South Africa
South Africa is rich in culture, fauna, flora and history. Africa's southernmost country is a large country with widely varying landscapes, 12 official languages, and an equally diverse population and is often known as the "Rainbow Nation". Wikivoyage
Cities
Cities with a full Wikivoyage guide, largest first.
Can I go? Entry and visas
From GOV.UK, for United Kingdom passports, updated 8 July 2026:
You can visit South Africa without a visa for up to 90 days for business or tourism.
Check the expiry date of your visa or entry stamp and ensure you do not overstay.
For more information on visas, contact the South African High Commission.
The Department of Home Affairs also has information on South Africa visas and immigration regulations.
Passport validity
Your passport must have an ‘expiry date’ at least 30 days after the date you leave South Africa and have at least 2 blank pages.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Your embassy in South Africa
Finding embassies…
For a lost passport, an arrest or an emergency.
South Africa's embassy in United Kingdom
Finding embassies…
For a visa before you go.
Entry rules change, sometimes overnight. Always confirm with the official source before you book or travel. This is a pointer, not legal advice.
Good to know
Emergency numbers in South Africa
- Currency
- South African Rand (ZAR)
- Time
- UTC+2
- Tue 21:00 there now
- Plugs and power
- Types C, D, N · 230 V
- Driving
- On the left
- Calling code
- +27
- Languages
- English, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans
- Capital
- Bloemfontein
From Wikidata, Unicode CLDR (currency, languages) and the IANA time zone database; checked 10 October 2026.