South Africa

South Africa, in a few days

From Cape Town and the Stellenbosch vineyards along the Garden Route to a safari in Kruger: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Cape Town

Days 1-2

A city between two oceans under Table Mountain, with the Cape of Good Hope an hour and a half down the peninsula.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Table Mountain by cable carHalf day · from €30
  The floor of the car turns as it climbs, so everyone gets the view. Go early: the cloud locals call the tablecloth arrives without warning.
• Cape of Good Hope and the penguinsFull day · from €55
  The drive down the peninsula, the old lighthouse at Cape Point, and the African penguin colony on Boulders Beach.

✦ Free to visit

• The painted houses of Bo-Kaap
• The V&A Waterfront
• Camps Bay beach
• Signal Hill

📲 Book things to do in Cape Town on GetYourGuide

2

The Winelands: Stellenbosch

Day 3 · 🚗 Car 1h

Estates planted by Huguenot refugees from the 1680s, white Cape Dutch gables, and the reds that made the country's name.

🎟️ Worth booking

• The wine tramFull day · from €55
  A hop-on tram and bus loop around the Franschhoek estates, which settles the question of who drives.
• Food and wine pairingHalf day · from €40
  Small plates matched glass by glass on one estate, usually three or four courses long.

✦ Free to visit

• The Cape vineyards
• Cape Dutch architecture
• Franschhoek
• The estate gardens

📲 Book things to do in The Winelands: Stellenbosch on GetYourGuide

3

The Garden Route

Days 4-7 · 🚗 Car 4h

Three hundred kilometres of coast between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth: lagoons, old growth forest and beaches with nobody on them.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Bungee jump at BloukransHalf day · from €90
  216 metres off a road bridge over the gorge, the highest commercial bridge jump anywhere.
• Walking safari and the canopyHalf day · from €45
  Tsitsikamma on foot and then from above, on the walkways strung through the treetops.

✦ Free to visit

• Wilderness beaches
• Knysna and its lagoon
• The Tsitsikamma forests
• The coastal viewpoints

📲 Book things to do in The Garden Route on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

A car, then a flight to Kruger · Drive the Garden Route at your own pace, then fly north for the safari rather than losing two days to the road.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Braai: the barbecue, and a social institution rather than a meal.
• Bobotie: spiced minced meat under a baked egg custard, from the Cape Malay kitchen.
• Biltong: air-dried cured meat, eaten by the handful.
• Boerewors: a coiled spiced sausage, straight off the braai.
• Cape wine: the estates around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Do not walk alone at night, and ask locally which streets are fine after dark.
• Keep valuables out of sight, and drive with the windows up and the doors locked.
• Stay alert at isolated traffic lights late at night, and leave yourself room to pull away.
• On safari, do what the rangers say: stay in the vehicle and keep your voice down.

Words that help

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/south-africa

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.