Search results
People also ask
Why should you visit Durban?
Is Durban the best city in South Africa?
Why is Durban so special?
What to do in Durban South Africa?
Why is Durban a good place to live?
Why is Durban a good holiday destination?
May 19, 2020 · Durban on the east coast of South Africa has often been overshadowed by its popular sisters, Johannesburg and Cape Town, but this laid back seaside town is slowly making waves. Here are 10 reasons to head east to this rapidly emerging city when visiting South Africa.
- Shubnum Khan
May 19, 2020 · On the east coast of South Africa, Durban offers more than just beautiful beaches and Indian cuisine. From nature and unique food to adrenaline-pumping activities, the city has so much to offer; here is a list of some of the unique things tourists can do and see in in this laid-back seaside city.
- Shubnum Khan
- The laid-back lifestyle. When it comes to the laid-back stakes of coastal cities in South Africa, Durban wins hands down. Slops and shorts are standard apparel, all year round – even the winters in Durban produce balmy days that easily give Mozambique and European summers a run for their money (in fact, they’re better, even, than the city’s sticky summers).
- Beaches all year round. Attributable to the glorious weather Durban experiences all year, its beaches are as swimmable in winter as summer and warm – unlike its sister city, Cape Town.
- The people. Unpretentious and multi-cultural, depending on where you go, Durban’s people are as varied as they are, almost without exception, friendly. If you want vibey and culturally mixed head to the harbour or down town Durban; to Chatsworth or Tongaat for Indian curries, or to Umlazi or KwaMashu for house music and braaied meat.
- The food. Durban has fast caught up with its more worldly cousins – Johannesburg and Cape Town – when it comes to food and coffee. Despite its overwhelming curry fame, it also has a healthy craft beer, food and spirits scene (with the odd distillery producing spirits made with local ingredients) and active weekly food markets like the I Heart Market and the Morning Trade Market.
- The Golden Mile
- Ushaka Marine World
- Port Natal Maritime Museum
- Umgeni River Bird Park
- The Bat Centre
- Durban Botanic Gardens
- Mini Town
- Kwamuhle Museum
- Food
- Moses Mabhida Stadium
Durban isn’t the getaway of choice for South Africans for nothing. You won’t need much convincing that the city’s Golden Mile is the best place to head. It stretches out from the Central Business District (CBD) to form several beaches backed by an attractive promenade filled with cafes and restaurants. Like most of the Golden Mile’s beaches, South ...
When it’s time for a change from the sands of the Golden Mile, head to uShaka Marine World. Although primarily known as a water park, most agree that its slides don’t come anywhere near comparison with its aquaria, which total 4.6 million gallons and contain 10,000 distinct species of sea creature. Putting rivals to shame, the aquaria at uShaka Mar...
Just across the bay from uShaka Marine World is the Port Natal Maritime Museum. Maintaining the old name for the city – which was changed in 1835 – the museum has Durban’s elegant harbor as a backdrop. Its exhibitions span hundreds if not thousands of years of seafaring in the region. The stars of any visit have to be the boats and ships which can ...
Once a water-filled quarry, Umgeni River Bird Park now has tropical flora spanning 3.5 hectares on the opposite bank of the Umgeni River to the city. It provides a home for approximately 800 birds belonging to 200 species, including the only examples of their kind in Africa. Birds to look out for range from owls and hornbills to vultures and macaws...
Nothing to do with flight, the BAT Centre is a community arts project found on Durban’s Victoria Embankment. It consists of a clutch of individual brick buildings containing small independent art galleries, alongside a performance hall, places to grab a bite to eat, and stores selling a mix of traditional and contemporary art from KwaZulu-Natal pro...
Durban Botanic Gardens is the oldest formally laid out botanic gardens in South Africa, with a foundation date of 1849. A mix of local South African plants and exotics from around the world, it boasts specimens from a variety of floral kingdoms. Among them are orchids, palms, and cycads (ferns). But covering 15 hectares, there’s also a sunken garde...
A knee-high version of the city beyond its perimeter walls, Mini Town is a retro (turning to kitsch but in a good way) attraction close to the beachfront at Snell Parade. Recreating Durban in miniature, Mini Town contains versions of all the city’s main buildings of note. What makes Mini Town extra special is the attention given to the functioning ...
To my mind, the KwaMuhle Museum is the most important and most interesting of all Durban’s exhibition spaces. This museum of apartheid, and its forerunner, the ‘Durban system,’ has been sensitively situated in the building once hated by non-white South Africans – the Department of Native Affairs. It was here that the passes which had to be carried ...
One of South Africa’s most ethnically diverse cities, Durban’s population is made up of Zulu people in addition to a significant number with British and Indian descent. Blending their cultures over decades, Durban has a culinary scene unlike any other city in South Africa. And you don’t have to spend big to enjoy it. The city’s oceanic location mea...
Built for the 2010 FIFA soccer world cup and named after a leading anti-apartheid politician, this stadium in Durban isn’t just for sports fans. As well as hosting soccer, cricket, and rugby union matches, the stadium doubles as a playground for adventure sports lovers. The arch which spans the 55,000 seater arena incorporates a 550 step ‘adventure...
Jan 18, 2017 · Durban is a somewhat of an overlooked destination in South Africa. We explain its hidden qualities that make it so special.
- Shubnum Khan
Jun 4, 2015 · Roosters on the loose, potatoes by the ton, township music blasting from overloaded lorries, beaded Zulu isicholo hats, and nearby, at the Victoria Street Market, Indian spices like “Atom Bomb”...
Jun 14, 2012 · Tour a game reserve, catch a rugby match, and get up close and personal with sharks while checking off this list of the top ten things to do in Durban. June 14, 2012. • 7 min read.
