The [http://www.fifa.com '''2010 Fifa World Cup'''] will be held in South Africa between the 11<sup>th</sup> June and 11<sup>th</sup> July 2010. It will be the first time the tournament will be staged in Africa. [http://www.soccerex.com/ Soccerex] conventions 2007 to 2009 will also be moved from Dubai to Gauteng.
Prepare
Visas
The [http://home-affairs.pwv.gov.za/visa_detail.asp South African Department of Home Affairs], ''+27'' (0)12 810 8911, have details on visa requirements. Many nationalities are exempt for visa requirements. It is advisable that, if you require a visa, you apply for it with time to spare. Home Affairs are sure to be flooded with visa requests at the last moment and turnaround times may be longer than normal.
Tickets
Tickets will be made available by FIFA from the 20th February, 2009 via their website, www.fifa.com, and information will be posted here. Plan on buying tickets early; fact being 300,000 to 400,000 fans are expected to show up.
Accommodation
Best to plan your stay and book early.
June/July when the games are held is also one of South Africa's [http://www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/schoolcal.htm school holiday] periods. Not only will you be competing for accommodation with a larger than normal number of international visitors, you will also have local holiday makers to contend with. Cape Town, and to a slightly lesser extend Durban, is especially popular as a holiday destination for people from Gauteng at this time of year.
A number of the venues are not generally regarded as tourist destinations and does not currently have the infrastructure to accommodate large numbers of visitors. This may change over the next couple of years with development and investment, but it might be cheaper and easier to find accommodation a bit further afield and travel to the matches. You can, for example, quite easily drive from Pretoria to Rustenburg to watch a match and be back in Pretoria for dinner.
But if you already had dinner in Rustenburg, you can have dessert and coffee in Pretoria instead!
Get in
By air
South Africa has 10 airports that act as international ports of entry to the country. The larger and most used are '''OR Tambo International Airport''' in Johannesburg and '''Cape Town International Airport'''
Prior and during the World Cup, a number of additional international flights may also be scheduled to some of the other international airports. A new airport has been proposed for Durban, construction of the [http://www.dubetradeport.co.za/Characteristics/kingShakaAirport.asp King Shaka International Airport], 30km north of Durban is expected to start in early 2007 for completion in October 2009.
See Air travel in South Africa for detailed information.
By train
By bus
Get around
By car
For distances up to about 400km, a rental car generally your best option as public transport is limited and a car will give you the most freedom to go where you want when you want. The road infrastructure in South Africa is generally very good.
The section on road travel on the main South Africa entry will give you a lot more detailed information.
Host cities
The following cities will play host to matches during the tournament:
Bloemfontein
Cape Town
Durban
Johannesburg
Nelspruit
Port Elizabeth
Polokwane
Pretoria
Rustenburg
The following cities will host training camps for the competing nations:
Venues
<listing name="Free State Stadium" address="Corner Att Horak Ave and 1st Avenue, Bloemfontein" directions="From the N1 take the Nelson Mandela Ave (N8) offramp and follow this (''will become Zastron Str'') until 1st Ave, turn right into 1st Ave and follow this until Att Horak Ave, turn right and the stadium is on your right.">Capacity: 40,000. A rather old (1952) stadium being upgraded.</listing>
<listing name="African Renaissance Stadium" alt="" address="Greenpoint, Cape Town" directions="" phone="" url="" hours="" price="" lat="" long="">Capacity: 70,000. A new stadium under construction.</listing>
<listing name="Moses Mabhida Stadium." alt="King's Park" address="Jacko Jackson Drive, Durban" url="http://www.durban.gov.za/eThekwini/Tourism_and_Leisure/2010/">Capacity: 70,000. An new stadium that will replace King's Park Stadium.</listing>
<listing name="Soccer City" alt="" address="Nasrec Road, Nasrec, Johannesburg" directions="" phone="+27 (0)11 494-3640" url="http://www.shine2010.co.za/goodnews.php?article_id=23" hours="" price="" lat="" long="">Capacity: 94,700. An existing stadium being upgraded from a capacity of 90,000.</listing>
<listing name="Ellis Park" address="Staib St, Doornfontein, Johannesburg" directions="From the M1, take exit 13B Johannesburg (''M31 Harrow road''), follow this to Currey St where you turn right. The stadium will be in front of you" phone="+27 (0)11 402-8644">Capacity: 60,000. An existing stadium being upgraded from a capacity of 55,000. Ellis Park is the cultural home of South African Rugby.</listing>
<listing name="Mbombela Stadium" address="Nelspruit">Capacity: 40,000 (Under construction) </listing>
<listing name="Peter Mokaba Stadium" address="Polokwane">New stadium. Capacity: 45, 000. Building started April 2007 and is expected to be completed in March 2009. </listing>
<listing name="Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium" address="Port Elizabeth">(Under construction) </listing>
<listing name="Loftus Versfeld Stadium" address="Kirkness st, Pretoria" directions="From the N1, take exit 141 Pretoria (''M6 Lynnwood road'') towards Pretoria city center. Follow Lynnwood until Kirkness St where you turn right. The stadium is on your right">Capacity: 50,000 </listing>
<listing name="Royal Bafokeng Stadium" address="Rustenburg">Capacity: 40,000 </listing>
An unofficial self updating [http://www.capetownmagazine.com/files/article/684_1867_google-earth-cape-town-south-africa.zip Google Earth Placemark] is available for those travelers that want to see where the existing stadiums are and where the new soccer stadiums are currently under construction for the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Buy
Take care not to pay exuberant prices for counterfeit 2010 World Cup merchandise. The SA Revenue Service reported on January 27, 2007 that they have already confiscated more than R2 million worth of counterfeit goods displaying the 2010 logo. The goods included kit bags, football balls and socks.
