If you're on a quest to see welwitschias, continue east along the Welwitschia Drive to the Moon Landscape, a vista across eroded hills and valleys carved by the Swakop River. Here you may want to take a quick 12km return side trip north to the farm and oasis of Goanikontes, which dates from 1848. It lies beside the Swakop River amid fabulous desert mountains, and serves as an excellent picnic site.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
20.92 MILES
In 1905 the need for a good cargo- and passenger-landing site led Swakopmund’s founders to construct the original wooden pier. In the years that followed,…
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20.81 MILES
This recently overhauled waterfront aquarium provides an excellent introduction to the cold offshore world in the South Atlantic Ocean. Most impressive is…
20.39 MILES
This ornate railway station, built in 1901 as the terminal for the Kaiserliche Eisenbahn Verwaltung (Imperial Railway Authority), connected Swakopmund to…
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20.75 MILES
When ill winds blow, head for this museum at the foot of the lighthouse, where you can hole up and learn about the town's history. The museum occupies the…
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29.69 MILES
During the winter, rail services between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay are often plagued by windblown sand, which covers the tracks and undermines the…
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20.69 MILES
From the shore, the delightful German-style Woermannhaus stands out above surrounding buildings. Built in 1905 as the main offices of the Damara & Namaqua…
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0.16 MILES
If you're on a quest to see weltwitschias, continue east along the Weltwitschia Drive to the Moon Landscape, a vista across eroded hills and valleys…
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20.64 MILES
Often known by its German name, Marine Denkmal, this memorial was commissioned in 1907 by the Marine Infantry in Kiel, Germany, and designed by sculptor…
Nearby Swakopmund attractions
0.16 MILES
If you're on a quest to see weltwitschias, continue east along the Weltwitschia Drive to the Moon Landscape, a vista across eroded hills and valleys…
20 MILES
It's worth having a quick wander past the historical cemeteries beside the Swakop River. The neatly manicured Old German Cemetery dates from the colonial…
3. Alte Gefängnis (Old Prison)
20.17 MILES
This impressive 1909 structure, on Nordring St, was built as a prison, but if you didn’t know this, you’d swear it was either an early train station or a…
20.22 MILES
Thanks to the narrow-gauge railway to the coast, the colonial company Otavi Minen und Eisenbahn Gesellschaft (OMEG), which oversaw the rich Otavi and…
20.27 MILES
This park houses an array of serpentine sorts. The owner knows everything you’d ever want to know – or not know – about snakes, scorpions, spiders and…
6. German Evangelical Lutheran Church
20.37 MILES
This neo-baroque church was built in 1906 to accommodate the growing Lutheran congregation of Dr Heinrich Vedde – it still holds regular services.
20.39 MILES
This ornate railway station, built in 1901 as the terminal for the Kaiserliche Eisenbahn Verwaltung (Imperial Railway Authority), connected Swakopmund to…
20.46 MILES
The 1912 baroque-style Old German School was the result of a 1912 competition, which was won by budding German architect Emil Krause.