Road Tripping South Africa’s Western Cape: City, Sand and Safari

Enjoy a hearty breakfast at the hotel before heading out for your first taste of South Africa. We’ve arranged for you to have access to a rental car for the duration of the trip, so first things first: head to the rental agency to collect your vehicle. Then it’s time to start exploring. First up: the Zeitz Mocca, a contemporary art museum housed in a former grain silo in the beautiful Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. With over nine floors and 80 exhibitions, Zeitz Mocca is the largest museum of contemporary art on the African continent. You can admire a wide-ranging collection of 21st-century art from Africa and its Diaspora. Make sure to wear your glad rags today as this afternoon you’ll be settling in for high tea at Mount Nelson. This luxurious establishment is an oasis of British elegance – we’re talking manicured gardens, attentive butlers and opulent lounges. Enjoy this iconic daily ritual with a view of Table Mountain at sunset.

Today is yours to spend discovering Cape Town at your own pace. You can head back to the lovely Victoria & Alfred Waterfront to explore its collection of upmarket shops, restaurants and bars. This is also where you catch the boat to Robben Island to tour the former prison that Nelson Mandela spent almost 20 years of his life in. The old part of Cape Town is also teeming with historic sites: the Fort of Good Hope (a 17th-century castle), the Town Hall, the Mutual Building (an Art Deco masterpiece), Long Street (a bohemian neighbourhood) and the Slave Lodge (a social history museum) are among the top sites. The brightly-coloured houses that line the streets of the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood and the Malay quarter also warrant a visit, as do the chic townhouses of De Waterkant. You can make use of your hire car to explore some of the city’s surrounds of the city. You have iconic Table Mountain at your fingertips, while the beaches of False Bay to the east and the Atlantic Seaboard to the west are an easy drive away. You could also spend an evening in Camps Bay, one of the most vibrant and trendy suburbs in Cape Town. For something a bit different, we can also arrange for you to spend the day exploring the city’s hidden gems with a local resident.

Today you’ll be swapping the cityscapes of Cape Town for the winelands of Stellenbosch. After fuelling up with breakfast at your hotel, hop into your hire car and drive to a charming winery about an hour out of the city for a private tour of the estate and a tasting. Then continue onwards to Montagu, a charming spa town nestled in the red mountains of the Western Little Karoo valley. The journey takes around two-and-a-half hours and passes through some beautiful mountain landscapes. Settle in for two nights in a simple but elegant hotel in the heart of the village.

Surrounded by vineyards, orchards, ostrich farms and majestic mountains, the Little Karoo region is a haven for nature lovers. Long independent to the point of having its own currency, the small town of Montagu is a peaceful setting surrounded by beauty. Today you’ll head out on a private guided bike ride through the arty side of town, admiring grand Cape Dutch and Victorian houses, visiting art galleries and meeting a local artist.

Make sure to fuel up on breakfast and snacks at the hotel, as today you’ll be embarking on a four-hour journey to the seaside resort of Plettenberg Bay. Head along the iconic Garden Route, a beautiful coastal road stretching along the south-eastern shores of South Africa. From Mossel Bay, the route is particularly scenic, with sweeping landscapes of beaches, dunes, mountains, forests, national parks, nature reserves, lakes and lagoons. It’s safe to say you’ll be making plenty of pit stops along the way to soak in your surroundings. Spend the evening settling into your beautiful hotel in Plettenberg Bay (or just ‘Plett’).

After getting a taste of what the Garden Route offers on your journey to the coast, you now have the next two days to discover as many of its beautiful gems as possible. You can hike in the national parks nettled between Mossel Bay and Tsitsikamma National Park, swim in the azure waters and lagoons in the town of Wilderness and explore the primary forest of Knysna. We can also arrange a guided kayak trip in Tsitsikamma Park. For a dose of culture, you can check out the museums of Mossel Bay (the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex and the Shell Museum are among our favourites). You can also spend some time close to home, in Plettenberg Bay. Life here is totally turned to the sea: you can spot dolphins, southern right whales and fur seals during the day and tuck into delicious seafood dishes in the evening.

The time has come to bid farewell to the coast and continue your South African road trip inland. Today you’ll be driving four hours through the arid landscapes of the Eastern Cape to Graff-Reinet, one of the oldest towns in the country. This large farming town was founded in 1786 by Trekboers (nomadic pastoralists) and grew with the breeding of merino sheep. Today, Graff-Reinet draws visitors with its collection of Cape Dutch architecture, as well as a number of well-preserved monuments. Settle in for one night in a classic hotel in the heart of the town.

Before hitting the road again today you’ll have time to squeeze in a morning hike in the nearby Cambedoo Nature Reserve. This gives the opportunity to admire the Valley of Desolation, a rage of piled dolerite columns standing against the plains of the Groot Karoo. Then it’s just a 30-minute drive to your next destination: the Samara Private Game Reserve, a sweeping landscape of 25,000 hectares. Your home for the next two nights is a beautiful lodge overlooking the savannah. Head out for two game drives per day through wide open plains, rugged terrain and semi-desert landscapes of the Great Karoo. Alongside your knowledgable ranger-guide you’ll have the opportunity to spot springboks, mountain zebras, black rhinos, cheetahs and ostriches, among many others. Elephants and lions have also been reintroduced to the reserve.