By Zola Mkhize, Editor-in-Chief, Everything ZA Travel
There is a moment, just as the R711 bends around the last koppie before Clarens, when the whole world seems to exhale. The road opens up, the Maluti Mountains rise like ancient sentinels in burnt amber and rust, and you catch your first glimpse of whitewashed walls glowing warm against the sandstone – and something in your chest quietly settles. You have arrived somewhere that feels, inexplicably, like it has been waiting for you.
Clarens is not a secret exactly – the locals will be the first to tell you that word has spread. But for most South Africans, especially those without bottomless travel budgets, it remains one of those names filed under one day. This article is my gentle insistence that one day becomes this weekend. Because Clarens is not only one of South Africa’s most visually stunning small towns – it is also one of the most genuinely accessible, wallet-friendly, and deeply human places you will find in this country.
A Town Born from Sandstone and Spirit
Clarens sits at approximately 1,890 metres above sea level in the northeastern Free State, cradled between the Rooiberge and Witteberg mountain ranges, just 20 kilometres from the Lesotho border. The town was officially established in 1912 and named after Clarens, Switzerland – the place where the exiled Boer statesman Paul Kruger spent his final years. There is something quietly poignant in that naming: a homeland in exile, a longing for belonging encoded into a place that now belongs so beautifully to itself.
The landscape that surrounds it is unlike anything else in South Africa. The sandstone formations here are ancient – formed over millions of years and painted by iron oxide into shades that shift from deep terracotta to luminous gold depending on the hour and the angle of the sun. At dawn, the cliffs blush. At dusk, they burn. At midday, they simply glow – steady and unhurried, like something that has nothing to prove.
The town itself is small enough to walk in under an hour: a central square, a cluster of art galleries, coffee shops, craft stores, a legendary brewery, and restaurants ranging from Portuguese to South African comfort food. But Clarens is the kind of small town that expands the longer you’re in it. Every door leads somewhere worth stepping through.
The Art Scene: Where Creativity Meets Landscape
One of Clarens’s best-kept open secrets is its thriving arts community. The town has long been a gathering point for painters, sculptors, potters, weavers, and jewellers, drawn here – one imagines – by the same thing that draws travellers: the sheer beauty of the light. There are multiple galleries and studios scattered through the main streets, many of them housed in the same sandstone buildings that give Clarens its character.
Spend a slow morning wandering in and out of studios. You’ll find original oil paintings of the Drakensberg foothills alongside handcrafted ceramic bowls, woven baskets rooted in local tradition, and intricate silverwork. Most of the artists are present in their spaces and genuinely happy to talk about their work. This is not the transactional gallery experience of the big cities – this is a conversation.
Many pieces are priced accessibly, especially compared to Cape Town or Joburg equivalents. A small original watercolour or a handmade ceramic piece can go home with you for a few hundred rand – a far more meaningful souvenir than a factory-produced magnet.
Golden Gate Highlands National Park: The Neighbour You Cannot Ignore
Just 15 kilometres from Clarens lies one of South Africa’s most underrated national parks: Golden Gate Highlands National Park. Entry is currently around R60 per person – one of the genuine travel bargains in a country full of them.
The park takes its name from the breathtaking golden sandstone cliffs that frame its entrance – massive, ancient formations that catch the afternoon sun and seem to set the sky alight. Drive slowly. Stop often. Step out of the car and simply stand in it.
Wildlife in the park includes black wildebeest, blesbok, eland, zebra, and the extraordinary bearded vulture – one of the rarest large birds on the African continent. Spotting one overhead, wings spread wide against the mountain sky, is the kind of moment that lodges itself permanently in your memory.
For hikers, the Cathedral Cave trail is a must: a roughly 3-kilometre route that leads through dramatic ravines to a cavernous natural sandstone shelter. Booking in advance through SANParks is essential. The Echo Ravine trail offers another rewarding option – twisting through the landscape in a way that surprises you at every turn.
Craft Beer, Local Food, and the Art of Sitting Still
The Clarens Brewery has achieved something of a legendary status among South African road trippers, and rightfully so. Tucked into the town centre, the brewery produces a rotating selection of craft beers brewed with the clear, cold mountain water of the region. A paddle of tasters – four small glasses of different brews – costs very little and buys you an afternoon of proper contentment. Sit on the deck. Watch the mountains. Let the conversation find its own pace.
