South Africa: Cape Town, the Winelands and Kruger for three generations

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Cape Town

   Cape Town International Airport to your hotel in central Cape Town

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Welcome dinner at about 6 pm
   • Nuit : Cape Town
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Cape Town International Airport (CPT), about 20 km east of the city, where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall and loads the bags; the drive takes about half an hour. Our hotel is central, near the V&A Waterfront or in the City Bowl, with family or connecting rooms requested and a pool where the hotel has one; we name it when we confirm your dates. Table Mountain fills the view above the city, and if its flat top is clear, point it out to the children before the cloud the locals call the tablecloth rolls over it. Try to land by mid-afternoon and rest. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets everyone for a short briefing: how the Cape Town days swap around the weather, what to pack for safari and how the flights work. Then a welcome dinner at about 6 pm, early enough for tired travellers of every age.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Cape Town International Airport (CPT)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing: the hotel pool or a rest after the flight

2. Jour 2 : Table Mountain and the aquarium

   Up Table Mountain by cableway, lunch in the Bo-Kaap, then the Two Oceans Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Cape Town
   Détail du jour 2

   We leave the hotel at about 8 am to ride the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway in the first cars of the morning, before the queues and while the summit is most often clear. The floor of the car turns as it climbs, so everyone gets the view, and children love it. On top, a level loop of about an hour with benches looks over Table Bay to Robben Island, along the Twelve Apostles and down onto Lion's Head; look for dassies, the small furry rock hyraxes, sunning on the rocks. If wind closes the cableway, we swap today with day 3 or day 4. Down the mountain, we stroll a few painted streets of the Bo-Kaap and sit down to a Cape Malay lunch of mild curry and samoosas. After lunch, the Two Oceans Aquarium at the Waterfront: sharks, rays, penguins and a kelp forest, about an hour and a half, all on one level. The late afternoon is free.

   Compris

   • Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, return ticket
   • Summit loop with your guide
   • Short stroll in the Bo-Kaap and a sit-down Cape Malay lunch
   • Two Oceans Aquarium, V&A Waterfront

   Option plus facile : Stay on the short paths near the upper cable station, with benches and a cafe, and rest at the hotel instead of the aquarium.

   Option plus active : Hike up Platteklip Gorge with a mountain guide, two to three hours of steep stone steps for fit teens and adults, and meet the family at the top.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free: the hotel pool, the Waterfront's playgrounds and boats, or a rest

   Activité : About an hour on level paths on top. Bring a warm layer: the summit is often windy and cooler than the city.

3. Jour 3 : Penguins and Cape Point

   Cape Town down the False Bay side to Boulders Beach and Cape Point, back by Chapman's Peak Drive

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Cape Town
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave at about 8 am down the False Bay side, past the coloured beach huts of Muizenberg and the naval town of Simon's Town, with a short stop to stretch, to reach Boulders Beach before the coaches. From the boardwalks above the granite coves, African penguins waddle, nest and squabble a few metres away. They are critically endangered, so we watch from the boardwalks and never touch. Next is Cape Point in Table Mountain National Park: the Flying Dutchman funicular carries everyone up to the old lighthouse for the long view down the cliffs, and we stop at the Cape of Good Hope sign for the family photo. Watch for ostriches, bontebok and baboons, which must never be fed. Lunch is a sit-down meal by the sea, with a children's menu. We drive home along the Atlantic side on Chapman's Peak Drive, cliffs above the sea, and are back at the hotel by about 4 pm for the pool.

   Compris

   • Boulders Beach penguin colony, with the park fee
   • Cape Point, with the Flying Dutchman funicular both ways
   • The Cape of Good Hope, with the Table Mountain National Park fee
   • Sit-down lunch on the peninsula
   • Chapman's Peak Drive, with the toll

   Option plus facile : Ride the funicular both ways and wait in the vehicle or the cafe between viewpoints; every stop is a short walk from parking.

   Option plus active : Walk the cliff path from Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope, about 1.5 hours, and meet the vehicle at the sign.

   Temps libre : Back by about 4 pm: the pool, then a free evening

   Activité : About three hours of driving split into four legs, the longest about an hour and a quarter. If Chapman's Peak Drive is closed, we return over Ou Kaapse Weg.

4. Jour 4 : Robben Island, then the Winelands

   The V&A Waterfront ferry to Robben Island, then Cape Town to Stellenbosch

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Stellenbosch
   Détail du jour 4

   Bags go in the vehicle after breakfast, and we walk to the Robben Island ferry at the V&A Waterfront for a morning sailing, about half an hour each way across Table Bay, with Table Mountain behind you on the way back. Robben Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. Museum guides take the group by bus around the island and on foot through the maximum-security prison to his cell, about three and a half hours in all with the crossing. It is a story for every age: grandparents remember the news of his release, and children see where it happened. If the sea cancels the ferry, we try day 2 or day 3. Lunch is at the Waterfront, then about an hour's drive east through vineyards to Stellenbosch, where we check in for two nights by about 3:30 pm. The rest of the day is the pool and a free evening.

