Port Elizabeth Travel Guide

Port Elizabeth © Ngrund

The industrial city of Port Elizabeth is the centre of the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, known in most tourist guides as 'Settler Country'. The city was founded by shiploads of British settler families who arrived in the Eastern Cape in the early 19th century, hoping to improve their prospects after suffering economic hardship because of the industrial revolution at home. The settlers also intended to strengthen defences against the local Xhosa people, who had been pushed back beyond the Fish River frontier. The settlers came ashore at Algoa Bay, where there was nothing more than the small British Fort Frederick to welcome them.


Port Elizabeth is generally a transfer point for travellers, as opposed to a destination in itself, but the city is worth a day or two of exploration.

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