Garden Route Splendor

Cape Town • Garden Route • Mossel Bay • Oudtshoon • Kynsna • Gquberha (Port Elizabeth)

Tour Overview

South Africa Explorer offers some of the most beautiful scenery of the Garden Route. Enjoy stops along the Garden Route including Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Tsitsikamma and end up in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth).

Includes

Includes: 5 Breakfasts, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner, accommodation including porterage, transport in air-conditioned vehicles, entrance fees & sightseeing as specified, services of a professional English speaking tour guide

Rates

Starting from Starting from $1,499.

Day to Day Itinerary

Cape Town to Mossel Bay

Travel along Sir Lowry’s Pass to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. Continue via historic Swellendam to Mossel Bay.

About Accommodation

The Diaz Hotel & Resort sits on the pristine seashore of Mossel Bay’s renowned Diaz Beach, right in the heart of the picturesque and famous Garden Route. The Diaz Hotel is located only 10m from the high-water mark and offers spectacular ocean views from every window and balcony. The Diaz Hotel was named in honour of the famed Portuguese navigator, Bartolomeu Dias, who landed in Mossel Bay in 1488.

 

Highlights

Visit the rocky headland of Cape Agulhas, the place where two great oceans – the Indian and Atlantic – meet. It’s also the spot at which to have one’s photo taken at the official southernmost tip of Africa.

Moseel Bay to Oudtshoorn

Continue to Oudtshoorn for an ostrich farm guided tour, a wine tasting and a Cango Caves tour.

About Accommodation

La Plume Guest House is a Boutique Guest House on a working ostrich, alfalfa and cattle farm with spectacular views of the Swartberg Mountains and the Olifants River Valley. A warm welcome awaits you at this charming 1902 Victorian homestead with its tranquil surroundings where Karin, the owner, has combined old-world charm with modern comforts to ensure extraordinary service and personal attention.

Meals: Breakfast & Dinner

Highlights

  • Cango Caves: Situated in a limestone ridge parallel to the well-known Swartberg Mountains, you will find the finest dripstone caverns, with their vast halls and towering formations.
  • Ostrich Farm Visit: Learn more about these remarkable birds and their fascinating nature.

Oudtshoorn to Knysna

Travelling via the Outeniqua Pass through George and Wilderness, arrive in Knysna in the heart of the Garden Route. Enjoy a lagoon cruise to the Featherbed Nature Reserve, where we can take a trailer ride up the Western Head to enjoy panoramic views, returning for lunch. The afternoon is at leisure to further explore this charming town set around a natural harbour lagoon.

About Accommodation
Located on the world-famous Garden Route, aha The Rex Hotel is a celebration of urban style, making it one of the most exhilarating getaway destinations in its class. Expect an eclectic mix of modern and classic comforts that capture the essence of 4-star luxury. The O Bar & Eatery serves Buffet Breakfast daily in a contemporary setting with cuisine that is beautifully presented and prepared using only the freshest ingredients that Knysna has to offer.

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Highlights

  • Featherbed Cruise
  • Western Head panoramic views

Knysna

Today you’ll explore the Knysna area, visiting the Big Tree, set in the lush, green indigenous forest, and Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary. The tour continues to the famous Eastern Head for spectacular views of the Knysna Heads (weather permitting) and to Brenton on Sea, a breathtaking holiday location. Rest of the day at leisure. Overnight in Knysna.

Meals: Breakfast

Highlights

  • Plettenberg Bay is a premier holiday destination situated on the Southern Cape coast of South Africa. Plett, as it is popularly known, has sweeping golden beaches, the iconic Robberg Peninsula, intriguing lagoons and estuaries, towering indigenous forests and unpolluted rivers, vineyards and wine estates
  • Birds of Eden is home to about 220 different types of birds, and more than 3500 birds live in the sanctuary. The award winning bird sanctuary provides a forever home where previously caged birds can live a life of free-flight in a habitat as large and natural as is possible.

