Durban is a city of about 3 million on South Africa's east coast in KwaZulu-Natal. It is no longer just a holiday/resort city, boasting industry and South Africa's busiest container port.
This is a World Cup 2010 host city with games to be played at the new King Senzangakhona Stadium.
Get in
By plane
Durban International Airport (formerly Louis Botha Airport) is the main airport serving the city of Durban and is 15km south of the city center. It serves mostly domestic destinations and the only international flights are to/from Mauritius (Air Mauritius) and Swaziland (Swazi Express Airways and South African Express)
See also Discount airlines in Africa.
By bus
All national carriers (e.g. Intercape, Greyhound) and the Baz Bus offer regular services to Durban. The city is also the gateway to Kwazulu-Natal province.
By train
The central train station is in the city centre.
Spoornet operates daily inter-city trains to Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg, with a weekly service to Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Cape Town. You can also get to Port Elizabeth or East London by changing trains in Bloemfontein.
MetroRail operates frequent commuter trains to various suburbs of Durban and towns nearby (such as Pinetown and the resort towns of both the south coast (eg. Kelso and Park Ryne) and the north coast).
By boat
Some cruise ships dock in Durban, but generally there are no "one-way" entries by boat to Durban. In theory passage on a freighter might be arranged, but it's not widely advertised.
Get around
There is a public bus system but as in any large city use common sense. Bus schedules are relatively accurate but allow extra travel time if taking the bus. You can pick up paper schedules and buy discounted multi-ride tickets at the info booth at the depot across from the Workshop. The Mynah lines depart from this depot to Morningside and the beachfront as well as buses to many southern and western suburbs.
Registered taxis are common, generally safe and relatively inexpensive. These are also known as metered taxis. There are ones which are based in Durban, in surrounding suburbs and in Umhlanga Rocks. These taxis do not rove and hence need to be called so that one can be fetched from your pick up point. A lot of these will conduct point to point transfers, airport shuttles, and corporate transfers. The ones that can be recommended for the Durban and surrounds are:
There are also group taxis, referred to as "combi taxis" (or "minibus taxis"), that are impossible to miss as (in Durban) they're brightly decorated and always have music pumping. They are mostly small vans and there is always someone hanging out of a window making the hand gestures that indicate whether there are seats available and where the combi is going. Combi taxis are very common and less expensive than registered taxis, but opinions differ as to their...
