Phalaborwa South Africa is a regional centre and mining town on the doorstep of Kruger National Park.
Phalaborwa has accommodation, an airport and car hire facilities.
It’s a good base from which to launch yourself into Kruger Park for your safari, especially as Phalaborwa Gate to Kruger Park is just 2km (1.2 miles) down the road from the town.
Phalaborwa is in the northern province of Limpopo. If you’re travelling there by car from Johannesburg, it’s 496km (308 miles) away. It’ll take about 6.5 hours to drive the distance, excluding any toilet breaks, snack breaks or lunch breaks you may take!
Did you know that a mining company in Phalaborwa, has dug the widest ever open cut mine in Africa! It’s almost 2km (1.25 miles) wide!
Flights
If you’re planning to fly to Phalaborwa, there are flights there from Johannesburg. At the last check, there are no commercial flights direct to Phalaborwa from Cape Town nor Durban.
Phalaborwa airport is called the Kruger Park Gateway Airport. It lives up to its name being only 3km (1.9 miles) from Phalaborwa Gate to Kruger Park.
The airport’s been built to give you a taste of things to come if you’re heading towards Kruger National Park. The airport building looks like a thatched game lodge and there are plenty of animal sculptures around the place to decorate the scene!
Car Hire
If you need to hire a car, Kruger Park Gateway Airport has rental desks for the major brands:
- Avis
- Budget
- Europecar
- Hertz
Accommodation
Thinking of making Phalaborwa your base from which to visit Kruger National Park? There are plenty of affordable accommodation options in the town such as:
- Bed and breakfasts
- Guest houses
- Hostels
- Hotels
There are also some lodges and a luxury golf and spa hotel a bit further out of town.
Have a nice stay!