Knysna to Tsitsikamma

Today, travel to Plettenberg Bay and visit Birds of Eden Sanctuary, the biggest single free-flight aviary in the world. Continue to Bloukrans Bridge, the site of the world’s highest commercially operated bungee jump, before visiting the Tsitsikamma Park and Storms River Mouth (weather permitting). Overnight in the Tsitsikamma area.

About Accommodation

The Tsitsikamma Village Inn offers 49 beautiful and individually decorated rooms. This historic hotel, offering scenic accommodation in Storms River along the Garden Route of South Africa, was established in 1946. This hotel is tucked away in the lush Tsitsikamma forest, close to Storms River Mouth, in the Tsitsikamma National Park. This historic South African hotel has served as a stop-over for travellers for more than a century. Most of the rooms are situated around a typical Village green. These buildings reflect many of the different building styles that were to be found in the Cape Colony during the 1800s.

Meals: Breakfast

Highlights

  • Bloukrans Bridge – You can enjoy the adventures of bungee jumping
  • Storms River Mouth – Visit the popular suspension bridge hanging over the Storms River

Tsitsikamma » Port Elizabeth » Johannesburg

Leave the Tsitsikamma Forest behind to head eastwards to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), known as the ‛Friendly City’, where your journey ends on arrival.

Guests may disembark, on request, at Port Elizabeth Airport.

TESTIMONIAL

From the moment I stepped off the plane, South Africa inspired me, humbled me, excited me and floored me! I travelled with an incredible group of people who seemed to share all my emotions, that was truly a highlight – travelling with like-minded people. If I ever got separated from the group all I had to do was listen out for loud laughter and there they were! Loved it!

I went through a wide range of emotions and feelings during the two weeks. I was awestruck by the natural beauty – Blyde’s Canyon, Table Mountain, Cape Point and the list goes on.

Our guides and drivers were professional and our bus was comfortable and always on time. We sipped fine wines, saw an incredible range of wildlife, visited a township, savoured the barbequed meat at a local Braii (BBQ) and met local South Africans. The infrastructure is incredible in South Africa and we felt welcome wherever we went.

Kendria H.

TESTIMONIAL

I would like to take this opportunity to thank for the wonderful way you organized, co-ordinated and facilitated my recent trip to South Africa. Your professionalism was unsurpassed. You went above and beyond what I expected and for that I am truly appreciative.

South Africa was a wonderful experience and a beautiful country. I learned so much about the country, the people and the culture. As a Canadian of Jamaican heritage this trip meant a lot to me as I always wanted to visit the motherland. There could not have been a better place to start than in South Africa.

I was especially moved by my visit to Robben Island and the Apartheid museum. I was equally impressed with the magnificence that is Table Mountain. I would be remised not to mention the visits we had to the wine vineyards. The wines of South Africa are just so delectable.

Kruger National Park was exciting and exhilarating. The abundance of wild life in their natural habitat can never be equalled by a trip to any zoo in the world. I will be encouraging all my friends who are contemplating a vacation to someplace special to get in touch with Ramie of Travelead, as I know they will be looked after in the most hospitable way.

Charles G.

TESTIMONIAL

What a great experience it was to go to South Africa with Travelead!

Everything was well organized and we had a wide variety of things to stimulate our senses: Jazz performances, English high tea, the mist and the roar of the ocean at the Cape of Good Hope, the peaceful rustle of the grass at sunrise as the Big Five animals moved about on the plains on our safaris, the spectacular views from Table Mountain in Cape Town, and a wide variety of traditional and exotic food!

The guides and drivers were friendly and knowledgeable about present day life and the history of South Africa and gave us personal perspectives. We learned a great deal about Mandela and apartheid by visiting museums and historical areas. We found the people to be genuinely happy and welcoming. The children, at the school that we visited, performed for us by singing and dancing, were quick to smile, and wanted to visit with us afterwards. Since we were in a small group, we were able to do some additional things with our guides during our free time.

There is so much more that I will treasure in my memories and I have only given you a taste of what I have experienced. I would highly recommend this trip!

Louise B.

What Are You Waiting For?

Pin It on Pinterest