(2010 FIFA world Cup Organising Committee)

Bloemfontein is located at the crossroads of South Africa, which means that many travellers break their journey across the country here.

There's enough diversion for a day or two in Bloemfontein's surprisingly fine Oliewenhuis Art Gallery, set in beautiful gardens, and in the unmistakably provincial President Brand Street, lined with handsome, sandstone public buildings.

It's also a thriving international centre for gliding, the flatness of the local terrain and the hot summer weather producing some of the world's finest thermals.

Source: Roughguides