Victoria West, Upper Karoo
Victoria West is a typical and flourishing Karoo town on the N12 between Cape Town and Johannesburg via Kimberley, a minor detour off the N1 of some 60 kilometres or so.
You can also reach the village via the R63. It is well worth a visit for its historical buildings and homes, and its association with the legendary rugby player, Mannetjies Roux.
Victoria West, as you enter from the Loxton side (R63), is filled with a row of neat little houses, most of which are either Cape Cottage or Victorian-house style, and locals sweep their stoeps or gaze from the windows as you pass. This part of town that lies nestled in amongst the Victoria West Mountain and Moonlight Hill (on which there is a walking trail) is part of the original village of the town. You can see the difference further across town where, closer to the Victoria Trading Post, town becomes more modern.
Views from the edge of town include windpumps, artistically restored homes and breathtaking vistas, particularly after a storm.
Additional Reading
For more info about Victoria West see our articles on the SA Travel News Blog: • The Little Town Of Victoria West - Haven Of The Karoo
In the vicinity
Hotels & other accommodation options
Camp Nguni
Camp Nguni offers accommodation in a wildlife reserve and is the ideal place to visit for those wanting to explore the Karoo. The luxury accommod...
Melton Wold Guest Farm
Melton Wold Guest Farm is the oldest guest farm in the country. The guest farm offers bed and breakfast accommodation in 17 rooms. All of the roo...
Victoria Oaks Guesthouse
Victoria Oaks Guesthouse is situated in beautiful Victoria West, a quiet town in the central Karoo region of South Africa. With both guesthouse r...
Caro's Karoo
Caro's Karoo offers traditional Karoo home-stay accommodation in two bedrooms, both of which are furnished with three single beds. Each room has ...
Joalani Guest Farm
Joalani Guest Farm is located on a working farm in Victoria West in the Karoo. The farm is situated just 500m down a gravel road from the N1 maki...
De Oude Pastorie
De Oude Pastorie offers accommodation in Victoria West, in the oldest house in the town. The home was the first parsonage of the Dutch Reformed C...
Moonlight Manor Boutique Guesthouse
Moonlight Manor is located in the small Karoo town of Victoria West, halfway between Johannesburg and Cape Town on the N12. Accommodation is offe...
Things to do in the area
The Apollo Theatre
Acclaimed as the last Art Deco cinema in the country, the Apollo Theatre has recently been revamped and reopened, to the delight of culture-vultu...
Noteworthy attractions
Karoo Gariep Conservancy
Karoo is a “quenna” word meaning “dry and hard”. Gariep is also a “quenna” word meaning “big water”or river. The Karoo Gariep Concervancy is foun...
Tankwa Karoo National Park
The 80 000 hectare Tankwa Karoo National Park, proclaimed in 1986 and still in a development stage, is at present in a veld recovery phase and it...
Gariep Dam Nature Reserve
The Free State's largest nature reserve is a combination of the 36 487 ha Gariep Dam on the Orange River and an 11 237 ha game sanctuary on its n...
Akkerendam Nature Reserve
Akkerdam Nature Reserve lies just outside the little town of Calvinia, which is found at the foot of the Hantam Mountain (mountain of the red bul...
Rolfontein Nature Reserve
Situated in the upper Karoo where an infinite sky and horizon seem to go on without end, the Rolfontein Nature Reserve is found roughly 16 kilome...
Doornkloof Nature Reserve
Lying peacefully in the mountainous upper Karoo of the Northern Cape, just outside the little town of Colesberg, Doornkloof Nature Reserve is pos...
Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve
Just 10 kilometres outside of the little town of Nieuwoudtville, between the towns of Van Rhynsdorp and Calvinia, lies the Oorlogskloof (war gorg...
Hantam National Botanical Garden
Established in 2007, the Hantam National Botanical Garden lies on the Bokkeveld Plateau just outside the town of Nieuwoudtville. It is regarded a...
Molteno Pass
Said to be South Africa's first mountain pass, Molteno Pass links Beaufort West to Loxton, in effect joining the oldest town in the area to the N...
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