George in Western Cape province has a rich historical legacy, evident in many of the town’s attractions. Its prime location between the Outeniqua Mountains and Indian Ocean, surrounded by forests and lakes, also allows it to offer a compelling mix of outdoor pursuits, not to mention its collection of world-class golf courses.
George is a popular destination in the southern Cape, and a key access point to the region’s other attractions. As a central hub on the Garden Route, George is the ideal base from which to explore this beautiful part of South Africa.
The town has its roots in the late 1700s as an outpost for the provision of timber to the Dutch East India Company’s Cape Colony, which gave rise to a small community of woodcutters, together with a manager, a blacksmith, a wagon maker and their families.
It was only after the second (and permanent) British occupation of the colony in the early 1800s that the town was officially proclaimed. That’s how it came to be named after the reigning British monarch at the time, King George III – it received the name, appropriately enough, on St George’s Day; 23 April 1811.
