Parys

A Free State resort town on the southern bank of the Vaal River, Parys draws weekend visitors from nearby Johannesburg and Pretoria with a mix of antique shops, art galleries, coffee shops, restaurants, and river-based adventure activities. Its name is an Afrikaans rendering of Paris, coined by a German surveyor who saw a resemblance between the town's riverside setting and that of the French capital on the Seine.

• Population71,319
• Nearest water from center0.9 km
• Nearest mountain from center3.7 km
• UNESCO within 50 km7