Travel Guide to George

George is situated in the centre of the beautiful Garden Route and is halfway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The city is surrounded by the Outeniqua Mountains. Although George is a city, it has a small town and country atmosphere of peace and tranquility.

Major attractions in George

The Slave Tree

The Slave Tree, declared a national monument, is an ancient English Oak planted by Landdrost van Kervel. It is known as the Slave Tree because of the very large chain and lock embedded in the trunk.

Tsitsikamma National Park

The park stretches 5km to sea and protects inter-tidal life, reef and deep-sea fish. You can also expect to see dolphins, popoises, African Black Oysters, the Knysna Lourie, Blue Duikers and the elusive Cape Clawless Otter at the Tsitsikamma National Park.

Outeniqua Transport Museum

The Outeniqua Transport Museum houses a large collection of steam locomotives and carriages dating back to bygone years. Experience a day down memory lane, visit the Outeniqua Transport Museum before you travel on South Africa’s only remaining scheduled steam train, the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe

Outeniqua Choo Tjoe

The Choo Tjoe offers its passengers a unique, picturesque and scenic 52-kilometre journey experiencing the Garden Route with spectacular views of the Indian Ocean

The King Edward VII Library

The King Edward VII Library building is said to be the best example of Edwardian architecture in George.

The Garden Route Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden is situated close to George yet it is far enough from traffic noise to hear the sounds of birds and insects. You see a wide variety of indigenous trees, beds of flowers, fynbos and succulent plants.

Getting Around

Airport

Coordinates: 34º00’24”S 22º22’51”E or -34.00667,22.38083 George Airport, formerly known as the PW Botha Airport is located in George and was built in 1977. This airport has won awards for its efficient operation and is built as an exact replica of the Keetmanshoop, Namibia Airport.

The following domestic airlines have flights to George Airport:

• British Airways (BA) – ComAir (Johannesburg)
• kulula.com (Johannesburg)
• South African Airways (SAA) and South African Airlink (Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg)

Roads

The N2 freeway is the national road you have to take from Cape Town or Port Elizabeth to get to George. Cape Town is 420km from Cape Town in an easterly direction and Port Elizabeth is 330km in a westerly direction.

Rail

George has no scheduled passenger trains, but Rovos Rail and the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe offers leisure rides between George and Knysna.

When to go

The Weather

George and the rest of the Garden Route, has a Mediterranean climate and is one of the highest rainfall regions in South Africa. Summers are warm and winters are mild to chilly.