That city surprised us a lot. For being dock worker, we thought it wouldn’t have so many touristic attractions to visit. But we were wrong! Besides beautiful, the city has an amazing infrastructure and the places we visited were always organized.

Our tour around the city was very nice and peaceful. So, we want to share below some of the places we visited in Port Elizabeth.

Shark Rock Píer

That pier is in Summerstrand district, where we stayed. The location is great, quite near downtown. The place is terrific, broad and safe, we could see a lot of fish, rays, a hammerhead shark (small, but it was a shark) and several fowls.

Lifeguards usually have training there. Ironman professionals practice that sport and there are a lot of bathers around. You’ll absolutely take wonderful photos, with an overall view of the city and the port background. The access to the pier is free.

King’s Beach

It has a comprehensive length of white sand and, thus, has become the main beach of the city. A lot of surfers and bathers attend that place to have fun in the green water and sunbathe.

The access to the beach is free and you can enjoy it all day long.

Petroliferous Port

The port is one of the main ones in South Africa and acts upon petrol field and grain transportation. Nowadays, it’s the main economic activity of the city.

Donkin Reserve

It has a romantic history. It’s a pyramid that has a mosaic on the floor and a lighthouse background. It was built on demand of the governor, Sir Rufane Donkin, in honor of his wife, who died some days before coming to Port Elizabeth.

Thus, he gave her name to the city, which is currently one of the most visited places by tourists. For being located in a high place, it has an amazing view of all the city and the sea, and it’s also surrounded by a wide garden, where it’s possible to relax open-air.

Colored Buildings District

The downtown, next to Donkin Reserve, has those houses side by side, and they are rather colored. It’s a residential area surrounded by nursery schools. The colors are that eye-catching to highlight.

Beer Yard

It’s a terrific pub that is located among usual houses and is almost unnoticed, but when you get into it, you can realize that it’s a must-see and has to be tried. Beer Yard has a lot of beer types which are served for tasting in 04 glasses with different flavors chosen by you on a board and delicious helpers prepared right before as well. The house also has a pool and tables in the garden area, and the service is great.

Geord`s Park

The park is huge and full of vegetation. It has a lot of trees, so it’s great to go for a walk or have a picnic with the family. It has a cricket stadium, an arts observatory with no admission charge, a memorial of the 1st and 2nd World War (in honor to dead soldiers) and municipal pools open to the public. And, of course, a wide green area, with trails and shades to rest in the middle of the park.

Settlers Reserve

We find this nature reserve some blocks close to Geord’s Park. It has a parking lot and you can hike in the 8-kilometer trail inside, dropping by streams, trees and native vegetation. And if you prefer, you can just relax on the grass and read a book beside the stream, and you can take your pet there. It’s not recommended to hike alone, for being safe and for not to lose yourself.

BoardWalks

Located in Beach Road, in front of the sea and the pier, the place offers everything you need to have a nice day and even to stay there, because it has hotels, clothes stores, casinos, pubs, restaurants, giftshops and, for kids, there are still paddle boats, a carrousel and little amusement park.

There’s a games center, whose prizes are tokens to play in the other rides, such as a bowling, a kart, a cinema and frequent performance shows. That place is amazing, great to have a tour during the daytime and enjoy your family in the evening.

Intercape

It’s the local bus station, where you can find the ranges among next cities. We’re going to use that means of transportation a lot and we referred to three companies: Eldos Coaches, Intercape and Greyhound. They all have fairly affordable prices.

We dealt with Intercape from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg, and the price was 172 reais for the couple. The bus is comfortable, clean and organized, and has air-conditioned as well. In Africa, we used those three companies to move out from one city to another and liked the service very much. By the way, the buses of Intercape buses are made in Brazil, by the company Marcopolo.

Means of Transportation

The bus system is not that good, and you pay for the range you take. You can use it if you are not in a hurry, it costs R15.00 (3.50 reais) in the station and in the stop where you need to buy to take the trip.

Uber works very well, we took some rides and everything worked out. It has a standard price for Uber. There are also taxis, and, like in Brazil, they’re kind of rivals.

Safety of the City

We thought it’s very safe during the time we stayed there. We saw some cops, sometimes some police cars and, in general, there are security guards at the touristic attractions. Sure, as we are a couple, we didn’t stay in the street after 8pm, we went to a close pub at most, and we took the tours during the daytime. We didn’t feel at risk, but we are always attentive.

Expenses in Port Elizabeth

Our expenses, in currency (REAIS), in Port Elizabeth during 4 days for the couple were:

Feeding: R$123.00 (market, snacks and drinks)

Transportation: R$235.00 (Uber)

Lodging: R$160.00 (airbnb)

Besides the amazing places to meet, it’s possible to go on a safari, located less than 40 minutes from there by car. There are some parks and reserves for visitors and possible safari for 100 reais each person surrounding Port Elizabeth. Although we didn’t do it, our hostess in Airbnb recommended it well, the parks Kragga Kamma Game Park and Addo Elephant Park.

So here we are, a lot of possibilities to enjoy Port Elizabeth, which surprised us a lot. Check it out!