The Freestate Province is bordered by many other provinces and the dramatic Drakensburg Mountains which border Lesotho. Centrally located in South Africa the Freestate sits on a plateau region interrupted in the east by dramatic sandstone hills and rock formations.
It has had a colourful history, being in the middle of the areas that the Voortrekkers crossed from the Cape and set up gold mines - these goldfields still produce over a third of the countries gold. The mines are centred around Welkom, Virginia and Odendaalsrus. Freestate was a Boer republic and there are still sleepy towns and monuments which reflect it's past. Kroonstaad is a typical such town dating to 1855, there are museums, statues and markets here.
Bloemfontein is the provincial capital and centre of South Africa's judicial system. The name means 'fountain of flowers' and it grew from a frontier town in the 'Orange' Free State to a thriving capital. It has several musuems, good restaurants and rail links to both Johannesburg and Cape Town.
In the east of the province is an area of mountains linking with Lesotho which is very scenic, particularly from Zastron to Harrismith. Ladybrand is the town closest to the Lesotho border where there are interesting sandstone buildings and a museum with stone age findings.
Fouriesburg is on a scenic route also near the border and has several good hiking trails nearby. 50km from here is the Golden Gate Highlands National Park which sits in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains with spectacular scenery, hiking trails and quite a few mammal species including Blesbok, Rhebok, Eland, Oribi, Zebra and Jackal. Winter can be very cold here with snow and frost.
