Oudtshoorn: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Before the First World War, the most fashionable hats in Paris and London were trimmed with feathers from this one dry valley, and the farmers and merchants who sold them built sandstone mansions the locals still call feather palaces. Many of the buyers were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, and for a generation the town was known as the Jerusalem of Africa. This route covers the town and two farms in about half a day, with the museum first. The Klein Karoo is dry and very hot in summer and cold on winter nights; take a hat, water and sunscreen at the farms.

A short history of Oudtshoorn

Oudtshoorn was founded in 1847 in the Little Karoo valley. In the late 19th century an ostrich feather industry grew up here, as the feathers were then in fashion in Europe and America, and before 1914 they were among the leading exports of the Cape Colony. Jewish traders from Lithuania were central to this trade, and the community was so large that the town was called the "Jerusalem of Africa". When the First World War broke out the feather market collapsed, and the "feather palaces" of that period still stand in the town. The Cango Caves are nearby.

The ten best sights in Oudtshoorn

1
C.P. Nel Museum
Start here: the feather boom and the Jewish gallery explain the whole town
2
Le Roux Town House
A feather baron's house left furnished as it was; a short visit run by the museum
3
Arbeidsgenot
The poet Langenhoven's house, kept exactly as he left it; small and personal
4
Cango Caves
Book the Adventure Tour only if you fit through a 30 cm gap; the Heritage Tour is for everyone
5
Highgate Ostrich Show Farm
The tour includes standing on an ostrich egg; ostrich riding is no longer offered at the better farms
6
Safari Ostrich Show Farm
Ostrich tours beside Welgeluk, one of the feather palaces
7
Cango Ostrich Show Farm
On the road to the caves; easy to combine in one morning
8
Cango Wildlife Ranch
Cheetahs and crocodiles; the cat encounters cost extra, book a slot
9
Swartberg Pass
Gravel and hairpins; fine in a normal car when dry, closed after snow or heavy rain
10
Meiringspoort
A paved road through a gorge; stop at the waterfall, ten minutes' walk

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A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Oudtshoorn:

Free walking tours in Oudtshoorn

The feather town

Baron van Reede Street · The town, founded in 1847, is named after Baron Pieter van Rheede van Oudtshoorn, who was appointed governor of the Cape but died at sea in 1773 on the voyage out. He never saw the colony, let alone the valley that carries his name.
C.P. Nel Museum · Jews from Lithuania began arriving in the 1880s and became the feather buyers between the farms and the markets of London; the best known, Max Rose, came in 1890 and was called the Ostrich Feather King. The museum keeps a room furnished from one of the town's old synagogues and tells why Oudtshoorn was once called the Jerusalem of Africa.
Le Roux Town House · Houses like this were paid for by feathers: around 1913 ostrich feathers were South Africa's fourth most valuable export, after gold, diamonds and wool. Within two years the market collapsed — war, cars and new fashions killed the feathered hat — and many of the families who built these palaces lost everything.
Arbeidsgenot · In this house in 1918 C.J. Langenhoven wrote Die Stem van Suid-Afrika, the poem that became the national anthem. Part of it is still sung in today's anthem, which since 1997 combines it with Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika.
Safari Ostrich Show Farm · Beside the farm stands Welgeluk, one of the feather palaces built in the boom years. Its name is Afrikaans for good fortune — which, for the feather families, ran out in 1914.
Highgate Ostrich Show Farm · An ostrich egg weighs about 1.5 kg, as much as some two dozen hen's eggs, and the shell is strong enough for an adult to stand on. The ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain, which the guides here never tire of pointing out.

Caves and mountain passes

North of town the Swartberg rises like a wall between the Klein Karoo and the Great Karoo, and the ways through it are some of the most dramatic roads in South Africa. This route goes under the mountain first, into the Cango Caves, then over it on a 19th-century gravel pass, and back through a gorge with a river you cross again and again. It fills a day by car; do the caves in the morning and the pass in good weather only. Wear shoes with grip in the caves and bring a warm layer for the summit, which can be 15 degrees colder than the valley.

Cango Ostrich Show Farm · The Oudtshoorn district is home to the largest ostrich population in the world, and the birds you see from the road are farmed for meat and leather now as much as for feathers. An adult can run at about 70 km an hour.
Cango Caves · A local farmer, Jacobus van Zyl, was lowered into the cave by rope around 1780, and its first great hall is named after him. On the Adventure Tour the route ends in squeezes such as the Devil's Chimney, a vertical crack only about 30 cm wide.
Swartberg Pass · The road engineer Thomas Bain built the pass between 1881 and 1888 using convict labour, and its dry-stone retaining walls still hold up the road without mortar. It climbs to about 1,580 metres and is part of the Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site.
Prince Albert · The village at the northern foot of the pass was named in 1845 after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. Its streets are still watered by open furrows fed from a mountain spring, which is why a Karoo village is green with fig and olive trees.
Meiringspoort · The road through the gorge crosses the Groot River 25 times. Near the waterfall stands Herrie's Stone, where in 1929 the writer C.J. Langenhoven carved the name of Herrie, the imaginary elephant of his stories.
De Rust · The gorge takes its name from Petrus Meiring, who farmed at De Rust at its southern mouth. The road through it opened in 1858, and the village grew up at its entrance as a stop for wagons heading north.

