High on the list of things to do is definitely a visit to the Southern African Large Telescope (also called Salt). The telescope is approximately 18km from Sutherland. Guided tours are available. On these tours visitors get the opportunity to see exactly how the gigantic eye (the largest in the southern hemisphere) works.

Salt's primary mirror (also called Africa's Giant Eye) spanning 11 metres can show objects in space which are a billion times too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Salt is the largest single telescope for optical/infrared astronomy in the southern hemisphere, equal to the largest in the world. Gathering more than 25 times as much light as any existing African telescope. Salt can detect objects as faint as any existing African telescope. Salt can detect objects as faint as a candle flame on the moon.

The town's high elevation, its remoteness and the absence of light pollution is ideal for star gazing. Sutherland offers a truly unique insight into the universe.

Visit the historical Dutch Reformed church designed by Charles Freeman. It was occupied in the Anglo Boer War for approximately eight months by British soldiers. The graves of soldiers who died during the war in these parts are popular visiting places, as is the historical mission church.

The Louw Museum, birthplace of two well-known Afrikaans intellectuals of previous century, the writers and poets N.P. Van Wyk Louw and his brother, W.E.G. Louw, and the Tuinplaas church are also well worth a visit. The church still has its traditional floor and antique harmonium and is in all likelihood the oldest church building in the country still used by migrant workers. The Louw house serves as a museum of literature.

People who enjoy walks can follow the Silhouette route on the farm Ezeljaht about 20km outside the town.

Koorlandskloof also has beautiful hiking trails.

For nature lovers
Visit the Ouberg pass, approximately 45km west of the town, where on clear days you can see the Ceres-Karoo Mountains (about 200km's away)

Various unique fauna and flora can be found in this extreme landscape. Sutherland is in the so-called Succulent Karoo which is seen as one of the world's main bio-diversity hot spots. It is an area that has an abundance of endemic hardy plant species which are found nowhere else on earth. This includes unique flora such as the Cliffortia Aborea. Sutherland and surrounds offer bird watchers many unique opportunities. Remember to ask your hosts which dam farms in the area are worth inspecting for our feathered friends.

Be on the look out for the scarce riverine rabbit, Bonulagus monticularis, which grazes in this area. It is one of the twelve most endangered species of rabbit in the world and has the same conservation status as the black rhino and the African wild dog. All indications are that there are no more than 250 adults of this species left.

The riverine rabbit is a timid loner with a grazing area of ten to twenty hectares per animal and can be found in the alluvial soil of intermittent streams. Its ears are approximately 12 cm long, and it has a reddish spot on the back of the neck, white circles around the eyes, a black-brown stripe along its lower jaw and has broad woolly hind legs.