Mthatha

Getting there

By car The N2 highway runs directly through Mthatha and allows easy connections to Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London to the south, and Durban to the north. The R61 regional road goes east to Port St Johns on the coast, and west to Queenstown and to the mountainous and relatively remote interior.

By plane 1 Mthatha Airport (UTT IATA). Scheduled flights to Johannesburg are available with SA Airlink. (updated Dec 2019)

By train As of 2023, there are no passenger services to Mthatha. The daily service from East London was cancelled in 2017.

See

A must-see is the Nelson Mandela Museum (open weekdays and on Saturday till noon) and its beautiful craft shop of the Ithemba project.

1 Nelson Mandela Museum Mathatha. (updated Jul 2023)

Eat

Ebony B&B. The Ebony Restaurant is perhaps the best restaurant in the Eastern Cape and one would not expect to find it in Mthatha. Ocean Basket. A seafood chain found in most cities and large towns, it also offers a reasonable salad.

Sleep

There are numerous places to stay in the town, and finding accommodation is usually not difficult.

Ebony B&B (Not far from Walter Sisulu University). An enjoyable place to eat and sleep is the Ebony B&B. Steak, Johannesburg Urban Art décor, wrap around patio, plantation-style building. The site of the local Lion's Club dinners. R400 per night. 70 Blakeway B&B, 70 Blakeway road, ☏ +27 47 532 6690, blakewayb&[email protected]. This B&B is clean and comfortable. From R390.

Go next

East to the Wild Coast and Durban. Southwest to East London and Port Elizabeth West to Queenstown