Cape Town, the Garden Route & Big Five Safari

Day 1 - Fly to Cape Town

Fly from the UK, via Johannesburg, to Cape Town.

Day 2 - Cape Town

Today you're free to relax in one of the world’s most stunningly located cities. Why not take a stroll along the redeveloped Victoria and Alfred waterfront or catch a boat to infamous Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned?

Day 3 - Cape Town

Meet your tour manager for an orientation tour of the city. You'll see historical landmarks like the Castle of Good Hope, the House of Parliament, and the leafy Company’s Gardens. You’ll also enjoy a stroll past the colourful Bo Kapp colonial district before lunch is served at your hotel.

Day 4 - Cape Town

Enjoy a fascinating full-day tour on which you'll visit treacherous Cape Point, where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean, Kirstenbosch, famous for its Botanical Gardens and Hout Bay, and – weather-permitting – breathtakingly scenic Chapman’s Peak Drive.

This afternoon, ascend Table Mountain in a rotating cable car that offers a 360-degree panorama as it climbs to the 1000-metre high summit.

Day 5 - Cape Town - Cape Winelands

Head east into the verdant Cape Winelands region and to wine-producing Franschhoek for lunch and a wine tasting in the fabled Franschhoek Wine Valley, before continuing to Stellenbosch, deep in the heart of this scenic landscape.

Enjoy a guided introduction of Stellenbosch, followed by a glass of bubbly and some local nougat. With its oak trees and picturesque, European-style Cape Dutch houses, Stellenbosch is a delightful place to spend a night.

Day 6 - Oudtshoorn & Cango Caves

Travel on to Oudtshoorn, the Ostrich Capital of the World, in the heart of the Little Karoo plain. The world’s strangest, largest and often most-valuable bird has been farmed here for 130 years – first for its plumage, and more recently for its high-protein, low-cholesterol meat. Enjoy a taste at your barbecue lunch, before visiting the world-renowned Cango Caves, with their caverns of stalactites and stalagmites.

Later, you’ll continue to the coastal Garden Route resort of Mossel Bay for a two-night stay.

Day 7 - Knysna & The Garden of Eden

This morning, you'll travel to coastal Knysna for a cruise on the beautiful lagoon, which hugs the edge of the fascinating Featherbed Nature Reserve. After the cruise, you’ll travel in a 4x4 up to the headland for some spectacular views, listening as your expert guide tells you about the local history, flora and fauna. A buffet lunch will be served at an outdoor restaurant under a picturesque canopy of milkwood trees. 

After some free time to explore Knysna’s charming waterfront, enjoy a guided walk around the Garden of Eden in the Harkerville Forest, before returning to Mossel Bay for a traditional South African barbecue. 

Day 8 - on Safari

Journey via the historic, sleepy harbour town of Mossel Bay to the Garden Route Game Lodge, in the heart of a privately operated reserve where you'll spend the next two days. During your stay here, in the shadow of the Langeberg mountains, you’ll enjoy all the wonders of safari game drives to see the Big Five (lions, rhino, elephants, leopards and buffalo) while staying in comfortable lodges and enjoying typical African dinners looking out over the reserve.

This afternoon, enjoy your first game drive, then perhaps enjoy a sun-downer beside the authentic Boma (camp fire) before dinner.

Day 9 - on Safari

A second day at the lodge begins with a pre-breakfast game drive. Enjoy some free time for a siesta - perhaps by the pool - before setting off on a second evening game drive and enjoying another memorable dinner under the stars.

Day 10 - Hermanus

After a final early morning game drive, you'll journey west to Hermanus, a famous whale-watching centre from July to November and a year-round seaside resort. Departures between September and November will include a whale-watching cruise. Later, enjoy a fantastic seafood dinner surrounded by the roar and spray of the ocean at Bietangs Cave.

Day 11 - Cape Town and return flight

Begin your last scenic day of touring as you make the dramatic descent from Sir Lowry’s Pass onto the Cape Flats. Take in the spectacular views of distant Table Mountain, before returning to Cape Town airport, via Stony Point Nature reserve to see the penguin colony, for your overnight flight home via Johannesburg.

Day 12 - Arrive in the UK

You'll land back home this morning, at the end of a wonderful holiday in South Africa.