Tourist  Attractions

Graaff-Reinet, a town that will capture your heart, is situated on the banks of the Sunday River, it was originally a trading post from the Cape Colony. Graaff-Reinet is an attractive town steeped in history with interesting architecture, an art gallery and a museum. If you love history and old buildings, you’ll love Graaff-Reinet. The town has more than 200 heritage sites, so there’s lots of history to be explored such as the imposing Dutch Reformed church that presides over the quaint Karoo Heartland town.  After experiencing the history of the town you can explore eccentric little hamlets, sprawling farmsteads and interesting nearby towns.

The Great Karoo with Graaff-Reinet as the heart is a natural wonder, full of wonderful rocky outcrops, ridges and cliffs with a landscape characterised by low rainfall, arid air and cloudless skies and a rich ecosystem. The Karoo is a land of extremes, the winter days are crisp and cold with blue skies and bright sunshine while nights are clear with wonderful starlit skies. In summer, it is hot and sunny, which is occasionally interrupted by spectacular thunderstorms that will leave you marvelling at the wonder of nature.   The clear night skies are studded with countless stars and huge bright planets; even other galaxies are visible with the naked eye, offering some of the best star gazing in the world.

Nearby is the Camdeboo National Park with incredible dolerite pillars in the Valley of Desolation. The area has some great hiking trails and contains one of the largest concentrations of ancient fossilized bones. Mount Zebra National Park near Cradock is a nature reserve for the endangered cape mountain zebra, cheetah and cape buffalo. 

We invite you to experience the magic of this area, where you can find your soul in the silence, breathe in the arid air that tells tales of yester years, and gaze at a startlingly clear horizon that seems drawn at the other end of the earth.  Below we have listed some of the attractions that you might want to visit and experience during your stay in Graaff-Reinet, there is still so much more than that to explore and enjoy. The Graaff-Reinet tourism website and office are at hand to provide a more extensive list of the things to do in this area.

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Dutch Reformed Church
The extravagant Dutch Reformed church dominates the northern end of the main street. Built from grey sandstone quarried nearby, it opened for services in 1887. The Victorian pseudo-gothic style is reminiscent of Salisbury Cathedral in England, making it perhaps the grandest church in the whole of the Karoo.
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Valley of Desolation
Don’t miss a visit to the Valley of Desolation, marvel at the steep cliffs and dolerite pillars climbing 120m from the valley floor, look out over the plains of the Camdeboo, or enjoy walking the short Crag Lizard Trail.  Your first stop is the toposcope, where you can walk up a koppie to get a view over the town and the dam. Then continue to the parking area , leave your car and walk to various viewpoints over the Valley of Desolation to see the result of volcanic activity and erosion over millions of years.
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The War Memorial
This monument was, on the most prominent site in town, in honour of the gallant Graaff-Reinet men who had lost their lives in the war. The site chosen is in front of the Town Hall in the centre of what is now known as the Mayor's Garden. On 7 November 1923 the great bronze figure of the "victory Peace Angel", mounted on a high pedestal, was unveiled by H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught.
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Reinet House Museum
Reinet House, which used to be the Dutch Reformed church parsonage, now houses collections of silver, kitchen equipment, medical equipment, clothes and dolls, among others from the past.

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Hester Rupert Art Museum
On 26 July 1966 the art museum, with a total of 90 paintings and sculptures donated by 83 artists, was opened by the then State President, Mr C.R. Swart, and given in perpetual trust to the Town Council of Graaff-Reinet. The building was declared a national monument on 4 October 1984. Since then, more artists have donated works to the museum and to date the collection comprises 126 works by 106 artists.
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Camdeboo National Park
One feels a humbling sense of awe when you’re standing on top of towering dolerite columns overlooking the vast Karoo plains. Particularly so when you find yourself at eye level with a magnificent soaring black eagle in the Camdeboo National Park, which virtually surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet. Presently, approximately 19km of gravel roadways provide visitors with the opportunity to view the a range of indigenous species in their preferred habitats. The park is home to buffalo, eland, black wildebeest, gemsbok, red hartebeest, blesbok and springbok. The higher-lying areas provide the ideal habitat for klipspringer, the endangered Cape mountain zebra and mountain reedbuck. Over 240 bird species have been recorded across the national park. The park is filled with activities for nature lovers and adventure seekers. This includes the picnic and braai sites, 4x4 trails, short and long hiking trails, mountain biking, game viewing, birding and watersports and fishing which are done at Nqweba Dam.
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The Nqweba Dam 
The Nqweba Dam provides cool relief during hot summer days and is a base for a variety of water activities. Boating, canoeing, fishing and windsurfing are allowed on the dam (permit fees apply). Nqweba Dam attracts a wide variety of birds as well as wildlife such as buffalo, gemsbok, springbok and black wildebeest which come to drink from the waters. This is a gem certainly worth the visit.


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Eat Karoo Food 
Graaff-Reinet has a variety of eateries and food shops that will tantalize your taste buds. When you think of the all to well known flavours of the Karoo, you think of heart warming meat dishes especially those containing Karoo lamb. So treat your taste buds at some Graaff-Reinet restaurants. 
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Nieu Bethesda and the Owl House
Helen Martins' Owl House, often cited as South Africa's finest example of outsider art, is an extraordinary, other-worldly home of concrete and ground glass sculptures. Her creativity conjures up an array of emotions: from wonder to excitement, curiosity and sadness. The late Helen Martins dedicated the latter part of her life to transforming her ordinary Karoo home into a fanfare of colour and light. The result is The Owl House, and it's impact is such that visitors are variously awed, inspired, fascinated, calmed or perturbed by their visit, but never untouched.
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San and Khoi Memorial
The San and Khoi Memorial which stands of a hill on the Aberdeen Road approach to the town dedicated to the Hottentots and Bushmen that lost their lives to conflicting interests with farmers between 1702 and 1809.
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The Old Residency 
The Old Residency diagonally across the street from Reinet House houses the William Roe photo exhibition, a fascinating collection of late 19th century photographs. There are also collections of old cameras, gramophones, giant music boxes still in working order, and a roomful of historical guns.
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