Date palms at the entrance to Die Eiland Holiday Resort
Roman Catholic Church
Le Roux Str. Built in 1861 and renovated in 1947, it has been a national monument since 1982.
Orange River Wine Cellars
A short drive from the town centre into the industrial area takes you to the five-cellar co-operative - the largest in the country and the second-largest in the world! Wine tasting and tours are offered.
Location: 820km north of Cape Town, 875km west of Johannesburg.
This principal Town of the Green Kalahari is 820km north of Cape Town and 875km west of Johannesburg.
By uniting Christian Schröder’s 1871 mission station, Olyfenhoutsdrift and the Upington police station, the town of Upington, named after the first Attorney General of the Cape, Sir Thomas Upington, was formed.
Originally known as Kharahais, bound by the Orange River and the Kalahari desert, Upington is the principal town and commercial, educational and social centre of the Green Kalahari, owing its prosperity to agriculture and its irrigated lands along the Orange River.
Upington enjoys a summer rainfall and a hot climate. An ideal winter holiday resort, its facilities are excellent and the countryside contrasts semidesert reds with the emerald and olive greens of fertile vineyards. Linked by air and road to most parts of the country, the town is accessible, offers excellent accommodation and has a well-developed commercial infrastructure.
On the Kalahari-Namaqua-Namibia (Nama-kwari) route to and from Johannesburg and Cape Town, it is a convenient stopover for those travelling to the Augrabies Falls National Park, the Fish River Canyon and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
A small game park about 13km north of Upington, stocked with gemsbok, zebra, springbok, ostrich, eland, hartebeest and mountain zebra.
The South African Dried Fruit Co-operative
On the Louisville road, the co-operative is the second-largest and most modern of its kind in the world. More than 8 000ha of sultanas and 1 000ha of hanepoot grapes are cultivated on the Lower Orange River. Freshly-packed dried fruit is sold at the Kalahari Oranje Museum premises.
Siyanda Cotton Ginnery
Cotton cultvated in the Siyanda irrigation region is considered among the purest in the world.
Semiprecious Stones
You can view rainbow-coloured stones fashioned by the ancient earth at the Museum Office and in the foyer of the Oranje Hotel. Stones include beryl, amethyst, agate, tourmaline, aquamarine, jasper, rose quartz and tiger’s eye.
Scotty Smith
George St Leger Gordon Lennox, legendary rogue and Robin Hood of the Northern Cape, died in Upington during the 1918 flu epidemic and is buried in the local cemetery.
The statue honours the 'mounties' who patrolled the harsh desert territory on camels. In front of the police station.
Date Palm Avenue
The attractive entrance to Die Eiland Holiday Resort was declared a national monument in 1982.
The palms were planted in 1935 by officials of the Department of Lands. The avenue of more than 200 date palms planted 9m apart is 1,041m long, making it one of the longest and densest palm avenues in the Southern hemisphere.
Dutch Reformed Church
Completed in 1911. Schroeder Street.
The Hortentia Windmill
Built by the Reverend Christian Schröder in 1879, it can be seen from the bridge on the Groblershoop Road.
The Kalahari Oranje Museum
Built in 1875 as a church and mission station, it houses domestic items reflecting the history of Upington and the Lower Orange River.
The monument of the donkey, sculpted in bronze, symbolises the unselfish contribution made by this beast of burden in developing the Lower Orange River Valley during the pioneering days.
Memorial Stone of Abraham ‘Holbors’ September
Regarded as the founder of the region’s irrigation system.
