Art Vaarks Should Head to Clarens

Call Clarens the Santa Fe of the Free State. Not because of its size – it’s a tiny village of just 400 souls – but because of its heart, which beats art, art, art. Clarens is home to a thriving artists’ colony, which has its own Canyon Road-style Artist Amble, allowing visitors to pop in and out of the twenty-odd working studios on the route.

The town is quite close to the Golden Gate Highlands National Park – a birders paradise, with magnificent rock formations and caves – as well as to Lesotho’s spectacular Maluti mountains (passport essential for a visit). You can hunt for a different kind of art during your (ample) spare time – the region is celebrated for its rock paintings – and there are also fossils to be found on certain hikes, dating back some 200 million years! (The fossils, not the hikes.)

• Fun fact: Clarens is named after Clarens, Switzerland, where the President of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger, died after the Boer War.
• Contextual map: Clarens
• How to get there: By car: Take the N1 north from Cape Town or south from Joburg (leave early in the morning!); turn off the N5 toward Bethlehem; at Bethlehem, take the R712 south over the Retiefsnek Pass until you reach the town.

  By bus: Both Intercape and Greyhound have daily service from Cape Town, Joburg and Durban to Bethlehem; from Bethlehem, book local transport to Clarens.

• Where to stay: the San Rock Guest House is a highly-recommended 4-star B&B; backpackers should try Bokpoort Backpackers.