East London Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
East London (now also referred to as Buffalo City) [1] is a City in the Eastern Cape in South Africa.
Contents |
Understand
East London is situated on the east coast of South Africa, boasting the only deep water river harbour. Following the recent renaming, the city is now officially named Buffalo City. Buffalo City now incorparates King Williams Town and smaller surrounding towns too. Though the renaming is offiacial most people still refer it still as East London. The East London Airport code is still ELS which references to the old naming. However the airport too will undergo a name change in the near future.
Get in
By car
East London can easily be reached by car. The N2 highway connect East London to Port Elizabeth and Durban and Bloemfontein by the N6.
If you are coming or going to/from Port Elizabeth you should consider taking the scenic R72 "Romantic Coast Road", which takes a bit longer, but offers some spectacular views and some nice little coast towns.
Distances
- East London-Umtata: 235km
- East London-Durban: 676km
- East London-Cape Town: 1100km
- East London-Johannesburg: 990km
By plane
South African Airways flies from East London to Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, ae well as to some smaller cities in the country. Local low-fare airlines 1Time and Kulula.com serve the airport as well. See also Discount airlines in Africa
By train
Daily connections to Johannesburg are available. There are also a number of trains a week to Port Elizabeth.
By bus
Translux and Greyhound operate regular bus services to all bigger South African cities.
Get around
Unfortunately East London lacks a public transport system, so getting around is difficult if you don't have a car. There are many Car Rental Companies available, 3 of which have branches at the airport.
See & Do
- Visit the museum. It houses the first Coelacanth that was caught. It is described as a living fossil and the zoological find of the last century. It provides a fantastic view of the historical happenings of the Border Area through all the battles and discoveries.
- East Londoners are fortunate enough to have an amazing coast lines with white sand beaches and brilliant surf spots like Nahoon Reef. The "Vaalies", as the visitors from the the old Transvaal are affectionately refered to as, folk down to East London for the Sun, Sea and Sand.
- The City Hall, in Oxford Strret, is one of the proudest landmarks the City has to offer which hasn't been vandalised.
- The East London Harbour is the only natural deep-water port South Africa has. There are restaurants along the waterfront, like the Ballyhoo Bistro, where you can enjoy a very affordable meal with a view of the harbour and the moored yachts right before you. The Ballyhoo offers river cruises and cater for parties and general events.
Buy
Eat & Drink
Sleep
The Thatch is a very good guesthouses, overlooking the Indian Ocean. It is not far from the town and beautifully situated. It is four star graded, but rates are quite low.
Get out
- Go west to Port Elizabeth and the Garden Route driving through Port Alfred.
- The Wild Coast is a rough and spectacular coast line to the east
- Go north to Bloemfontein, inside the Karoo.
- Heading in the direction of Cape Town, you will travel along Settlersway through the semi-industrial area of the West Bank. Settlersway becomes the R72 again as you pass the airport through the traffic lights.
- If leaving toward Durban, the Wild Coast of the Transkei lies before you. The Kei Bridge marks the entry into what used to be the Transkei.
- Stutterheim is the first small town one encounters following the N6 toward Bloemfontein. Take the North-East Expressway from Fleet Street or Pearce Street off-ramp.
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