Why to visit Richmond in the Karoo

​By Roxanne Reid
The small town of Richmond lies just off the N1, about halfway between Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. Don’t rush past; take the time to explore. Let me share some insight into why to visit Richmond in the Karoo.

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​If you regularly rush along the N1 between Cape Town and Johannesburg, chances are your only memories of Richmond are the speeding fines that are mailed to you when you get home. You can foil this notorious speed camera by slowing down and taking a detour through the town instead. It'll be a refreshing break on your road trip too. There are so many reasons to visit Richmond.

Surrounded by mountains and Karoo plains where sheep graze – and perhaps a few springbok – Richmond is a dozy little town that deserves a second look to really appreciate the old buildings or pop in to one of the restaurants for coffee and cake.

​Here you might find a few locals strolling down the street or lolling in a spot of shade outside a shop. Bakkies and seen-better-days cars are the norm around here, so you’ll stick out like a sore thumb with your brand new Prado or Mini Cooper. But don’t worry, they’re a laid-back lot and they’ll barely give you a second glance.

​Victorian architecture lives on in many of the buildings, and there’s an attractive church in the main road. ​An old-model breakdown truck is parked outside a ramshackle garage that looks as unused as the truck.

​There’s a strong art presence in Richmond through the Modern Art Project (MAP). The idea is to make art more accessible by showing it outside a gallery setting. 

There’s a rather strange open-air art installation on the main road, with sculptures spaced far apart on a messy concrete space that may once have been the foundation of a building. But it’s public art and there for anyone walking down the street to enjoy, even if they don’t understand it.

​There’s some imposing street art too.

​As you wander up and down the main road you’ll discover a few jam-packed bookshops, so it’s not surprising that the town had been branded as ‘Booktown Richmond’. That also has a lot to do with an annual book festival known as Boekbedonnerd. 

​The festival was started by Darryl David and Peter Baker. Every October, book addicts flood the town to hear authors talk about their books, to fossick in the bookshops for buried treasure and enjoy the local speciality, Karoo lamb, for dinner.

Richmond has one of only two horse museums in the world (the other is in the USA). The building housing the horse museum was once a school and boarding house. Now, of course, it celebrates all things horsey, with an old communion cart dating back to the mid 1800s as one of its prize exhibits. If you’re nuts about horses, you’ll love this unusual museum.

​There are a few other bits and bobs as well, like fashionable gowns of the mid-1800s and early 1900s, and some household appliances that provide a window into life in the old days.

If you’re looking for Richmond accommodation or somewhere to eat, don’t miss popping in to the Richmond Cafe and Rooms at the top end of town. You’ll find coffee and good food, lovely bright rooms to stay over in, and many interesting spaces to explore.

Before you know it you’ll have been in Richmond for hours.

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