Situated 60 km from the coast and set among green hills, Grahamstown is known as the Settlers City. The city of Grahamstown is a leading educational center of international renown. It boasts four of South Africa's oldest and finest independent schools, Paul's Theological College and Rhodes University.

At the historic heart of Grahamstown is one of the best collective examples of Victorian and early Edwardian architecture in this country. Grahamstown's past is attractively discernible in the original Settlers homes that have been preserved and in the rather more imposing Victorian edifices erected during the later and more prosperous years of the 19th century.

Stone houses, churches and even a castle or two can be found all over town. Up in Joza, township life mirrors the historically more affluent side of town with its own distinctive image.

The grandly modern Settlers memorial, situated on Gunfire Hill above the city commemorates the early British immigrants. The monument built in 1974 consists of exhibition halls, an auditorium, conference center and recreational areas.

The Albany Museum is set in its main building in Somerset Street. It focuses on natural history, ethnology, anthropology and on the Settlers history. African artifacts, musical instruments as well as exhibitions of traditional Xhosa lifestyles can be seen here.

The 1820 Memorial Museum is also set in Somerset Street and houses a collection of Settlers family treasures, firearms and military memorabilia. Furniture, costumes and a photographic essay on Grahamstown's growth can be seen here.

As Grahamstown carves out its future as Africa's Festival Capital, it merges the rich diversity of traditions and cultures brought to this country by African and European people into a truly South African experience.

In midwinter the city comes alive during the National festival of the Arts, the largest arts and crafts festival in the Southern Hemisphere. Here an imaginative program of drama is staged, music heard, dance performed and paintings and sculptures displayed.

Grahamstown lies at the meeting point of four major biomes, providing unspoilt and spectacular scenery. A wildflower garden on the outskirts of town is filled with indigenous plants that point outwards to the flora of the area.

The Settlers wild flower reserve covers most of Gunfire Hill. This 61ha expanse of ground's features includes a stonewalled lily pond, Old Provost military prison and flora indigenous to the areas.

Thousands of hectares around the city are devoted to nature and game conservation, bringing with them the return of great herds of wildlife to the places where they once roamed freely.

The eight major reserves close to Grahamstown offer visitors a wide variety of wildlife experiences, from self-drive to all-inclusive Big Five game viewing, photographic and hunting safaris and outdoor adventure packages.