Oriental Plaza. ohannesburg. ttp://www.orientalplaza-fordsburg.co.za/. An Oriental market place where you will probably find those club shirts, scarves, hats and flags that you forgot to pack.
Do
South Africa is a country with many things to do apart from watching the soccer:
'''Go on Safari''' - All of the Big Five can be seen in natural surroundings in South Africa. The biggest and most famous safari park in the country (and possibly the world) is The Kruger National Park (located to the north east of Nelspruit, on the border with Mozambique and Zimbabwe), although one downside is that it is so large that it requires several days to see the whole park. Addo Elephant National Park (near Port Elizabeth) is a smaller alternative, although you won't see lions, and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park (near Durban) is another good park. Also see National Parks and African fauna and flora for more information.
'''Surf''' at one of South Africa's many world-class surfing spots. J Bay, Durban, Plett...
'''Check out South Africa's colourful past''' - Robben Island, township tours...
'''Birdwatching'''
'''See whales, penguins, sharks'''
Visit one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Africa
Check out ancient '''San rock art'''
Play golf
Gamble
Horse riding is a popular recreational activity
South Africa has many famous hiking trails
Stay Safe
Important telephone numbers
From a fixed line
'''107''' - Emergency
'''10111''' - Police [http://www.saps.gov.za/]
'''10177''' - Ambulance
From a mobile phone
'''112''' - Emergency
Stay healthy
Use sunscreen, wear a hat, drink lots of liquids.
June/July is the middle of winter in South Africa, but temperatures can still be quite high during the day and you may suffer from sunburn when out in the open for extended periods of time. This is especially true for the ''Highveld'' (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Rustenburg) and northern venues (Nelspruit and Polokwane). Also see the section on sunburn and sun protection.
Also read stay healthy in South Africa for other important health related issues.
Stay informed
Local media will from time to time carry articles about stadium progress, infrastructure upgrades and possible problems.
'''Newspapers'''
<listing name="Sunday Times" url="http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/">National</listing>
<listing name="The Herrald" url="http://www.theherald.co.za/">Eastern Cape, will carry specific for Port Elizabeth</listing>
<listing name="CapeTownMagazine.com" url="http://www.capetownmagazine.com/articles/Western-Cape/Sport-a-Fifa-2010~c9">Cape Town's internet magazine, with much 2010 info on Cape Town and the other World Cup cities</listing>
<listing name="IOL" url="http://www.iol.co.za/">Online face of a number of national and regional newspapers</listing>
<listing name="Shine 2010" url="http://www.shine2010.co.za/">Online portal of good news around the 2010 FIFA World Cup</listing>
<listing name="South Africa Travel Forum" url="http://forum.southafrica-direct.com/">South African Travel forum with info about the 2010 FIFA World Cup</listing>
<listing name="Shine 2010 - Home of the 2010 World Cup good news" url="http://www.shine2010.co.za/">Stadium update, ticketing and other 2010 World Cup related news, blog, podcast, and SA info</listing>
<listing name="Emirates 2010 FIFA World Cup? Packages" url="http://www.emirates.com/english/destinations_offers/special_offers/world_cup_packages/world_cup_packages.aspx">Official Sponsor, World Cup Travel Packages etc... </listing>
Get out
Whilst not soaking up the culture in SA and enjoying the soccer, there are many countries nearby which are well worth exploring:
Botswana
Lesotho, the ''Kingdom in the Sky'' is a haven for outdoor pursuits: hiking, pony trecking, off roading...
Mozambique
Namibia
Swaziland
Zambia
Zimbabwe
A bit further out, but popular with South African travelers and easy to reach by plane are
Madagascar
Mauritius
Seychelles