Towns of the Karoo: Philippolis

2Summers | 20 June 2025

There’s something special about a particular kind of tiny Karoo town. When I pull into one of these towns after a long drive, drop my bags, and sink into a chair on the stoep of wherever I’m staying, I immediately start breathing slower. I examine every flower, plant, animal, and beam of sunshine, marveling at the miracles of nature. I start drinking rooibos tea, regretting that I don’t speak Afrikaans, and fantacizing about what it would be like to live in this particular Karoo town. Philippolis is one such town.

On a quaint street in Philippolis — Tobie Muller Street, my favorite street in Philippolis because of its neat rows of 19th-century townhouses.

I was supposed to visit Philippolis in March 2020, as a stopping point on a road trip between Joburg and Prince Albert. That trip never happened (thanks, covid), but I finally got another chance last month when I was driving from Joburg to Graaff-Reinet for my Inventure. I decided to stay in Philippolis for two nights, rather than the customary single-night stopover, so I would have a full day to explore.

Philippolis, founded as a mission station in 1823, is one of the oldest colonial settlements in the Free State and has a lot of interesting history. It was the home of Griqua leader Adam Kok III, and also of Laurens van der Post, the Afrikaans writer. Philippolis has a particularly enormous Dutch Reformed Church that served as a military fort during the Anglo-Boer War.

The Philippolis church — Philippolis’ imposing Dutch Reformed Church.

Inside the church — I even managed to get inside the church – a rare treat.

Philippolis is tiny. But if you’re into history, there’s enough to do there to fill a leisurely day or two.

Where I Stayed in Philippolis

I stayed at Die Groenhuis, which is exactly what you would expect from a guesthouse in a tiny Karoo town: quirky and comfortable, with lots of antiques, a carefully tended garden, a flock of ducks, and a long, shady stoep.

The stoep at Die Groenhuis — Die Groenhuis.

Stoep at Die Groenhuis — Long stoeps like this are a signature feature of Karoo farmhouses.

I spent a fair amount of time on that shady stoep, catching up on work, watching the ducks, reading, and doing nothing.

On my first afternoon in Philippolis, I took a walk into the hills outside of town with Jens, the owner of Die Groenhius, Jens’ partner, Niel, and a couple of their friends who recently relocated from bigger cities around South Africa. (There seem to be many such people in Philippolis.) The light was magical, as it often is in the Karoo, turning the reddish-brown rocks a dark shade of gold. Jens spotted a grey rhebok – apparently a rare sighting – staring down from a rocky outcrop.

Grey Rhebok — The rhebok stared at us for ages before melting away into the bush.

It was May and already cold in the Karoo, but I slept well in my four-poster bed with its heated mattress pad. I got up the next morning and made the pleasant, one-kilometer walk from Die Groenhuis to “downtown” Philippolis.

Where I Ate in Philippolis

I sampled three restaurants in town:

1) The Karoo Artist’s Café

The Karoo Artist’s Café seems to be the most popular spot for dinner, and also hosts various creative and cultural events in town. I went there on my first night and had a hearty plate of Karoo lamb chops.

2) Maidin Philippolis

Maidin Philippolis is a brand-new café – it had just opened two days before I arrived – in the Laurens van der Post Memorial Centre. (Van der Post’s former library is at the back of the building, as is a memorial garden where the writer’s ashes are interred.)

The van der Post library — The modest van der Post library. Fun fact: Laurens van der Post, in addition to being a famous writer and an authority on San culture in the Kalahari, was a friend of Prince Charles and a godfather to Prince William.

I had a great English breakfast on the Maidin stoep and a nice chat with Mercedes, the owner, who also used to live in Joburg.

Mercedes on the stoep of her restaurant at the van der Post Memorial Centre.

3) Emily’s Tea Room

Lamb pie from Emily’s Tea Room — Lamb pie with butternut and creamed spinach. I ate lamb for every meal – it’s guaranteed to be local in the Karoo.

Emily’s Tea Room, named for British activist Emily Hobhouse (more on Hobhouse in a minute), is a charming café on the main street that also sells books and home decor. I had a delicious lamb pie platter with all the typical trimmings (mashed butternut, creamed spinach, etc.) for a late lunch/early dinner.

What I Did in Philippolis

In addition to eating, I did a lot of walking around (one of my favorite things to do in small South African towns) and looking at quaint Karoo houses.

Karoo house in Philippolis — A house I liked.

But I did manage a few other specific activities:

The Labyrinth

The labyrinth is part of the van der Post memorial garden. I found the rest of the van der Post garden to be rather stark, especially in early winter, but the labyrinth was lovely.

Another Story

Another Story is Philippolis’ local book and antique shop. I had a great chat with the owner, another Joburg transplant, and bought a map and one book. It was the perfect small-town Karoo shop.

The Emily Hobhouse Memorial Garden

Emily Hobhouse was a British woman who came to South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War and became an anti-war activist – particularly against the British practice of imprisoning Afrikaans women and children in squalid concentration camps during the war. There were several concentration camps in this area of the Free State – read about the history of a particularly terrible one in my 2023 blog post on Bethulie.

After the war, Hobhouse became an honorary South African citizen and established a spinning and weaving school for young women in Philippolis. The Hobhouse memorial garden, which is maintained by a few women in town, is at 58 Voortrekker Raod.

The Jobhuis

The Jobhuis, or Job House, was definitely one of my more unusual small-town experiences. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been there, but let me try.

Artist Rina Coetzee, who is originally from Joburg but moved to Philippolis in the 1990s, spent a year studying the Bible’s Book of Job while going through an intense depression in the early 2000s. Over the course of that year, Rina created 25 paintings of her interpretation of the story of Job; that creative process helped Rina heal from her depression.

The Jobhuis has an exhibition of Rina’s paintings from the Book of Job, which anyone can visit – you just have to make an appointment in advance.

Rina Coetzee with her paintings — Rina with some of the other paintings that she makes and sells. The Book of Job paintings (which aren’t for sale) are in a separate room.

I’m not religious and I know nothing about the Bible or the Book of Job, other than the flyer that Rina gave me during my visit. But I really enjoyed meeting Rina and my visit to the Jobhuis. I could plainly see Rina’s suffering and loss in the paintings, and looking at them made me feel really emotional. Rina is a very gentle, straighforward person and it was a pleasure to talk to her about her experiences and life in general.

A room in the Jobhuis with a stained glass window — Rina also made this stained glass window, which looked so pretty in the late afternoon light.

To scheudle a visit to the Jobhuis, call +27-83-451-6974.

I missed a few Philippolis sights, including the Transgariep Museum, the graveyard, which is apparently the oldest graveyard in the Free State, and the historic Old Jail, which is now a guesthouse. I’ll have to go back for another stopover.

I’ve got another “Towns of the Karoo” post coming up soon.

My stay at Die Groenhuis was complimentary. Opinions expressed are mine.

Towns of the Karoo: Philippolis

Where I Stayed in Philippolis