.

• Oriental Plaza

  address: Johannesburg
  An Oriental market place where you will probably find those club shirts, scarves, hats and flags that you forgot to pack.

South Africa is a country with many things to do apart from watching the soccer:

• Go on Safari - All of the Big Five can be seen in natural surroundings in South Africa. The biggest and most famous safari park in the country (and possibly the world) is The Kruger National Park (located to the north east of Nelspruit, on the border with Mozambique and Zimbabwe), although one downside is that it is so large that it requires several days to see the whole park. Addo Elephant National Park (near Port Elizabeth) is a smaller alternative, although you won't see lions, and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park (near Durban) is another good park. Also see National Parks and African fauna and flora for more information.

• Surf at one of South Africa's many world-class surfing spots. J Bay, Durban, Plett...

• Check out South Africa's colourful past - Robben Island, township tours...

• Birdwatching

• See whales, penguins, sharks

• Visit one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Africa

• Check out ancient San rock art

• Play golf

• Gamble

• Horse riding is a popular recreational activity

• South Africa has many famous hiking trails

• Flower Connexion

  phone: +27 11 888-6614
  address: 65 on Fourth, 4th Avenue, Linden, Johannesburg
  Hosting many different workshops during the World Cup using South African flowers. Guided tours will also be undertaken to the biggest flower auction in South Africa.

Important telephone numbers

From a fixed line

• 107 - Emergency
• 10111 - Police
• 10177 - Ambulance

From a mobile phone

• 112 - Emergency

Use sunscreen, wear a hat, drink lots of liquids.
June/July is the middle of winter in South Africa, but temperatures can still be quite high during the day and you may suffer from sunburn when out in the open for extended periods of time. This is especially true for the Highveld (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Rustenburg) and northern venues (Nelspruit and Polokwane). Also see the section on sunburn and sun protection.
Also read stay healthy in South Africa for other important health related issues.

Local media will from time to time carry articles about stadium progress, infrastructure upgrades and possible problems.
Newspapers

• Sunday TimesNational

• The HerraldEastern Cape, will carry specific for Port Elizabeth

• CapeTownMagazine.comCape Town's internet magazine, with much 2010 info on Cape Town and the other World Cup cities

• IOLOnline face of a number of national and regional newspapers

• Shine 2010Online portal of good news around the 2010 FIFA World Cup

• Shine 2010 - Home of the 2010 World Cup good newsStadium update, ticketing and other 2010 World Cup related news, blog, podcast, and SA info

• Emirates 2010 FIFA World Cup PackagesOfficial Sponsor, World Cup Travel Packages etc...

• fifa BlogRead the latest information on World Cup Blog Soccer and World Cup South Africa.

Whilst not soaking up the culture in SA and enjoying the soccer, there are many countries nearby which are well worth exploring:

• Botswana
• Lesotho, the Kingdom in the Sky is a haven for outdoor pursuits: hiking, pony trekking, off roading...
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Swaziland
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

A bit further out, but popular with South African travelers and easy to reach by plane are

• Madagascar
• Mauritius
• Seychelles
• Kenya