   Compris

   • Robben Island ferry and museum tour
   • Lunch at the V&A Waterfront
   • Transfer to Stellenbosch

   Option plus facile : Stay on the island bus for the whole tour and skip the prison walk; the guide meets you after.

   Temps libre : From about 3:30 pm: the hotel pool and a free evening in the old town

   Activité : About an hour on foot in the prison, on flat floors. The ferry is weather-dependent and tickets are booked ahead.

   

5. Jour 5 : Franschhoek and old Stellenbosch

   Stellenbosch over the Helshoogte Pass to Franschhoek and back

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Stellenbosch
   Détail du jour 5

   A slow start, then about 40 minutes over the Helshoogte Pass to Franschhoek, a valley of vineyards closed in by mountains. French Huguenot refugees settled here from 1688, and the Huguenot Monument at the end of the main street remembers them; children can run on the lawns while the guide tells the story. We taste at one wine estate, chosen for space outside, where the adults taste wine and the children get grape juice or a food pairing, then sit down to a long lunch in the valley. Back in Stellenbosch by about 2:30 pm, the afternoon is the pool. At about 4:30 the guide takes a gentle 45-minute stroll along Dorp Street's Cape Dutch houses, then the Village Museum quarter and the old town square. Stellenbosch was founded in 1679. Dinner together is at about 6 pm in the old town, a short walk from the hotel.

   Compris

   • Huguenot Monument, Franschhoek
   • Wine tasting at a Franschhoek estate, with grape juice for children
   • Long sit-down lunch in Franschhoek
   • Guided stroll in old Stellenbosch: Dorp Street, the Village Museum houses and the Braak
   • Group dinner in Stellenbosch

   Option plus facile : Skip the evening stroll and stay at the pool until dinner.

   Option plus active : Ride an e-bike between Franschhoek estates with a local guide, for teens and adults, on farm roads (confirmed at booking).

   Temps libre : Afternoon free at the pool from about 2:30 pm

   

6. Jour 6 : Fly to the bushveld

   Stellenbosch to Cape Town International Airport, fly to Hoedspruit, then a safari lodge in the Greater Kruger

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Greater Kruger
   Détail du jour 6

   An early start: the direct morning flight to Hoedspruit leaves at about 8:30 am on most days, so we leave the hotel at about 6 am with a packed breakfast for the 45-minute drive to Cape Town International Airport. The flight north-east to Hoedspruit's Eastgate Airport takes about two and a half hours and saves the long road day other trips spend reaching Kruger; on a date without it, the fallback is a change in Johannesburg. Your guide handles the check-in and the bags. From the small airport it is a short transfer to our safari lodge in a private reserve of the Greater Kruger, where the fences with the national park are down and animals move freely. We ask for family or interleading rooms, a pool and a lodge that welcomes children 6 and up on drives; we name it when we confirm your dates. Lunch is at the lodge at about 11:30 (later if we use the Johannesburg fallback), then a briefing for every age: stay seated, speak softly, keep hands inside. At about 4 pm the first drive goes out in open vehicles with a ranger and tracker, with a sundowner stop. Dinner is early.

   Compris

   • Transfer to Cape Town International Airport
   • Flight from Cape Town to Hoedspruit (Eastgate), direct on most days, via Johannesburg as the fallback
   • Transfer to the lodge
   • Afternoon game drive in an open vehicle with a ranger and tracker, with a sundowner
   • Reserve conservation levies

   Option plus facile : Skip the first drive and settle in by the pool or on the deck.

   Temps libre : A rest at the lodge before the afternoon drive

   Activité : A 6 am departure from Stellenbosch; children can sleep on the flight. If we use the Johannesburg fallback we reach the lodge later and the first drive may be shorter. Pack warm layers in hand luggage: evening drives turn cold quickly.

7. Jour 7 : Dawn drive and a pool day

   A full day in the private reserve

   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Greater Kruger
   Détail du jour 7

   Safari days follow the animals' clock. A knock comes at about 5 am in summer and a little later in winter, with hot chocolate, coffee and rusks before the dawn drive, the best hours for lions, leopards and wild dogs. Rangers in private reserves can leave the track for some sightings, and only a few vehicles may gather at one, so it stays quiet. Families sit together, and the ranger stops for a toilet break and a snack in the bush. Back for a late breakfast at about 9 am. For older guests who meet the lodge's walking age, a guided bush walk with an armed field guide reads tracks, dung and termite mounds; younger children get a shorter activity near the lodge where the lodge offers one. The middle of the day is the pool, a nap, or the waterhole from the deck. The afternoon drive runs past sunset; at dusk look for vultures settling into dead trees. Dinner is early.

   Compris

   • Dawn game drive in an open vehicle with a ranger and tracker
   • Guided bush walk with an armed field guide, for guests who meet the lodge's walking age
   • Afternoon and evening game drive with a sundowner
   • All meals at the lodge

   Option plus facile : Sleep in and skip the dawn drive; join the afternoon drive only.

   Option plus active : Take the bush walk, and ask the field guide to stretch it where the reserve's rules and the group allow.

