Johannesburg to Polokwane runs about 5 times a day, with the first departure around 06:50 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays between €32.79 and €34.36, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 2h 47m over 298 km, on services run by 2 operators across 2 modes.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 2 operators and 2 ways of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares · Priced for 5 October 2026
€32.79 to €34.36
- 169%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Johannesburg
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:50First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 5Services per day
- 20%Run direct
Shosholoza Meyl runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this journey
Bookaway lists departures for Johannesburg to Polokwane on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Johannesburg to Polokwane on Bookaway
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €83.92Sun20
- about €73.30Mon21
- about €70.94Tue22
- about €47.93Wed23
- about €68.58Thu24
- about €63.04Fri25
- about €65.63Sat26
- about €41.44Sun27
- about €38.49Mon28
- about €37.74Tue29
- about €47.34Wed30
- about €44.98Thu1
- about €48.52Fri2
- about €52.59Sat3
- about €42.62Sun4
- about €32.79Mon5
- about €33.18Tue6
- about €37.31Wed7
- about €41.59Thu8
- about €37.90Fri9
- about €38.49Sat10
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The flight gets you into Polokwane. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Polokwane for the night the flight gets in
Sort by distance from Polokwane Bus Rank and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Polokwane on Booking.com
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Johannesburg to Polokwane
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €43.2490 days
- €33.1860 days
- €31.1445 days
- €33.1830 days
- €38.4921 days
- €52.5914 days
- €65.637 days
- €70.943 days
- €83.921 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €31.14.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 169 percent. The dearest point is €83.92, 1 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.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 45 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Johannesburg to Polokwane 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
298 km
293 km as the crow flies, 2% further by the route services take. The bearing runs north-east.
Who lives at each end
9,418,183 → 272,461
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/3
3 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
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
- 33% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 67% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 298 km against 293 km in a straight line, a detour of 2 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Pretoria, Soshanguve, Centurion, Emalahleni. The gap between arriving and leaving is 54 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 17 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 PTG into Polokwane is the one price on this journey we cannot show you, because it is not ours.
A car waiting when you land in Polokwane
Settled in advance, so the ride into Polokwane costs what it said it would rather than what the rank says.
Book a transfer from PTG with Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. 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 near Polokwane Bus Rank
Most of the points near Polokwane Bus Rank open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check Polokwane on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Johannesburg to Polokwane
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 Johannesburg to Polokwane?
The fastest journey from Johannesburg to Polokwane takes 2h 47m door to door, of which 2h 3m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 3h 27m, 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 Johannesburg to Polokwane?
The cheapest fare from Johannesburg to Polokwane is €32.79, as of 19 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €48.23. 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 Johannesburg to Polokwane?
The cheapest way from Johannesburg to Polokwane is by train, at €32.79 for one passenger on 5 October 2026. That journey takes 2h 47m 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.
What is the fastest way to get from Johannesburg to Polokwane?
The fastest way from Johannesburg to Polokwane is by train, at 2h 47m door to door. Only 2h 3m of that is spent moving; the remaining 44m is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end. The cheapest fare on that mode is €32.79.
When should I book Johannesburg to Polokwane?
Fares from Johannesburg to Polokwane bottom out around 45 days before departure, at €31.14. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 169 percent, measured on 19 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Johannesburg to Polokwane?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Johannesburg to Polokwane, at €37.74. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 19 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Johannesburg to Polokwane?
November is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Johannesburg to Polokwane, at €28.94 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 Johannesburg to Polokwane?
No operator record names Johannesburg to Polokwane directly. Airlink (SAA), Shosholoza Meyl publish service areas covering both ends and may serve it, so we list them as possible operators rather than confirmed ones.
Is there a direct service from Johannesburg to Polokwane?
33 percent of the services we sell from Johannesburg to Polokwane are direct. The rest connect at Pretoria, Soshanguve, Centurion, Emalahleni, with about 54 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
How much CO2 does the journey from Johannesburg to Polokwane produce?
Travelling from Johannesburg to Polokwane by train produces about 9.7 kg of CO2 per passenger, the lowest of any mode on this corridor. The same journey by Flight produces about 74.3 kg, roughly 8 times as much for one passenger.
Which station or terminal do services from Johannesburg to Polokwane use?
Services from Johannesburg to Polokwane by train leave from Johannesburg Park Station and arrive at Polokwane station. Allow about 44m 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 Johannesburg to Polokwane?
1 of the 2 operators we sell from Johannesburg to Polokwane 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.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Johannesburg to Polokwane on 19 September 2026: 298 km of route against 293 km in a straight line, 6 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €32.79, and 2h 47m 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 Polokwane is somebody else's catalogue.
Day trips out of Polokwane and across South Africa
Day trips that leave Polokwane in the morning and cover a good part of South Africa by evening.
See Polokwane on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Johannesburg reaches 104 places in 45 countries on services we hold, over distances from 41 to 13,566 km. Polokwane reaches 15 places in 1 countries, from 208 to 293 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Johannesburg
- 104Places you can leave for
- 45Countries
- 46Operators
Arriving in Polokwane
Leaving Polokwane
- 15Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 2Operators