The Karoo nobody photographs

Most travellers give Oudtshoorn one night, see an ostrich and the caves, and drive on to the coast. But the dry country around it is one of the richest plant regions on earth, it has wild meerkats you can sit beside at dawn, and its farms make some of the country's best port-style wine. This is a slow day by car, starting before sunrise with the meerkats. Dress in layers: the Karoo can go from near-freezing at dawn to over 30 degrees by lunch.

Meerkat Adventures · Meerkats have a patch of thin, dark-skinned fur on their bellies, and at sunrise the whole family stands upright facing the sun to warm it. The colonies here are wild but used to people, so you sit still on a stool and they come out around you.
Buffelsdrift Game Lodge · Only about 6.5 km from town on the cave road, the lodge is built around a man-made dam of some five hectares where a small group of hippos lives. Watching them from the deck at dusk is the closest thing to a safari on this route.
Cango Wildlife Ranch · The ranch takes part in breeding cheetahs, which in the wild survive in fewer than 7,000 animals across Africa. The keepers explain why the cubs are hand-raised and which animals can never be released.
Red Stone Hills · The Klein Karoo lies in the Succulent Karoo, which has the richest variety of succulent plants of any dry region on earth, many of them found nowhere else. Among the red rocks here many of those tiny plants grow, some no bigger than a pebble.
Gamkaberg Nature Reserve · The reserve protects one of the last natural herds of the Cape mountain zebra, which had been hunted down to fewer than a hundred animals by the 1950s. It is also a stretch of the Succulent Karoo, with rough 4x4 tracks and short walks among the plants.
Calitzdorp · Calitzdorp calls itself the port capital of South Africa: its hot, dry summers suit Portuguese grapes such as Touriga Nacional, the same varieties used in the Douro. Since EU rules reserve the word port for Portugal, the bottles here are labelled Cape Vintage or Cape Ruby.

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Getting to Oudtshoorn and getting around

George Airport · The nearest scheduled flights, about an hour over the Outeniqua Pass; collect or return the car here
Oudtshoorn Bus Stop · Long-distance coaches stop in town a few times a week; book ahead, they fill up

Cheap eats in Oudtshoorn

Oudtshoorn eats ostrich: lean red steaks, burgers and dried biltong, cheaper here than anywhere else in the country, plus Karoo lamb, which locals swear tastes of the wild herbs the sheep graze. Lunch is relaxed and generous at farm stalls and cafés along Baron van Reede Street, and most places close the kitchen by nine. Prices in rand are friendly for visitors; card payment works almost everywhere.

Baron van Reede Street cafés · An ostrich burger about R110-160
Café Brûlé · Coffee, breakfasts and light lunches, about R60-140
Nostalgie · Tea garden with scones and cakes, about R50-100
Highgate farm café · Ostrich lunch after the tour, about R120-180
Langeberg Mall · Biltong by weight, about R40-70 per 100 g
De Rust village cafés · Coffee and a pie before Meiringspoort, about R50-90

Museums in Oudtshoorn

C.P. Nel Museum · Give it an hour; the same ticket covers Le Roux Town House
Le Roux Town House · A feather palace with its original furniture
Arbeidsgenot · Small and personal; check the opening hours
Cango Caves · The visitor centre explains how the caves formed; tours on the hour

Nature and day trips near Oudtshoorn

Swartberg Pass · Gravel road with steep drops; dry weather only
Meiringspoort · Picnic spots and a waterfall walk inside the gorge
Red Stone Hills · Red cliffs and succulents on a farm road east of town
Gamkaberg Nature Reserve · Cape mountain zebra and succulents south-west of town; tracks are rough
Meerkat Adventures · Book ahead; cancelled in rain, when meerkats stay underground

Things to do in Oudtshoorn with kids

Cango Wildlife Ranch · Half a day; the animal encounters have age limits
Highgate Ostrich Show Farm · About 90 minutes; tours run through the day
Cango Caves Heritage Tour · An hour underground on easy paths; good for all ages
Cango Ostrich Show Farm · Short tours and egg-painting, on the cave road
Meerkat Adventures · Older children only — it means sitting very still at dawn

Where to eat in Oudtshoorn

Jemima's · The town's best dinner; book ahead
Bello Cibo · Pizza and pasta when the group has had enough ostrich
Buffelsdrift Game Lodge · Dinner over a waterhole outside town

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Frequently asked questions about Oudtshoorn

What is there to see in Oudtshoorn?

The top sights in Oudtshoorn are C.P. Nel Museum, Le Roux Town House and Arbeidsgenot. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Oudtshoorn?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Oudtshoorn without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Oudtshoorn?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Oudtshoorn, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The feather town.

How do you get to Oudtshoorn and get around?

The main ways are George Airport and Oudtshoorn Bus Stop. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Oudtshoorn, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Oudtshoorn that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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