Assendelft Lodge
Prince Albert
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
Supports Wolwekraal Nature Reserve
From R 1,200 a night
Nama-Karoo stays
Across Africa
Karoo Cottage - Sneeuberg Nature Reserve
Sneeuberg Nature Reserve, Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
Supports Endangered Wildlife Trust
From R 3,100 a night
Karoo Secret Farm Stay
Aberdeen
Nama-Karoo biome
Supports BirdLife South Africa
From R 1,200 a night
Aasvogelkrans Farm Cottages & Camping
Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome
Supports BirdLife South Africa and 1 other
From R 1,760 a night
Karoo Rest Camp
Karoo National Park
Nama-Karoo biome · Gemsbok · Springbok
From R 437 a night
Augrabies Falls Rest Camp
Augrabies Falls National Park
Nama-Karoo biome · Gemsbok · Giraffe
From R 362 a night
Boplaas Campsite
Boplaas
Nama-Karoo biome · Camel thorn · Gemsbok
From R 880 a night
Hobas Lodge
Ai-Ais/Fish River Canyon Park
Nama-Karoo biome · Quiver tree · Chacma baboon
From R 3,780 a night
/Ai-/Ais Hot Springs & Spa
Ai-Ais/Fish River Canyon Park
Nama-Karoo biome · Shepherd s tree · Quiver tree
From R 2,720 a night
Doornberg Guest Farm
Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 1,100 a night
The Karoo Dome
Graaff-Reinet
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 3,100 a night
Richmond Rooms
Richmond
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 1,230 a night
Asemskep
Eastern Cape
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 5,740 a night
Gordonville Cottage - Sneeuberg Nature Reserve
Sneeuberg Nature Reserve, Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 2,350 a night
Gordonville Manor - Sneeuberg Nature Reserve
Sneeuberg Nature Reserve, Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
Price on request
Mooifontein Farm
Colesberg
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 1,486 a night
Poplars - Sneeuberg Nature Reserve
Sneeuberg Nature Reserve, Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
Supports Endangered Wildlife Trust
From R 3,900 a night
Klein Geluk
Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 2,340 a night
Langfontein Guest Farm
Camdeboo Conservancy, Graaff-Reinet
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
Price on request
Stone Haven At Nieu Bethesda
Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 825 a night
The Bethesda Guesthouse
Nieu Bethesda
Nama-Karoo biome · Spekboom
From R 900 a night
The Nama-Karoo is the great open interior: dwarf shrubland and grass across the high plateau of the Northern and Eastern Cape, summer rain when it comes at all, sheep country, dolerite koppies and horizons with nothing on them. It is the landscape most South Africans drive through on the way somewhere else, and the one that rewards stopping the most.
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What it offers is space, silence and sky. Sutherland, on its western edge, is the coldest town in the country and the site of the Southern African Large Telescope, because the air here is dry and the nights are genuinely dark. Graaff-Reinet, Nieu-Bethesda, Prince Albert and Cradock are Victorian and Cape Dutch villages set in it, and Camdeboo, Karoo and Mountain Zebra national parks protect its escarpments and valleys.
Winter is cold and crystal clear, with snow on the high ground and the best stargazing of the year. Summer is hot in the day and mild at night, and a thunderstorm crossing the plain is worth the trip on its own. Spring brings lambs and, after rain, a green flush across ground that looked dead a fortnight earlier. Pair the Karoo with gravel cycling, dark skies and the small-town food that has quietly become a reason to come.
Questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit the Karoo?
Autumn and spring are the most comfortable, winter is cold, dry and the best time for stargazing and for walking in the middle of the day, and summer is hot but delivers thunderstorms and green country after rain. Nights are cold in every season except midsummer.
Where should I stay in the Nama-Karoo?
Graaff-Reinet and Nieu-Bethesda under the Sneeuberg, Prince Albert at the foot of the Swartberg Pass, Cradock near Mountain Zebra National Park, Sutherland for the observatory, and the farm stays and guest cottages on the plains between them.
Is the Karoo good for stargazing?
It has some of the darkest skies on earth, which is why the country's largest telescopes are at Sutherland. On a moonless night the Milky Way is bright enough to cast a shadow. Aim for the week around new moon, and check whether your stay has a telescope or simply a good dark deck.