South Africa self-drive
12-day safari & self-drive tour from Cape Town to Sabi Sand Game Reserve
This comprehensive South Africa 12-day self-drive tour will allow you to experience a South Africa holiday to the full and combines Cape Town, the Winelands, the world famous Garden Route, the Drakensberg Mountains and the best Big Five game viewing in the country, in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve.
To help guide you on cost, we offer two designed pricing options within the sample itinerary, based on superior and deluxe accommodation. All hotels have been carefully selected for their character, location and outstanding service, and will form the bedrock of your South African safari and beach holiday experience.
South Africa safari and self-drive itinerary
3 nights Cape Town • 1 night Cape Winelands • 3 nights Garden Route • 2 nights Drakensberg Mountains • 2 nights Kruger National Park
Days 1-3: Cape Town
Arrive in Cape Town and check in for three nights at your chosen hotel. Hike to the top of Table Mountain, swim with penguins at Boulders Beach, eat along the V&A Waterfront, tour infamous Robben Island or dig a little deeper on an historic township tour.
Stay: 3 nights Four Rosmead (superior) or Twelve Apostles (deluxe) (B)
Day 4: Cape Winelands
Take delivery of your hire car and head east into the Cape Winelands and the picturesque towns of Stellenbosch and Paarl. Though the wine ranks as some of the best in the world, you needn’t be a connoisseur to drop in at a vineyard for a tasting or gourmet lunch.
Stay: 1 night River Manor in Stellenbosch (superior) or the Grande Roche Hotel in Paarl (deluxe) (B).
Days 5–7: Garden Route
We suggest you take a detour to South Africa’s whale-watching capital, Hermanus, before picking up the Garden Route at Mossel Bay and snaking your way past the beautiful beaches of Wilderness, Buffalo Bay and Knysna to Plettenberg Bay. For many, ’Plett’ is the epitome of the Garden Route, with white sands, clear waters, forest-clad mountains and fabulous seafood within easy reach – not to mention such attractions as the Robberg Peninsula, Tsitsikamma National Park and the Tenikwa Awareness Centre, where guests can see cheetahs, leopards and other African cats.
Stay: 3 three nights at Lairds Lodge (superior) or Relais & Châteaux member, The Plettenberg (deluxe) (B).
Days 8–10: The Drakensberg Mountains, Kwazulu Natal
Return your hire car in Port Elizabeth and take a short flight to Durban, where another car awaits and drive inland to the Drakensberg Mountains, whose towering peaks, fertile valleys and Bushman paintings have earned it World Heritage status.
Stay: 2 nights Cathedral Peak Hotel (superior) or Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse (deluxe) (B, DB at Cleopatra), the region’s leading gourmet getaway, where dinner is a sumptuous sixcourse affair.
Days 10–12: Sabi Sand Game Reserve
Fly from Durban to Kruger Airport and transfer to the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. Sharing an unfenced border with the Kruger National Park, the reserve is renowned for the best Big Five game viewing in the country, if not Africa. Enjoy all-inclusive service and twice daily game drives before your return transfer and flight back to the UK.
Stay: 2 nights Exeter River Lodge (superior) or Leadwood Lodge (deluxe) (FB, incl 2 daily game drives).
South Africa safari and self-drive itinerary
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To book, call 0845 643 6562
To book this travel offer, call one of our tailor-made travel experts now, quoting reference WEX101601.
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