WHAT MAKES PARYS SUCH A POPULAR HOLIDAY DESTINATION?

WHAT MAKES PARYS SUCH A POPULAR HOLIDAY DESTINATION?

The reasons why Parys became such a popular holiday destination are as varied as the people you ask.

Some say it’s the Vredefort Dome, the meteorite impact location and the world heritage site. Others say it is because of its artistic atmosphere. Some say it is because of the Vaal River that flows past the town, and others because it is a day-trip distance from the Johannesburg metropolitan area.

Parys’ popularity as a holiday destination may be a combination of all those factors.

The reason for Parys’ popularity lies in the need it fulfils.

What can we do this weekend? Let’s go to Parys, it’s a nice day trip from Jo’burg!

Parys is 110km from central Johannesburg, 174 km from Pretoria CBD, 162km from Centurion and 135km from Midrand. That means that Parys is within an hour-and-half drive from the most densely populated area in South Africa.

What can you do in Parys?

Parys offers the widest choice of activities of any inland destination town.

Activities Parys offers

• A whole town centre focused on tourists including guest houses, restaurants, trinket shops, antique shops, art shops, coffee shops and a variety of tourist shops.
• Adventure activities such as white water rafting and ziplining.
• Action sports like skydiving and parachuting.
• Golf.
• Relaxation and fun activities such as hiking on the many hiking trails.
• Water sports and recreation that are centred around the Vaal River that flows through Parys.
• Caravanning and camping.
• Angling in the popular Vaal River.
• Geological interest activities centred around the Vredefort Dome.
• Farm visits.

This wide range of activities and interests together with its distance from the metropolitan areas of Gauteng makes Parys the ideal tourism and weekend destination for fun lovers.

Parys has grown to be a favourite tourist destination, but it did not start as a tourist town. The town started like most small towns in South Africa because of the need for a local church.

The people who needed a church nearby were mainly farmers. Parys was a farming town, getting its growth from the surrounding farms and the needs of the farmers and their families.

It was only in the past one or two decades that Parys became such a popular tourist destination.

Parys’ growth as a tourist town can also be attributed to the determination of its citizens and business and community organisations to resist the fate of many small South African towns whose economies have suffered and even collapsed for many reasons.

The active promotion of the town and the belief in the potential of Parys by the many entrepreneurs have kept Parys going and growing.

Despite many factors acting against it, the tenacity of the residents and the small business owners keeps Parys a popular holiday destination.

Most businesses in Parys are small businesses. Those are the businesses where you don’t buy a product or a service if you support the business, you feed an entrepreneurial family.

Book your weekend or holiday accommodation with us and come experience the vibrancy of Parys.