Prince Albert

Prince Albert is a town of 7,000 people (2011) in the Western Cape province on the southern edge of the Great Karoo, at the foot of the Swartberg mountains.

Understand

Seven Arches

Founded as Albertsburg, in 1845 it was renamed Prince Albert in honour of Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg.

Prince Albert became a British garrison during the Second Boer War in 1899. The town was the site of several clashes between the British and the Boers during this period.

Agriculture provides about one third of all jobs in the town with retail and tourism being the second largest employer.

Climate

Prince Albert has a temperate climate with high temperatures in summer, with an average of 33–35 °C, and 17 °C in the winter months. Winter is mainly sunny with colder temperatures and chilly nights, reaching midwinter minimums of 2 °C, with frost in places and some snow on the nearby Swartberg mountains.

See

Dutch Reformed Church.

You can see the canyon that is about 16 km (10 miles) away from the out skirts of town. The village has many authentic Cape Dutch, Karoo and Victorian buildings, thirteen of which are National Monuments. There are several olive farms and other very large export fruit farms in the area, as well as wine producers, sheep farms and an export mohair trade.

• 1 Fransie Pienaar Museum, 42 Church St, ☏ +27 23 541 1172. Hosts an assortment of early 20th century memorabilia. (updated Sep 2021)

Do

At night there is a ghost tour of the town. There also is weekly market where you can buy kudo pot pie to soaps. There is also a museum that is right at the centre of town.

Birding, hiking, cycling and stargazing are other pursuits for visitors.

Buy

They have the finest wool in all of South Africa. Their wool a few years back was rated the most expensive because of its condition.