Parys

Parys sits on the Vaal River about ninety minutes from Johannesburg, and two things bring people. The first is the river: a stretch of rapids through granite islands below the town supports a rafting industry running half-day and full-day trips at grades suitable for beginners, plus tubing and kayaking. The second is what the ground is made of. Parys lies inside the Vredefort Dome, the eroded central uplift of an impact structure roughly two billion years old and the largest confirmed on earth; the hills around the town are shattered and overturned rock from that event, and the area is UNESCO-listed. The town itself has become a weekend destination of antique shops, coffee places and galleries along a few streets, and the combination of geology, water and shopping is what fills it every Saturday.

History

In the early 1870s the Dutch Reformed Church sought a new congregation north of the Rhenoster River, and the German surveyor Schilbach named the town Parys after Paris, likening its place on the Vaal to Paris on the Seine. The railway branch reached it in 1905 and made it a holiday resort (Wikipedia, Parys).

What you'll find

• The Vaal rapids - a rafting stretch through granite islands below the town.
• The Vredefort Dome - the eroded core of the largest confirmed impact structure on earth.
• Shattered rock - hills of overturned strata from an impact around two billion years ago.
• The weekend town - antique shops, galleries and cafes on a few streets.

When to go

September to April for water levels. A weekend; Saturdays are busiest in town.

Things to know

River levels vary and rafting can be flat or cancelled. The dome is subtle - it looks like ordinary hills without a guide who can explain what you are seeing. Weekend crowds from Gauteng fill the town. Water quality in the Vaal has been a recurring problem.

Nearby

Vredefort village is south; Potchefstroom is west.

Key facts