A self-drive road trip, exceptional wineries and a stunning safari lodge – travelling through South Africa’s Eastern Cape under your own steam.
From cultured Cape Town to the Winelands and the wild savannah of the Eastern Cape, this luxury holiday to South Africa offers an irresistible combination of adventure and style. We’ll show you Cape Town’s unmissable sights and its secret spots, before setting you off on a road trip along the Garden Route for an incredible journey through the Winelands, finishing with a stay in one of our favourite lodges for a Big Five safari.
Vineyard, Franschhoek
Game drive, Eastern Cape
Cape Town
Ease into your holiday by immersing yourself in everything Cape Town has to offer. Spend your days exploring secret beaches, swimming with penguins or hiking Table Mountain, while in the evening let us provide tips on enjoying the fashionable Kloof Street and the V&A Waterfront. Here, we can secure you a seat at a world-class restaurant so you can enjoy the best in just-caught seafood.
Next, it’s into the Cape Winelands where, from your base at the Richard-Branson-owned Mont Rochelle, you’ll enjoy everything from wine-paired, country-style dining to indulgent spa treatments. Of course, you’ll have plenty of time to travel the Stellenbosch, Paarl and Somerset wine routes, before you sample the craft breweries and gourmet restaurants of Franschhoek. You’ll be able to taste your way through award-winning wineries on foot, bike or even by catching the ‘wine tram’.
Driving out on the dramatically beautiful Route 62, you’ll cruise down the Garden Route in serious style. Along the way, stop in Hermanus for whale-spotting clifftop walks, get a sense of the stark beauty of the Little Karoo and spend several days overlooking the white sands of Plettenberg Bay. Spend your time here canoeing through backwater rivers and enjoying dramatic coastal walks. However, be sure to swap beach relaxation for the open seas, going in search of whales on boat cruises and enjoying the chance to sample fresher-than-fresh oysters in Kynsna.
Switching to the savannah, you’ll then explore an exclusive game reserve with three nights at Great Fish River Lodge, one of our favourite safari camps in South Africa. Being in the malaria-free eastern reaches of the country, you’ll have complete peace of mind as you enjoy superb twice-daily guided game drives without the crowds, pausing from searching for the Big Five to picnic in the bush. By day you’ll head out on fishing trips, canoe excursions and the chance to track rhino on foot, while evenings mean expertly prepared sundowner cocktails and intimate candlelit dining. A campfire supper beneath the star-filled African sky is surely a highlight of world travel.