The city of Bloemfontein is situated in the Free State Province of South Africa which lies in the centre of the country between the Orange and Vaal rivers and shares a border with the Kingdom of Lesotho. Bloemfontein is also known as the city of roses due to the profusion of rose bushes planted throughout the city and is the judicial capital of South Africa, housing the Appeal Court, and is also the Provincial Capital of the Free State.
Some of the matches of the FIFA 2010 World Cup were played in Bloemfontein at the Free State stadium which is well known for its professional soccer clubs. Aside from soccer a number of internationally known sportsmen hail from Bloemfontein such as cricketers Allan Donald, Morne Van Wyk and Hansie Cronje. Rugby Players Francois Steyn, Juan Smith and Os Du Randt.
Perhaps the most famous son of Bloemfontein is J.R.R Tolkien born in 1892 who wrote Lord of the Rings.
There are some interesting places to visit while on your South African vacation in Bloemfontein. The National Museum in Bloemfontein focuses on Natural History and Cultural History as well as Art and has some very interesting collections of Fossils including the Florisbad Skull, and intriguing skeleton of Euskelosaurus, one of the oldest known species of Dinosaur.
Don’t forget to visit The Franklin Nature Reserve and Naval Hill. This reserve at the present time is the only nature reserve situated in the centre of a city and is home to an assortment of Birds and also Herds of a variety of Buck and other indigenous wildlife.
Aside from the above there are many other interesting places to visit when visiting Bloemfontein in the Free State amongst them the Bloemfontein Zoo, The Free State National Botanical Garden and other appealing places to suit all tastes and interests. For accommodation, there is a wide range of hotels and guest houses available to stay in while visiting Bloemfontein and a huge choice of restaurants to meet everybody’s taste.