Tourism

Where to Stay

What to do

BOSHOF

Architecture
The Dutch Reformed Church building was built in 1874, enlarged in 1915 and renovated in 1954. A memorial for the Boers who were killed in the Anglo Boer War can also be seen on site. The Boshof Prison built in 1891 and was originally designed for Kroonstad. The Gunpowder house, a National Monument, is located near the cemetery.

Battlefield site
The Poplar Grove Battlefield site is located close to town. This is the site where, on 7 March 1900, the Boer General, Christiaan de Wet, ambushed the British forces advancing on Bloemfontein. The ambush was not a success and the British nearly succeeded in surrounding the Boers, who were forced to leave their defences and fall back.

Hunting
Various hunting farms in the area offer accommodation and other excellent facilities. Most offer guides and trackers, skinning, cutting and cooling facilities. Taxidermy services are available nearby in Kimberley. Hunting farms in the area include the Rietvlei Hunting and Guest Farm and the Bordeaux Hunting and Guest Farm.

Museum
The Chris Van Niekerk Museum focuses on the history of Afrikaner folk dancing or “volkspele” as it is called in Afrikaans. This type of dancing originated in Boshof. A section of the Chris van Niekerk Museum has been set aside to preserve and exhibit memorabilia relating to the school.

Monuments & Memorials

Volkspele memorial, 3 km from Boshof on the road to Christiana, opposite the farm Vuisfontein where volkspele was performed for the first time.

Memorial of Gen. Comte de Villebois-Mareuil (commander of the French Legion) on the farm Middelkuil, 10 km east of Boshof on the Bosvark road (erected under a wild olive tree, reputedly the place where he was killed while fighting for the Boers on 5 April 1900 against a force under Lord Methuen during the Anglo-Boer War).

Boshof cemetery, surrounded by a limestone wall where the graves of victims of the Anglo Boer War can be seen, such as the grave of Asst. Chief Commandant CCJ Badenhorst, commander of the NW OFS Boertroops; the French soldier General Comte de Villebois-Mareuil; Sergeant Patrick Campbell, estranged husband of the famous actress and mistress of George Bernard Shaw; as well as quite a number of memorials erected for English soldiers who were killed during the said war. The grave of Charles Gerhardus Marais, elder brother of Eugene Marais can also be seen.

The Voortrekker Monument was inaugurated in 1938 during the centenary celebrations of the Great Trek of 1838.

Nature Reserve
The small Boshof Nature Reserve is home to a variety of antelope, such as springbok and blesbok.

Rock Art
Several examples of San rock art can be seen on the farms Rondefontein and Merriesfontein.

DEALESVILLE

Archeological Site
The world-renowned archaeological site at Florisbad lies approximately 40 km out of town. This is the site of the famous Florisbad skull discovery; a skull fragment widely accepted as an archaic Homo sapiens (people who were almost, but not entirely modern humans), dating back approximately 260 000 years. A replica of the skull can be seen in the Bloemfontein National Museum.

Mineral Springs
The Florisbad/Baden Baden Mineral Springs are a popular holiday venue with both geologists and tourists.

Museum
The Jan Wessels Museum can be visited to learn more about the history of the Free State.

Monument
A Voortrekker Monument was erected in honour of the pioneer Voortrekkers who left the Cape Colony in 1838 in search of a better life, free of threats to their culture, language and property.

Nature Reserve
The Soetdoring Nature Reserve, on the banks of Krugersdrift Dam, is the closest nature reserve to the town.

HERTZOGVILLE

Game Reserve
The Palmietpan Game Reserve is home to many different species of game and birds. There are trails, campsites and picnic spots in the reserve.

History and Architecture
The Dutch Reformed Church is a typical example of a Free State sandstone church.