South Africa at a slower pace: Cape Town, the Winelands and the Garden Route

1. Day 1: Arrive in Cape Town

   Cape Town International Airport to your hotel in central Cape Town

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Cape Town
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Cape Town International Airport (CPT), about 20 km east of the city, and a driver meets you in arrivals for the half-hour drive in, with your bags handled from the kerb to the hotel door. Our hotel is central and has a lift, so the afternoon is yours to rest after the long flight or to stroll the level promenade of the V&A Waterfront, where the working harbour, cafés and benches face Table Mountain. If the summit is wrapped in its white 'tablecloth' of cloud, that is the south-easterly wind at work, and it often clears by morning. Plan to land by about 4 pm. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing: how each day is paced, where the seats are, how far we walk, and how the plan bends around wind and weather. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner at a local restaurant close to the hotel, a first taste of Cape cooking and South African wine.

   Included

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

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Table Mountain, then a free afternoon

   Central Cape Town to the Table Mountain cableway, then the V&A Waterfront

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cape Town
   Day 2 details

   After breakfast we drive the short way up to the lower cable station for a car in the cableway's first hour, around 8:30 (a little later in winter). We go early for good reason: the air is usually calmer, the queues are short and the light is clear over the bay. The rotating car climbs to the flat summit, more than 1,000 m above the sea, in about five minutes. At the top, level paved paths link the viewpoints over the city, Robben Island and the Twelve Apostles, with benches and a café a few minutes apart; we stay about an hour and a half, walking about 1.5 km in all. If wind closes the cableway, we swap today with tomorrow's peninsula day and go up on day 3 instead. Back down, we drive to the V&A Waterfront for a seated lunch by the harbour. The afternoon is free: rest at the hotel, visit the Zeitz MOCAA museum next to the Waterfront, or take the optional Robben Island boat.

   Included

   • Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, return ticket, in the first hour
   • Guided walk on the level summit paths
   • Lunch at the V&A Waterfront

   Optional experiences

   • Robben Island tour from the V&A Waterfront (about 3.5 hours, with steps on and off the boat; sailings are often cancelled by wind)
   • Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden by taxi, priced at booking

   Easier option: Stay by the upper cable station, where the main viewpoint and the café are a few steps apart.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 1.5 km on foot, on level paved paths. If wind closes the cableway, we swap days 2 and 3 and go up on day 3; if it is closed on both days, we try once more early on day 4 before we leave the city.

   

3. Day 3: Boulders Beach penguins and Cape Point

   Cape Town to Boulders Beach in Simon's Town, then Cape Point, and back by Chapman's Peak Drive

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cape Town
   Day 3 details

   We leave at 9 and take the quick inland road down to Simon's Town on False Bay, about 50 minutes, to reach Boulders Beach soon after it opens and before the coach groups. Level boardwalks with railings lead through a breeding colony of African penguins, a species now listed as critically endangered, and you can watch them nesting and waddling to the water from a few metres away. Half an hour on, in the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, the funicular carries us up towards the old lighthouse at Cape Point for the view down both coasts, and the vehicle drives on to the Cape of Good Hope sign on the rocks. Lunch is seated, with a sea view. We come back up the Atlantic side by Chapman's Peak Drive, a toll road cut into the cliffs above Hout Bay, stopping at its lookouts without leaving the roadside. About 150 km and up to 3 hours at the wheel, split into three legs of 45 minutes to an hour and a quarter with long stops between; back by about 4:30 pm.

   Included

   • Boulders Beach penguin colony, entry included
   • Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, Table Mountain National Park entry
   • Cape Point funicular, both ways
   • Seated lunch by the sea
   • Chapman's Peak Drive (toll included)

   Easier option: Stay at the upper funicular station at Cape Point, where the view is almost the same, instead of climbing the steps to the old lighthouse.

   More active option: Climb the steps from the upper funicular station to the old lighthouse, about 15 minutes.

   Free time: Evening free in Cape Town

   Activity: About 2 km on foot, mostly boardwalk. Cape Point is windy: bring a warm layer even in summer. If Chapman's Peak Drive is closed for rockfall or wind, we return by the inland road, which also cuts the day to about 2.5 hours of driving.

