Durban is the perfect base for day trips into KwaZulu-Natal. The closest is the Valley of a Thousand Hills — a 45-minute drive west on the Old Main Road, with grand views into the Umgeni gorge and a string of Zulu craft stalls and viewpoints. Beyond it, Pietermaritzburg is the provincial capital, with a complete Victorian colonial city centre and the train-station bench where Gandhi was thrown off a first-class carriage in 1893.
North of the city, the Inanda Heritage Route combines Phoenix Settlement, Ohlange Institute and Inanda Seminary — half a day with a guide. For wildlife, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is South Africa's oldest reserve and a Big Five park reachable in about three hours by car. Further afield, the Drakensberg escarpment, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (a UNESCO site with hippos, crocs and sea-turtle nesting) and Lesotho are all viable two- or three-day extensions from Durban.