Garden Route

Made up of a narrow belt between the Indian Ocean and the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma Mountains, the Garden Route extends from Mossel Bay to Port Elizabeth and is a favourite self-drive destination.

Gaining its name from the indigenous Yellowwood Forests and abundant wild flowers, the Garden Route is an enchanting shoreline of lovely bays, high cliffs and wide estuaries with a hinterland of mountains, spectacular passes, rivers, waterfalls and wooded ravines, lagoons and malaria free Big Five safari areas. Further inland, over the Swartberg Mountains, is Oudtshoorn and the Little Karoo, a land famed for its ostriches, caves and snow capped peaks.

Along the Coastal Route you’ll find excellent lodges, world class golf courses, eateries, quaint villages (like Knysna)and colourful marinas. The warm Indian Ocean beckons bathers, anglers, surfers and divers and is teeming with schools of dolphins and hordes of barking, cliff climbing seals.

This area is also the adventure capital of South Africa. Bungy ropes swing freely, with the Bloukrans Bridge near Plettenberg Bay having the highest commercial Bungy in the world at 216 meters (708 feet) and abseiling, paragliding, tree-top canopy tours, extreme mountain biking, sky diving and blackwater tubing await adventure seeking souls.

Made up of a narrow belt between the Indian Ocean and the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma Mountains, the Garden Route extends from Mossel Bay to Port Elizabeth and is a favourite self-drive destination.

Gaining its name from the indigenous Yellowwood Forests and abundant wild flowers, the Garden Route is an enchanting shoreline of lovely bays, high cliffs and wide estuaries with a hinterland of mountains, spectacular passes, rivers, waterfalls and wooded ravines, lagoons and malaria free Big Five safari areas. Further inland, over the Swartberg Mountains, is Oudtshoorn and the Little Karoo, a land famed for its ostriches, caves and snow capped peaks.

Along the Coastal Route you’ll find excellent lodges, world class golf courses, eateries, quaint villages (like Knysna)and colourful marinas. The warm Indian Ocean beckons bathers, anglers, surfers and divers and is teeming with schools of dolphins and hordes of barking, cliff climbing seals.

This area is also the adventure capital of South Africa. Bungy ropes swing freely, with the Bloukrans Bridge near Plettenberg Bay having the highest commercial Bungy in the world at 216 meters (708 feet) and abseiling, paragliding, tree-top canopy tours, extreme mountain biking, sky diving and blackwater tubing await adventure seeking souls.

The Garden Route Safari area is a malaria free area made up of a number of different game reserves, all offering a Big Five safari experience. The area itself is reminiscent of Africa as depicted in movies like ‘Out of Africa’ and the lodges are smaller and more personal and often owner run and managed. This is an excellent beginning or end point to a self-drive along the Garden Route.

Route 62 offers a harsher beauty than the coastal areas. Narrow passes wind through high mountains before dropping into the wilderness of the Karoo where dusty summers give way to rich golden fields of wheat and emerald green fields of lucerne, tobacco and grapes. Route 62 is an explorers dream. The hidden gems of Prince Albert and Oudtshoorn are beautiful in their remoteness and offer isolation and peace. Ostrich rides, spelunking (exploring the Cango Caves) and trips to the crocodile farm are firm favourites.

Garden Route tours are a popular amongst those looking for the ideal self drive holiday destination in South Africa and whether you want to spend your time in a luxury safari lodge, idyllic seaside guesthouse, or high in the mountains or forest the accommodation we have selected along the Garden Route will not disappoint you.