4. Day 4: Stellenbosch: a town walk and a long wine lunch

   Cape Town to Stellenbosch, then a wine estate in the valley

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Stellenbosch
   Day 4 details

   Luggage goes in the vehicle at 9:30, and Stellenbosch is about an hour east. Founded in 1679, it is the second-oldest town in South Africa and largely flat, and our guide leads a gentle walk of about a kilometre along oak-lined Dorp Street, past whitewashed Cape Dutch and Georgian houses, to the Braak, the old village green, with a coffee stop on the way. Then out to a wine estate in the valley for a seated tasting with the cellar team and a long lunch among the vines, with the mountains behind; nobody in the group has to drive, so take your time. We check in to our hotel in the centre by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is free: rest, browse the galleries and shops, or sit under the oaks with a coffee. We stay two nights, so you unpack once, and dinner tonight is your choice of the town's many restaurants, most within a few minutes' walk.

   Included

   • Stellenbosch walk with your guide: Dorp Street and the Braak
   • Wine tasting and seated lunch at a Stellenbosch wine estate

   Easier option: Join the walk from the vehicle at the Braak and skip Dorp Street.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Stellenbosch

   Activity: About 1 to 2 km on foot, on level pavements.

   

5. Day 5: Hermanus and the whale coast

   Stellenbosch over Sir Lowry's Pass to Hermanus and back

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Stellenbosch
   Day 5 details

   A day trip, so there is no packing. We leave at 9 over Sir Lowry's Pass, with a view back across False Bay, and through the apple country around Grabouw and Bot River to Hermanus on Walker Bay, about 105 km and 1 hour 20 minutes. From June to November, southern right whales come into the bay to mate and calve, often close to the rocks. The cliff path near the old harbour is paved and level in places, with benches along the edge, and we walk an easy stretch of about 1.5 km with your guide, stopping wherever there is something in the water. Whales are most reliable from August to October and never guaranteed; outside the season the path is still a fine sea walk with dassies on the rocks. Lunch is seated in the village, with a view of the bay, and there is time to browse the craft market before we drive back to Stellenbosch for about 4 pm. About 210 km and 2.75 hours in two legs.

   Included

   • Hermanus cliff path walk with your guide, looking for whales in season
   • Seated lunch in Hermanus

   Optional experiences

   • Boat-based whale watching from Hermanus harbour, June to November, about 2 hours, priced at booking (boarding has steps)

   Easier option: Watch from a bench by the old harbour while the group walks the path.

   More active option: Walk a longer stretch of the cliff path, about 4 km, and meet the vehicle further along.

   Free time: Evening free in Stellenbosch

   Activity: About 1.5 to 2 km on foot. Whales are seasonal, roughly June to November.

6. Day 6: Fly to the Garden Route, an afternoon in Knysna

   Stellenbosch to Cape Town airport, flight to George, then by road to Knysna

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Knysna
   Day 6 details

   Rather than spend a whole day on the road, we fly. We leave Stellenbosch after breakfast for the half-hour drive to Cape Town International Airport, where your guide handles the check-in as a group, and the flight to George takes about an hour, along the coast with the mountains inland. Our vehicle meets us at George airport, and Knysna is about an hour east along the N2, past the lakes and lagoons of Wilderness and Sedgefield. Knysna sits on the north shore of a wide tidal lagoon, guarded at its mouth by two sandstone cliffs, the Heads. We go straight to a seated lunch on the waterfront, then check in. The afternoon is free: rest, or stroll the level boardwalks of the waterfront or Thesen Island, where the town's oysters are served at the quayside. We stay two nights. The exact flight time comes with your final itinerary, and we choose one that avoids an early start.

   Included

   • Flight from Cape Town (CPT) to George (GRJ), economy with a checked bag
   • Transfers to and from both airports
   • Lunch on the Knysna waterfront

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Knysna

   Activity: About 1 km on foot. Airports have lifts and wheelchair assistance; tell us at booking if you would like it.

