Cape Town, Garden Route & Route 62

seanin98

Hey,

Was planning two weeks in South Africa in Nov. Plan was to fly to Cape Town for 3-4 days, then hire out a car and hit the Garden Route and Winelands. Don't want to get too bogged down trying to see everything but would like a few suggestions as you how and where you would spend ten days after leaving CT. Going to fly home from Port Eliz.

Got a few suggestions from tour operators who mentioned:

Hermanus
Stellenbosch
Oudshoorn
Plettenberg
St Francis

They basically suggest 2 days in each. We would like to do as little driving as possible and have no interest in safari. Both in our late twenties and basically looking to just see a few sights and enjoy the local culture.

Would love to hear from anyone who has done something similar and what advise they would give on places to see and for how long.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

sarkozy

Port Elizabeth is OK. Nice coast and all. I haven't been to the developed part of SA yet. I live in Lesotho, so if you get the chance, you should totally come here for a few days. Beautiful country, so different to SA and very safe. The mountains are spectacular.

TravelJunkie

St Francis - quiet, coastal, totally relaxing
Plettenberg - Excellent beach and restaurants
Stellenbosch - brilliant for soaking the sun and wine tasting

littletiger

spend at least 2 nights in each place alonf the garden routes.

we spent 4 nights at Spier in Stellenbosch and went around the wine area to Franschhoek. Great area

Plettenberg is lovely - we stayed in hunter's country lodge. 10/10

went to Oudsthorn - waste of a day really. Nice but there was nothing there.

preddy

Fit in a Safari somewhere on the way if ya can!

shanagarry

Firstly, I would consider allocating a bit more time to Cape Town. There is a lot to see in the city itself and 3-4 days would probably make things a bit rushed.

The winelands is my favourite area, so I would allocate a good bit of time ther, staying in both Franschhoek and Stellenbosch.

On leaving the winelands you would then have to make a choice between Route 62 and Hermanus. The R62 is the inland route, through wine and farm country. It goes through some quaint towns like Robertson, Montagu, Barrydale, Oodtshoorn. It’s sleepy, but nice. If you go that way, I would cut down to the N2 at Oodtshoorn.

However, depending on what time in November you come, you should catch the end of the whale season, and Hermanus is one of the best land based viewing spots. If you go to Hermanus, after leaving there I would recommend taking the costal route through Gansbaai (the main shark diving departure point) and on to Arniston (very qaint seaside village). This would take you on some untarred roads though.

When you cut back to the N2 it is inland as far as Mossel Bay. There isn’t much to see in Mossel Bay IMO. Equally George isn’t worth seeing. The first place of interest is Wilderness. It’s small and quiet but has an amazing beach. Further on, Knysna is very picturesque, has plenty of good restaurants and is famous for its oysters. Plettenberg Bay, another 30 mins or so along the coast, is also very picturesque. It has some lovely beaches and some nice restaurants too. About another 30 mins past Plett you have Tsitsikamma National Park/Storms River, which is definitely worth a visit for the fabulous scenery. On the way there from Plett, at Bloukrans Bridge, is the world’s highest commercial bungee, if you are feeling brave!

I haven’t driven the route from Storms River to PE, so I can’t comment on that. There is nothing really to see in PE, so I wouldn’t allocate time to there. Ordinarily I would suggest a visit to Addo Elephant Park, but you mentioned that doesn’t appeal to you.

Unfortunately if you want to go as far as PE you can't avoid driving a fair bit. An option would be to not go as far as PE (maybe turn back at Storms River?) and fly back from George instead?

Please ask if you need any more information.

jester1980

Did SA a few years back Did 4 day safari in Kruger then down to Durban for a few days befroe flyinh to Port Elizabeth and making our way to Cape Town.

Spent two night in Plettenburg which was lovely little town, then a night in Outdshorn which was worth the trip. Favorite place by far was Hermanus though, woke up in the morning watching whales off the balcony was fantastic, did the great white cage diving here too.

Did 5 days in Cape Town myself and thought it was plenty..