Free State provincial article - South African Vacations

GOLDFIELDS ROUTE
This route passes through the Lejweleputswa Region of the Free State. Stop over and
explore historic towns and the mines around which they were established. Watch as they
cast an ingot of gold. Welkom lies at the centre of this tourist region that spans an area of
some 9 000 square metres. Some of the well-known gold mining towns on this route are
Virginia, Allanridge and Odendaalsrus.
MALUTI ROUTE
This route forms the gateway to the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho and the Eastern Cape. It
starts at Ladybrand (to travel to Ladybrand from Bloemfontein take National Road N8). The
route passes Hobhouse (named after Emily Hobhouse, the famous British Human Rights
fighter at the time of the Anglo-Boer War), Jammersdrif, Wepener on the Lesotho border,
Van Stadensrus, Zastron at the foot of the Aasvoëlberg Mountain Range and further
east into the Maluti Mountains in Lesotho. Alternatively, the route passes south-east (on the
R726) to Sterkspruit (in the Eastern Cape) or south-west into Rouxville and the Eastern
Cape town of Aliwal North and its famous hot springs. One of the most important features
of the route is the RAMSAR accredited wetlands of the Seekoeivlei Nature Reserve at
Memel.
N6 ROUTE
Follow the N6 motorway to enter or exit the Free State from the south and take the
opportunity to see some of the Xhariep Region. The route links Bloemfontein, capital of the
Free State, with East London in the Eastern Cape and includes towns such as
Reddersburg and Smithfield. It passes through open countryside where sheep, cattle and
goats graze, past Anglo-Boer War battlefields and off-the-beaten track villages and towns
in both provinces. Motorists have dubbed this motorway “the friendly way” because of the
hospitality and sunny disposition of the people of these small, mostly farming, communities.
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