The City of Durban
Durban is the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal and has the busiest port in Africa. Tourists love to visit Durban due to the city’s beaches with a warm subtropical climate.
Tourism
Durban International Airport
Coordinates: 29º58’07”S 30º56’52”E / -29.96861.30.94778
Durban International Airport, the smallest international airport in South Africa, serves domestic and international flights and handled almost 4.4 million passengers in fiscal year 2007 (April 2007 – March 2008). The airport, formerly known as the Louis Botha Airport, serves as a gateway for local citizens and tourists visiting the Drakensberg or KwaZulu-Natal, although Durban has a relatively low number of international passengers.
You can reach Durban International Airport by making use of the following airlines:
Domestic:
- 1Time (Cape Town and Johannesburg)
- British Airways (BA) operated by Comair (Cape Town and Johannesburg)
- kulula.com (Cape Town, Johannesburg and Lanseria)
- Mango (Cape Town and Johannesburg)
- South African Airways (SAA) (Cape Town and Johannesburg)
- South African Airlink (Bloemfontein, George and Nelspruit)
- South African Express (East London, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth)
International:
- Air Mauritius (Port Louis)
- Linhas Aereas de Mosambique (Maputo)
- South African Airlink (Maputo)
The Golden Mile
The Golden Mile is a popular, self guided, 6km walking tour. It received its name from the Portuguese explorers who called the sea sand along the coast the 'Sands of Gold'. What makes the Golden Mile even more interessting is all the different things it has to offer. Along the way you could visit the Snake park, Mini-town, Sea World, The Sunken Gardens, the Amphitheatre, a statue of Bartholomew Diaz, Funworld, ride on Rickshas and a whole lot more.
The Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World
The Suncoast Casino & Entertainment World has 1250 slot machines and 50 game tables, including Blackjack, Poker, Roulette, Dice and Punto Banco. They also offer more than enough to keep the young ones busy under supervision.
Umgeni Bird Park
The Umgeni River Bird Park, awarded the “Premier Durban Attraction” by the Durban Tourism Board in 1989, is home to over 4,500 birds of 400 different species.
The BAT Centre
The BAT Centre, situated at the harbour of Victoria Embankment, is an arts and culture community centre that promotes South-African talent and skills.
For the love of Art
Visit the following Art Galleries:
- The Durban Art Gallery
- The KZNSA Gallery
- The African Art Centre
Botanical Gardens
The Durban Botanic Gardens hosts more than 500 000 visitors annualy, many of whom are foreign tourists because the garden is currently ranked one of the top ten botanical gardens in the world. Developed from collections of sub-tropical trees, palms and orchids, it remains a classic botanic gardens, reflecting the universality of the plant kingdom.
uShaka Marine World
uShaka Marine World, Africa's largest Marine Theme Park, offers their guests a visit to an aquarium, dolphinarium, snorkel reef, seal pool, dive tank and lots more.
Theatres
- The Natal Playhouse Theatre Complex
- Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre
- Catalina Theatre
- Kwasuka Theatre
Durban Transport
Air
Durban International Airport also has regularly scheduled flights to Mozambique, Mauritius and Swaziland. A new airport, called the King Shaka International, is currently under construction, starting in September 2007 and should be completed by the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The reason for building a new airport is because Durban’s current airport’s runway is too short for a fully-laden Boeing 747 to take off.
Roads
Durban has two national roads:
- The N2 (connecting Durban to East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town)
- The N3 (connecting Durban to Johannesburg)
Sea
The Port of Durban is the busiest port in South Africa as well as the busiest container port in the Southern Hemisphere. It also contains a naval station and other military facilities. The port is mainly used for trade because all industrial and mining products from South Africa being shipped outside of the country, are shipped from Durban.
Rail
Durban's railways is well-served because Durban is the trans-shipment point for goods leaving the country. It also has a passenger rail, the Shosholoza Meyl, that operates two long-distance rails from Durban.
Buses
The eThekwini Municipal Bus Company operates scheduled bus services throughout the Durban Metropolitan area. Several companies run bus services from Durban to all the other cities in South Africa.
Taxis
Durban has two kinds of taxis, metered taxis and minibus taxis. Metered taxis are not allowed to drive arround in the city and must be called and ordered to a specific location.The minibus taxis are mostly used by the working class of South Africa as public transport.
Rickshaws
Durban is famous for its Rickshaws, a cart pulled by Zulus with giant, vibrant hats and costumes. The Rickshaws is a mode of transportation and navigation throughout the city.
Accommodation
Search accommodation in Durban
Durban Information
The climate
Durban has a mild sub-tropical climate with warm, wet summers and large altitude variations. Summer temperatures (from January to March) peak at 28C(82F) maximum and 21C(70F) minimum. Winters (June to August) have mild moist to dry winds and 23C (73F) maximum and 11C (52F) minimum temperatures. Some western suburbs get very chilly in the winter and the average rainfall is about 1009 millimeters per annum.

