Nelspruit

Introduction

Nelspruit is a town of 220,000 people that serves as the capital of the Mpumalanga province. It's also a commercial hub drawing shoppers from smaller towns and villages in South Africa and Swaziland.

Sights and Activities

One of the reasons Nelspruit is growing so fast is it's location so near the Kruger National Park. It's South Africa's biggest game reserve, and also one of the best places to spot wildlife in the country. The majority of the Kruger is a public park where visitors are allowed to drive only on the marked roads and stay in one of the public rest camps (entrance fee is around R140 for adults and R70 for children). There are also a wide selection of private parks that make up the 'Greater Kruger'. These are more costly than the public park as most provide all-inclusive accommodation and come with game drives and game walks included.

Events and Festivals

World Cup 2010

The big event on the South African calender this year was of course the FIFA World Cup on the 11th of June 2010. One of the most prestigious and popular world sporting events, the World Cup 2010 was largely considered a success on its first run out in Africa. Held once every four years, it's a football tournament (known as soccer in South Africa) where 32 world nations vie for the famous golden trophy.

Nelspruit hosted some of the World Cup matches at the Mbombela Stadium, including Austalia's shock 2-1 victory over Serbia. It has a capacity of 44,000.

Getting There

By Plane

The Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport is situated just northeast of the town. Destinations include Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Vilanculos (Mozambique).

By Train

Shosholoza Meyl has the following train:

• Johannesburg/Pretoria - Komatipoort via Nelspruit, 13 hours, economy class daily except Saturday, connecting with the onward train to Maputo, Mozambique.

By Car

Coming from Pretoria it's a 360km drive on the N4. Those coming from Johannesburg should take the N12 and connect to the N4.

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

The ideal way to discover Nelspruit and the rest of the Mpumalanga Province is on a self-drive holiday. With a hire car from either Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz or First Car Rental you can explore Nelspriut at your leisure.

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

The SAPO (South African Post Office) is the nation's postal service. Post offices are open from 8:30am to 4:30pm from Monday to Friday, and 8:00am to noon on Saturdays. Domestic and international deliveries are reliable but can sometimes take up to several weeks. If you want to send something oversees of any value, try using one of the private mail services, like Postnet.