The closest stars to our Sol is Alpha Centauri (actually a double) and Proxima Centauri, both visible from the Southern hemisphere, and both around 4.2-4.3 light years away. Alpha Centauri A is a type "G2V" star just like our sun (about the same temperature as our Sun), BUT because it has a partner (a K star so cooler and redder), it may not have any good planets around it. There are over a hundred stars that are now known to have planets, but most known planets are too close to their star to have life. The only one with any hope is For a listing see http://exoplanets.org/ - you can also make your own plot of the exoplanets size versus distance, etc.

The first exoplanet that is in a "habitable zone" (that could have liquid water) is around the star Gilese 581, which is 20.5 light years away. For more information: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0722/