The little Free State town of Clarens has come fifth in Daily Maverick's Small Towns of the Year for 2025, scoring 87.8% overall in a nationwide contest that drew 2,069 reader nominations. It finished behind Barrydale, White River, Jeffreys Bay and Cullinan — but its individual numbers are striking: a perfect 100% for family friendliness, 90% for safety, nature and connectivity, and 88% for cleanliness.
So what's the appeal? Clarens sits in the eastern Free State, about 336km from Johannesburg and 284km from Bloemfontein, framed by the Maluti Mountains. Founded in 1912 and nicknamed the "Jewel of the Eastern Free State", it takes its name from Clarens in Switzerland, where Paul Kruger spent his final years in exile.
The town punches well above its size. The census puts the permanent population at just 751 people — around 6,500 including neighbouring Kgubetswana — yet it pulls in hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. Around 20 permanent galleries anchor a lively art scene, and the Clarens Art Festival drew roughly 5,000 visitors in 2026. The calendar also includes a cherry festival, a craft beer festival and a festival of lights, while nearby rock-art sites and mountain trails cover the history and outdoor boxes.
There's a tech angle too. In 2024, Eskom named Clarens South Africa's first "smart town", piloting a group-curtailment system that monitors electricity demand every 60 seconds so residents and businesses can adjust usage in real time and dodge load shedding. For a tourism-dependent economy, local coordinator Gert Kruger called it life-changing — and it's a model Eskom hopes to roll out elsewhere.
For travellers, the ranking confirms what weekenders already know: Clarens works as both a quick escape from Joburg and a base for longer stays, with restaurants, guesthouses and enough galleries and trails to fill several days. The judges' finding that some visitors end up moving there says a lot about the place's pull.
