The stunningly beautiful Tsitsikamma National Park – the ‘place of abundant water’ in Khoisan – is a not-to-be-missed Garden Route highlight. It incorporates both a terrestrial and marine reserve extending 5.5km out to sea, protecting an 80km coastal belt of rocky foreshore, reef and deeper sea, indigenous hardwood forests, fynbos, deep river gorges, waterfalls, dramatic … Continued

Wilderness coastal village, a stone’s throw from the N2 highway, has a long sandy beach backed by dunes and holiday houses. Canoes can be hires to explore the nearby Kaaiman’s River gorge. However, the main attraction is the Wilderness National Park which stretches from the Touw River mouth to the Swartvlei estuary, beyond which it … Continued

Knysna, 102km east of Mossel Bay and 25km west of Plettenberg Bay, was a tiny remote settlement in the forest at the beginning of the 19th Century. However, white settlers arrived and soon Knysna had a thriving logging industry. Add some elephant hunting and the future of the forest was looking bleak until effective conservation … Continued

33km east of Hermanus is the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve with its luxurious lodges, magnificent sea views, ancient milkwood forest and richly varied and unique fynbos vegetation set at the foot of the Duynefontein mountains. The area can be explored on foot, 4×4 or horse-back with expert guides. This area of fynbos is part of … Continued

Easily accessible from Cape Town, the winery estates around Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Wellington and Constantia offer cellar tours and wine tasting – a relaxing way to enjoy the fruits of the excellent climate and ideal conditions for the cultivation of vines.

Plettenberg Bay (known locally as ‘Plett’ and originally named ‘Bahia Formosa’ (beautiful bay) by early Portuguese explorers), is 33 km east of Knysna and enjoys probably the best beaches along the Garden Route and is a very popular resort on the Garden Route. The wide bay of white sand is separated by forest from a … Continued

The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa, divided into the much larger Great Karoo in the north and Klein Karoo (‘klein’ is Afrikaans for ‘little’) in the south. The Klein Karoo is a fertile valley between Swartberg Mountains to the north and Langeberg and Outeniqua Mountains to the south and Oudtshoorn is the … Continued

Various mountain and coastal roads converge at the town of Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo and it offers a convenient stop before travelling south to the Garden Route. It is famed for its huge Ostrich farms and the nearby Cango Caves with it’s dripstone formations and some of the largest stalagmites in the world. Highlights … Continued

The c.200km Garden Route is a world-famous scenic drive through verdant and diverse scenery with various stops of interest. There are ten nature reserves, protecting varied ecosystems and natural features such as lakes, lagoons, tall indigenous forests and Cape fynbos flora, mountains, rivers and sandy beaches as well as marine reserves. Southern right whales make … Continued

Cape Town is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and backed by the magnificent Table Mountain. The views from the top are awe-inspiring, taking in the city, the ocean with Robben Island and winelands fringed with distant mountain ranges. The vibrant heart of Cape … Continued

Most visitors to the Cape Peninsula make for the Cape of Good Hope section of the National Park with its massive sea cliffs and extensive views. It is famed as being perilous for seafarers and the place where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet at Cape Point (although they ‘officially’ meet a little further south-east … Continued

Route 62 is an inland mountain route connecting Cape Town and Oudtshoorn and often used as counterpart to the Garden Route. It is more interesting and a little shorter than the N2 highway, travelling through spectacular passes and valleys with interesting small towns on the way.

The coastal town of Mossel Bay is of great historical significance as it was here that the indigenous Khoisan cattle herders first met Europeans in 1488 in the shape of Portuguese mariners under the command of Bartolomeu Dias. Trading began and the bay was used as a halfway stop on the way to India. It … Continued

Driving east from Cape Town for about 1½ hours, one reaches Hermanus, the once quiet fishing village which is now generally considered to be one of the major whale-watching destinations in the world. The season runs from June to November and, from the cliff tops, sightings of southern right whale are virtually guaranteed during the … Continued