Durban Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Durban International Airport is off the N2, 18km south of the city. Several airlines link Durban with South Africa’s main centres.

The popular and useful Baz Bus (304 9099; www.bazbus.com; 1st fl, Tourist Junction; 8.30am-4.30pm Mon-Fri, 8.30am-noon Sat) has an office next to Durban Africa.

Long-distance buses leave from the bus stations near the Durban train station. It’s safest to enter from NMR Ave, not Umgeni Rd. All of the major companies have daily departures to Jo’burg (US$26 to US$30, eight hours), Cape Town (US$63, 22 to 27 hours), Port Elizabeth (US$44, 15 hours) and Pietermaritzburg (US$12, one hour), among other destinations. Buses also run to Gaborone (via Jo’burg; US$47, 15½ hours) and Maputo (via Jo’burg; US$31, 15 hours).

Some long-distance minibus taxis running mainly to the south coast and the Wild Coast region of Eastern Cape leave from around the Berea train station. To Jo’burg it costs US$18. The areas in and around the minibus taxis’ ranks are unsafe and extreme care should be taken if entering them.

Durban train station (0860-008 888) is huge. Use the NMR Ave entrance, 1st level. Even hardy travellers report feeling unsafe on the local inner-city and suburban trains. Long-distance services are another matter – they are efficient and arranged into separate male and female sleeper compartments for Jo’burg (1st/2nd class US$34/22, 12½ hours).