Free State
Portfolio offers a variety of accommodation from fine country houses, hotels, private game reserves and game lodges, guest houses, country inns, villas and apartments, self-contained cottages and farm stays. Whether you are on safari, or planning a honeymoon, traveling with the family or seeking a romantic weekend away or simply traveling South Africa, the choices are endless with over 900 accommodation establishments to choose from country wide. . Whether you are seeking a golfing holiday, eco-safari or cultral experience, the Portfolio Collection has it all.
From the scenic Eastern Highlands with its magnificent sandstone cliffs to the golden maize fields, the Free State is known as "big sky country". In the heart of South Africa, this is the ideal stop-over between the Cape and Johannesburg or KwaZulu Natal. A number of homes are on farms where true Free State hospitality is offered to travellers, and the hosts in the towns also extend a warm welcome. An easy four-hour drive from Johannesburg is Bloemfontein, birthplace in 1894 of JJ Tolkien, who wrote The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Bethlehem is flower heaven, one of the largest exporters of roses in the country. Pop past the Rose Bud Shop in Muller Street to buy fresh roses, homemade pastries and cakes.
Bethulie, near the Gariep Dam is ideal to spend a tranquil day at Tussen-die-Riviere Game Reserve (between the Orange and Caledon Rivers) spotting plains game, rhino, buffalo and brilliant birdlife.
Bloemfontein - If you are in Bloem on a Sunday, stop at the Terrace Restaurant at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum for tea in the garden to the tunes of the local orchestra. Stroll to Orchard House to see the Green House with its impressive orchid collection. Emily Hobhouse, the famous Victorian feminist is remembered by a memorial in Bloemfontein, for her tireless efforts to improve the plight of Boer woman and children who were confined in the British concentration camps during the Anglo Boer War, and there is also a memorial to those women and children who died.
Clarens - An artist's haven where canvases of local artists are displayed @the Square, an old building with sandstone walls and a rusted tin roof, which doubles as a restaurant and also stocks glass, ceramics and bronzes. Browse the gift shop upstairs.
Ladybrand - Discover South Africa's own Jurassic Park with fascinating fossil tours and dinosaur footprints.
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