South Africa · Northern Cape
Where to Stay in Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city of the Northern Cape in South Africa, the old diamond-rush town, built around the great pit that miners dug by hand in search of diamonds.
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Where to stay in Kimberley
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Where you stay in Kimberley turns on the pit or the plains. The centre by the Big Hole keeps the old mining town, the museums, and the shops within a walk, and staying downtown suits anyone here for the history. The great pit yawns below.
Old trams rattle past. Out on the edges of town, the streets give way to the quiet suburbs, the game farms, and the roads across the open veld. A room away from the centre trades the busy pit for the wide plains, the thorn trees, and the huge skies of the Karoo.
The veld runs flat for miles. Stay downtown for the Big Hole, or out for the plains. The great pit and the diamond past hold the veld city.
About Kimberley
Kimberley is the diamond city of the Northern Cape.
What is Kimberley known for?
On the dry plains of central South Africa, it sprang up in a diamond rush, and it keeps the vast Big Hole where miners dug for diamonds by hand, the old mining town rebuilt around the pit, the galleries and museums of its rich days, and the memory of Sol Plaatje, who helped found the movement for African rights. The dry veld runs flat around it. Old headgear stands over the shafts.
What are the main landmarks in Kimberley?
The Big Hole is the pride of Kimberley. The vast open pit dug by hand in the diamond rush, the largest such hole in the world, is the emblem of the city, downtown. Old streets ring the pit.
The rebuilt mining town of shops and saloons stands on the rim nearby, while the diamond museums, the Sol Plaatje house, and the war memorial mark the country around Kimberley.
What is the history of Kimberley?
Kimberley was born of diamonds. In eighteen seventy-one diggers found diamonds on a dusty hill, and thousands rushed in to claw at the ground, and a raw mining town sprang up overnight. The diggings became a great pit.
Claim by claim the miners cut down into the earth until the hill became the Big Hole, the deepest pit ever dug by hand. The mines drew wealth and power. Cecil Rhodes and his rivals bought up the claims and formed the great De Beers company, and Kimberley shone as the first town in the south with electric light.
The war came to the plains. In the Boer War the town was ringed and besieged for months before relief broke through, and afterward Kimberley settled as a quiet city of the Cape, keeping its pit, its museums, and its history. The old workings still scar the veld.
Kimberley keeps its diamond city on the plains.
Where is Kimberley?
Kimberley lies in the Northern Cape of South Africa, on the high plains near the Vaal river. The city sits on the flat dry veld of the interior plateau, in a land of thorn scrub and open sky, with the Vaal and Orange rivers winding across the plains and the Free State stretching away to the east. The plains run flat to the sky.
Thorn scrub covers the veld.
What is the climate of Kimberley?
Kimberley has a hot, dry steppe climate. Hot summers and cool winters cross the high veld, with summer thunderstorms and clear cold winter nights on the plains. Summer storms break the heat.
Winter mornings turn frosty.
How do you get to Kimberley?
Kimberley lies in the Northern Cape of South Africa, west of Bloemfontein. The rail line and the highway run to it from Johannesburg and the Cape, and flights land at its airport. Trains cross the veld.
Bloemfontein lies east on the plains.
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Updated August 2026