Map data: Natural Earth, GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)Map data: Natural Earth, GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)

Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg

Compare trains, coaches, flights and ferries from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg. From €83.91, fastest 5h 18m, with the total price and every fee shown up front.

Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg runs about 1 times a day, with the first departure around 07:30 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €83.91, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 5h 18m over 782 km, on services run by 2 operators across 1 mode.

Checked 22 September 2026Priced for 13 October 2026One passenger, all fees included

What one seat costs

Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €83.91, so there is no spread to show.

Typical fares · Priced for 13 October 2026

€83.91

  • 137%Moves across the booking window

When it runs, leaving Port Elizabeth

Typical first and last departure on this corridor.

  • 07:30First departure
  • 07:30Last departure
  • 1Services per day
  • 0%Run direct

Fares by date

What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.

Typical fares

  1. about €158.85Wed23
  2. about €234.37Thu24
  3. about €185.99Fri25
  4. about €176.55Sat26
  5. about €122.86Sun27
  6. about €109.29Mon28
  7. about €139.38Tue29
  8. about €124.63Wed30
  9. about €130.53Thu1
  10. about €114.01Fri2
  11. about €103.98Sat3
  12. about €93.95Sun4
  13. about €98.67Mon5
  14. about €93.95Tue6
  15. about €88.05Wed7
  16. about €93.95Thu8
  17. about €104.56Fri9
  18. about €112.24Sat10
  19. about €96.90Sun11
  20. about €92.76Mon12
  21. about €83.91Tue13

Based on what this route has cost recently. The live fare is confirmed when you book.

The flight gets you into Pietermaritzburg. These two partners take it from there, and the bed is theirs to book.

A hotel room

A room in Pietermaritzburg for the night the flight gets in

Sort by distance from Pietermaritzburg railway station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.

Partner links. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.

Booking window

When to book Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg

The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.

  1. €89.8190 days
  2. €93.9460 days
  3. €78.6045 days
  4. €91.0030 days
  5. €83.9121 days
  6. €93.9514 days
  7. €139.387 days
  8. €185.993 days
  9. €158.851 days
Cheapest lead time
Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €78.60.
How much it moves
The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 137 percent. The dearest point is €185.99, 3 days out.
What that means
Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 45 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
€185.99€78.60137142130456090

Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 45 days ahead. You are inside that window.

This corridor, specifically

Facts that apply to Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg and to no other route on the site.

Clocks

Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.

The shape of it

782 km

661 km as the crow flies, 18% further by the route services take. The bearing runs north-east.

Who lives at each end

1,050,078839,327

Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.

The route

South AfricaNamibiaLesothoCape TownCape TownBloemfonteinBloemfonteinEast LondonEast LondonVereenigingVereenigingWelkomWelkomNewcastleNewcastleRichards BayRichards BayKlerksdorpKlerksdorpGeorgeGeorgeKwaDukuzaKwaDukuzaLadysmithLadysmithQueenstownQueenstownAtlantisAtlantisUpingtonUpingtonButterworthButterworthPort ShepstonePort ShepstoneGqeberhaGqeberhaPietermaritzburgPietermaritzburgMap data: Natural Earth, GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)Map data: Natural Earth, GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
The journey

What the journey looks like

Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.

Direct or connecting
0% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 100% involve one connection.
How far it really runs
The route covers 782 km against 661 km in a straight line, a detour of 18 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
Where the change is
Connections are made at Durban. The gap between arriving and leaving is 85 minutes, of which about 14 is walking.
If the connection is missed
The tightest connection we sell here has a 11 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.

The fare from PZB into Pietermaritzburg is set by whoever drives it.

A taxi rank outside an airport terminal

A car waiting when you land in Pietermaritzburg

Settled in advance, so the ride into Pietermaritzburg costs what it said it would rather than what the rank says.

Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.

Who runs this route

The flight gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.

Left luggage lockers

Left luggage near Pietermaritzburg railway station

Most of the points near Pietermaritzburg railway station open before the first train and shut after the last one.

Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.

Questions about Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg

The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.

How long does it take to get from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

The fastest journey from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg takes 5h 18m door to door, of which 1h 59m is spent moving, on the flight. Most services take around 5h 23m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.

How much does it cost to travel from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

The cheapest fare from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg is €83.91, as of 22 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €109.29. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.

What is the cheapest way to get from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

The cheapest way from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg is by flight, at €83.91 for one passenger on 13 October 2026. That journey takes 5h 21m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.

When should I book Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

Fares from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg bottom out around 45 days before departure, at €78.60. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 137 percent, measured on 22 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.

Which day of the week is cheapest for Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg, at €93.95. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 22 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.

Which month is cheapest for Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

November is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg, at €76.83 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.

Who runs services from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

2 operators sell services from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg across 1 mode: Airlink (SAA), Shosholoza Meyl. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.

Is there a direct service from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

0 percent of the services we sell from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg are direct. The rest connect at Durban, with about 85 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.

Which station or terminal do services from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg use?

Services from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg by flight leave from Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport PLZ and arrive at Pietermaritzburg railway station. Allow about 1h 57m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.

Can I change or refund a ticket from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg?

1 of the 2 operators we sell from Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.

Where these numbers come from

Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.

Observed service A carrier record names this operator on this pair, carried through unchanged.

Prices come from the supplier wherever we hold a live quote. Elsewhere we show an indicative price built from the real distance, the real operator and a fare curve over lead time, day of the week and season. Those are labelled Estimated fare and cannot be booked.

Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances

On this page
Every figure above was computed for Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg on 22 September 2026: 782 km of route against 661 km in a straight line, 1 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €83.91, and 5h 18m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.

The flight is the simple part. What you do once you are in Pietermaritzburg is somebody else's catalogue.

A guided tour group

Day trips out of Pietermaritzburg and across South Africa

Day trips that leave Pietermaritzburg in the morning and cover a good part of South Africa by evening.

Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.

The two ends, compared

Port Elizabeth reaches 36 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 112 to 947 km. Pietermaritzburg reaches 19 places in 1 countries, from 53 to 1,228 km.

Other ways to make this journey

Leaving Port Elizabeth

  • 36Places you can leave for
  • 1Countries
  • 7Operators

Arriving in Pietermaritzburg

Leaving Pietermaritzburg

  • 19Places you can leave for
  • 1Countries
  • 3Operators

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