   Temps libre : Middle of the day free at the pool

   Activité : Each drive lasts about three hours with a stop. Minimum ages for drives and walks are set by the lodge and confirmed before you book.

   

8. Jour 8 : Kruger National Park, back by mid-afternoon

   The lodge to Orpen Gate, then toward Satara for lunch and back

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Greater Kruger
   Détail du jour 8

   Today we go into Kruger National Park itself, proclaimed in 1926 and close to two million hectares. After coffee at the lodge we drive about an hour to Orpen Gate, arriving soon after it opens (about 5:30 am in summer and 6 am in winter), and spend the morning on the park's roads in an open safari vehicle with a registered guide, heading east across the plains toward Satara, an area known for lions, elephants, buffalo and herds of zebra and wildebeest. Breakfast is a picnic at a stop with toilets, and lunch is a sit-down meal at Satara rest camp, with time to stretch, buy postcards and refill water bottles. Park roads are public and vehicles stay on them, so this is a wider, different safari from the reserve. We head back after lunch and reach the lodge by about 3 pm, a shorter day than the usual dawn-to-dusk park trip, leaving time for the pool before an early dinner.

   Compris

   • Kruger National Park safari in an open vehicle with a registered guide, about 5 hours inside the park
   • Kruger National Park conservation fee
   • Picnic breakfast and sit-down lunch at Satara rest camp

   Activités en option

   • Late-afternoon drive in the reserve for anyone with energy left

   Option plus facile : Stay at the lodge for a slow morning and the pool, and join the afternoon drive in the reserve.

   Option plus active : Join the late-afternoon reserve drive after the park day.

   Temps libre : From about 3 pm free at the lodge

   Activité : About 2 hours of road driving to and from Orpen Gate, the longest leg about an hour, plus about 5 hours of slow game viewing with stops. Bring a hat, sunscreen and a warm layer.

9. Jour 9 : Last day in the bush

   The private reserve, with an optional half-day to the Blyde River Canyon

   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Greater Kruger
   Détail du jour 9

   Our last full day stays close to the lodge. The dawn drive is the time to look for anything still missing from the list; children often keep a tally of what the family has seen. Rangers share sightings over the radio, and the guide can ask to focus on leopard, rhino, elephants or birds. Rhino locations are never shared and the lodge asks guests not to geotag photos, because poaching is still a threat; it is a good conversation for the vehicle. After breakfast the middle of the day is free at the pool. For a change of scene, an optional half-day drives about an hour and a quarter to the Blyde River Canyon for the view of the Three Rondavels, back in time for the last drive. The late-afternoon drive ends with a sundowner as the light goes, and then a farewell dinner in the boma, the open-air enclosure around a fire, at an early hour.

   Compris

   • Dawn game drive in an open vehicle with a ranger and tracker
   • Afternoon and evening game drive with a sundowner
   • Farewell dinner in the boma
   • All meals at the lodge

   Activités en option

   • Half-day to the Blyde River Canyon and the Three Rondavels viewpoint, priced at booking

   Option plus facile : Sleep in and skip the dawn drive.

   Option plus active : A second bush walk with an armed field guide instead of the dawn drive, for guests who meet the lodge's walking age, where offered.

   Temps libre : Middle of the day free at the pool

10. Jour 10 : Fly to Johannesburg

    The lodge to Hoedspruit (Eastgate), then fly to Johannesburg O. R. Tambo International Airport

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 10

    A last short drive at first light for those who want it, or a slow breakfast on the deck, then the transfer to Hoedspruit's Eastgate Airport, about 40 minutes. The flight to Johannesburg's O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) takes about an hour and a quarter, and your guide flies with you and sees the family to your onward check-in. Most long-haul flights from Johannesburg to Europe and North America leave in the evening, which suits the day: book an onward flight leaving after about 6 pm. With a late flight, after about 9 pm, we can add a guided visit to the Apartheid Museum, about 30 km from the airport, which suits older children and adults; it is priced at booking. If you want to stay on in Johannesburg, we can book extra nights and an airport transfer. Children leave with their sightings list, and everyone with a few early mornings to remember.

    Compris

    • Short dawn drive, if you want it
    • Transfer to Hoedspruit (Eastgate)
    • Flight from Hoedspruit to Johannesburg (JNB)

    Activités en option

    • Guided visit to the Apartheid Museum for flights after about 9 pm, priced at booking

    Option plus facile : Skip the last dawn drive and take a slow breakfast.

    Temps libre : Time at the lodge after breakfast before the airport transfer

    Activité : Book an onward flight from Johannesburg leaving after about 6 pm.

Faune et météo : April to May and September to October suit both halves of the trip and include the Easter school break. In the Kruger area the dry winter, about May to September, thins the bush and draws animals to water, with cold dawns and the lowest malaria risk. The rains from about November bring newborn impala and green bush but thicker cover, heat and the highest malaria risk. Cape Town is driest from November to March and wettest from June to August, when pools are too cold for most and the cableway can close for wind on any day.

• Cape Town3 nuits
• Stellenbosch2 nuits
• Greater Kruger4 nuits