Paarl to Port Elizabeth runs about 5 times a day, with the first departure around 06:30 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays between €77.34 and €91.64, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 5h 34m over 706 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 1 operator and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares
€77.34 to €91.64
- 172%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Paarl
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.
- 06:30First 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 trip
Bookaway lists departures for Paarl to Port Elizabeth on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Paarl to Port Elizabeth 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 €180.19Mon14
- about €148.29Tue15
- about €151.04Wed16
- about €179.09Thu17
- about €140.04Fri18
- about €150.49Sat19
- about €145.54Sun20
- about €103.19Mon21
- about €91.64Tue22
- about €127.93Wed23
- about €133.44Thu24
- about €114.18Fri25
- about €138.39Sat26
- about €129.04Sun27
- about €77.34Mon28
- about €89.44Tue29
- about €97.69Wed30
- about €100.44Thu1
- about €98.23Fri2
- about €105.39Sat3
- about €91.63Sun4
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 train gets you into Port Elizabeth. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Port Elizabeth for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from Redhouse and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Port Elizabeth 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €94.3890 days
- €96.0460 days
- €66.3445 days
- €66.8830 days
- €91.6321 days
- €129.0414 days
- €145.547 days
- €151.043 days
- €180.191 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €66.34.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 172 percent. The most expensive point is €180.19, 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth 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
706 km
614 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs east.
Who lives at each end
236,910 → 1,050,078
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/2
2 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 actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 706 km against 614 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Worcester, Oudtshoorn, Athlone, George. The gap between arriving and leaving is 47 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 20 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.
Port Elizabeth is large, and the road in from PLZ can take longer than the last hour of the flight. Cars are not our business.
A car waiting when you land in Port Elizabeth
Settled in advance, so the ride into Port Elizabeth costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from PLZ 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 train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near Redhouse
Most of the points near Redhouse open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Port Elizabeth 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth
The questions people actually ask about this trip, 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
The fastest journey from Paarl to Port Elizabeth takes 5h 34m door to door, of which 5h 11m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 5h 56m, 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
The cheapest fare from Paarl to Port Elizabeth is €77.34, as of September 13, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €133.44. 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
The cheapest way from Paarl to Port Elizabeth is by train, at €91.64 for one passenger on September 28, 2026. That journey takes 5h 55m 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
Fares from Paarl to Port Elizabeth bottom out around 45 days before departure, at €66.34. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 172 percent, measured on September 13, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Paarl to Port Elizabeth, at €91.64. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 13, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
February is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Paarl to Port Elizabeth, at €65.23 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 service from Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
1 operators sell services from Paarl to Port Elizabeth across 1 mode: 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
20 percent of the services we sell from Paarl to Port Elizabeth are direct. The rest connect at Worcester, Oudtshoorn, Athlone, George, with about 47 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth use?
Services from Paarl to Port Elizabeth by train leave from Paarl and arrive at Redhouse. 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from Paarl to Port Elizabeth 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 Paarl to Port Elizabeth on September 13, 2026: 706 km of route against 614 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €77.34, and 5h 34m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in Port Elizabeth is somebody else's catalog.
Day trips out of Port Elizabeth and across South Africa
Day trips that leave Port Elizabeth in the morning and cover a good part of South Africa by evening.
See Port Elizabeth 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
Paarl reaches 13 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 45 to 766 km. Port Elizabeth reaches 31 places in 1 countries, from 112 to 904 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Paarl
- 13Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 2Operators
Arriving in Port Elizabeth
Leaving Port Elizabeth
- 31Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 7Operators