It’s a well known fact that South Africans have a passion for shopping, so whilst you’re away in South Africa, make the most of the opportunity to shop until you drop. With everything from large shopping malls, to speciality boutiques, to flea and arts and craft markets, you’ll find plenty of ways to splash that holiday cash.

Shopping Central

If you’re looking for a home away from home during your time in South Africa, then head to your nearest shopping mall. You will easily be able to spend entire days trawling the stores in these enormous complexes, picking up plenty of souvenirs to bring back with you. One of the largest of these shopping centres, the Mammoth Gateway just outside Durban, spans a massive 37 acres, meaning only one thing – a lot of shops! Rivalling Durban’s shopping centre, is the Victoria and Alfred waterfront in Cape Town, which is home to over 400 stores that will suit people with the highest to the lowest of budgets. If you’re going shopping while you’re in South Africa any one of the 24 major shopping malls is well worth a visit.

Find the Finery

If you’re worried that the souvenirs that you buy in South Africa will become out-dated as the fashions change, then perhaps you might like to steer away from the clothing side of shopping and head towards the jewellery side instead. Known for its diamond, platinum and gold mining capabilities, South Africa is unsurprisingly a fantastic place to refresh your jewellery box. There are plenty of renowned jewellers in South Africa but for a real experience, head to the Premier Diamond Mine at Cullinan, not too far from Pretoria. Here, you can sit back and relax with a chilled glass of wine, as a designer sketches ideas for your piece of jewellery. You will even be able to see the mine that the stone used in your piece came from. Visiting the mine is a real experience and you’ll end up with a piece of jewellery that you’ll treasure forever.

Mince Around the Markets

Whether you’re into haberdashery, bits and bobs and bric-a-bac, or unique, hand-made souvenir pieces you’ll find what you’re looking for at one of South Africa’s markets. From smaller arts and craft markets, to the larger and more exciting flea markets you’ll find in the bigger cities, the atmosphere is something that simply cannot be recreated anywhere else. There are many markets to explore but the ones that the avid market shopper will enjoy the most are unarguably the Rosebank Market in Johannesburg, which sells an enormous variety of imported African arts, crafted pieces and fabrics, and Cape Town’s legendary Green Market Square. This marketplace is simply brimming with handmade goods, including clothing, jewellery and shoes. For authentic South African wares, the markets are the best place to do your shopping.

So if you’re worried that you might not be able to fit your weekly splurge into your holiday in South Africa, then rest easy. There is plenty of shopping to be done, and you will be able to bring home everything from the most fashionable, to the finest, to the most contemporary of souvenirs.

Author Bio: Rachel Hill is a Southern Africa Travel specialist, a company specialising in luxury, tailor-made South Africa holidays, as well as holidays to other destinations in Southern Africa. Our experienced consultants will help you design your very own luxury holiday, and will be happy to provide you with a free quote.

Category: Travel
Keywords: South Africa