For food, the town punches well above its weight. Time & Again Bar and Grill is a local favourite for breakfast and brunch – sit on the pavement if the weather allows, and let the world pass by at exactly the right speed. The Square Restaurant is another excellent option: a generous breakfast served in a heavy pan, staff who treat you like a friend, and a sun-drenched outdoor terrace that makes you reconsider ever leaving.
For dinner, Gosto Portuguese Restaurant brings warmth and colour to a quiet courtyard. Their chicken dishes have earned a devoted following – do not leave without trying one.
Browse the shops between meals. Look for locally made cherry liqueur (the cherry orchards of the region are celebrated), locally produced preserves, artisan chocolates, and handmade soaps. The Bibliophile bookstore is worth stepping into even if you don’t need a book – it has that particular quality that good independent bookshops carry, of making you feel slightly more intelligent just by being inside.
Where to Stay Without Breaking the Bank
Clarens caters to a genuine range of budgets, which is one of the things that makes it so democratically loveable. Options include:
- Clarens Retreat – self-catering apartments with mountain views, private balconies, and heated floors in winter (a genuine luxury when the Free State night drops below freezing). Excellent value for a weekend stay.
- Guesthouses and B&Bs – several intimate guesthouses cluster around the town centre, with rates that remain affordable, particularly if you book midweek or outside of school holiday peaks.
- Camping at Golden Gate – if you’re travelling on a truly lean budget, camping at Golden Gate Highlands National Park puts you right inside the landscape, with firepit evenings and starscapes that will rearrange your priorities entirely. SANParks camping rates are among the most accessible in South African accommodation.
Pro tip:Â Avoid peak holiday weekends if you can. Clarens at a quiet midweek has a different, more intimate quality – shopkeepers have time to chat, restaurants aren’t rushed, and the mountains feel more like yours alone.
Getting There
Clarens is located approximately:
– 3 hours from Johannesburg via the N3 to Harrismith, then the R712 south – a straightforward and scenic drive.
– 3 hours from Bloemfontein via the N1 north and then the R26 east.
– 13 hours from Cape Town (best broken into a two-day road trip, spending a night in Bloemfontein en route).
There is no public transport directly into Clarens, so a vehicle is necessary. However, for Gauteng travellers, this is the quintessential achievable weekend escape – leave Friday afternoon, return Sunday evening, and arrive back at work on Monday with that particular quality of quiet that only real mountain air can install in a person.
Budget estimate for a weekend (per person, sharing):
– Accommodation (self-catering): R400 – R600 per night
– Golden Gate entry: R60
– Meals (budget-conscious): R150 – R300 per day
– Activities, brewery, shopping: R200 – R500
– Total weekend budget: R2,500 – R3,000 per person – genuinely achievable.
The Insider Tip Nobody Tells You
Go in winter.
Yes, it gets cold – seriously cold, especially at night. But the Free State winter brings the clearest skies you have ever seen, the most dramatic light on the sandstone cliffs, and the possibility of snow on the Lesotho mountains visible from town. The tourist crowds thin out. The air is sharp and bright. Log fires appear in restaurants. And there is something particular about sitting at a Clarens coffee shop with both hands wrapped around a ceramic mug, sandstone cliffs golden in the midwinter morning light, understanding completely why so many artists packed up their brushes and drove here and simply never left.
Also: bring cash. Several of the smaller galleries and market vendors prefer it, and you will definitely spend it.
Why Clarens Matters
I have always believed that travel does not require wealth – it requires curiosity, a willingness to slow down, and the courage to turn down a road you haven’t taken before. Clarens is proof of that. It is a town that rewards those who linger, who wander without a fixed agenda, who stop to look at paintings in small rooms and talk to the person who made them.
It is accessible, magnificent, and profoundly, achingly South African – in the very best sense of those words.
The Maluti Mountains have been watching over this valley for millions of years. They are patient. They will be there when you finally make the turn off the R711 and feel, for the first time or the tenth, that particular exhale of arrival.
Go to Clarens. Take your time there. Bring it home in your chest.