7. Day 7: Tsitsikamma and Storms River Mouth

   Knysna via Plettenberg Bay to Storms River Mouth in Tsitsikamma, and back

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Knysna
   Day 7 details

   We leave at 9 along the N2, past Plettenberg Bay and over the high Bloukrans bridge, to reach Storms River Mouth, in the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park, by about 10:30, ahead of most day visitors. Here forested cliffs drop straight to the Indian Ocean, and big rollers break on the black rocks below the rest camp. The famous boardwalk trail to the suspension bridge over the river mouth is about a kilometre each way with a few hundred steps; walk it with your guide at your own speed if you like, or stay on the level paths and the terrace by the rest camp, where the view of the sea is just as good and you can watch the waves with a coffee. Lunch is seated at the rest camp restaurant above the waves. On the way back we stop in Plettenberg Bay for a stroll on the level beachfront promenade, and we are back in Knysna by about 4 pm. About 200 km and 2.75 hours in two legs.

   Included

   • Storms River Mouth with your guide, Tsitsikamma park entry included
   • Lunch at Storms River Mouth
   • Stop in Plettenberg Bay

   Easier option: Stay on the level paths and the terrace by the rest camp instead of the boardwalk with steps.

   More active option: Walk the boardwalk to the suspension bridge, about 2 km there and back with a few hundred steps, about an hour.

   Free time: Evening free in Knysna

   Activity: Between a few hundred metres and about 3 km on foot, depending on your choice.

   

8. Day 8: The Knysna Lagoon by boat, then over the mountains to Oudtshoorn

   Knysna Lagoon cruise, then over the Outeniqua Pass via George to Oudtshoorn

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Oudtshoorn
   Day 8 details

   Bags go in the vehicle at 9, and we drive up to the viewpoint on the Eastern Head, where the Indian Ocean surges through the narrow channel between the cliffs; the lookout is a few steps from the vehicle. Then a seated cruise on the lagoon, about an hour and a half, out towards the Heads and back past the oyster beds, sandbanks and the forested Featherbed reserve. Lunch is seated by the water. Early in the afternoon we drive west to George and climb the Outeniqua Pass, where green coastal forest gives way to the dry slopes of the Little Karoo, with a stop at a lookout near the top. We reach Oudtshoorn, the old ostrich-feather capital, by about 4 pm, passing farms where ostriches graze in the fields. We stay two nights, and the evening is free: rest, or walk to a restaurant in town. About 125 km and 1.75 hours of driving in two legs.

   Included

   • Knysna Heads from the Eastern Head viewpoint
   • Knysna Lagoon cruise, seated, about 1.5 hours
   • Lunch by the lagoon
   • The Outeniqua Pass

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Oudtshoorn

   Activity: Under 1 km on foot. If wind cancels the cruise, we take a longer drive along the lagoon shore and the Western Head road instead.

   

9. Day 9: Meerkats at sunrise and the Cango Caves

   Oudtshoorn to a meerkat burrow at sunrise, then up the Cango Valley to the Cango Caves and back

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Oudtshoorn
   Day 9 details

   The one early start of the trip, and it is optional. Meerkats only come out of their burrows when the sun warms the ground, so we leave before first light, walk a few hundred metres over the veld and sit on folding chairs a few metres from a family of wild meerkats, used to quiet visitors but never fed or handled. We watch them climb out, stand sentry and turn their bellies to the sun. The visit only runs in dry weather. Back for a late breakfast, then about 30 km north up the Cango Valley to the Cango Caves, in the foothills of the Swartberg. A local guide leads the Heritage Tour, about an hour through the great chambers of stalagmites and flowstone, on lit paths with steps. Lunch is seated in town, and the afternoon is free. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner together in Oudtshoorn.

   Included

   • Wild meerkat visit at sunrise with a local guide (dry weather only)
   • Cango Caves Heritage Tour with a local guide
   • Lunch in Oudtshoorn
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Ostrich farm visit in the afternoon (we do not include ostrich riding), priced at booking

   Easier option: Sleep in and join the group at breakfast; at the caves, wait in the visitor centre café if the steps do not suit you.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Oudtshoorn

   Activity: About 1 to 2 km on foot. The meerkat visit is cold in the early morning: bring a warm jacket and a hat.

10. Day 10: Over the Outeniqua Pass to George

    Oudtshoorn over the Outeniqua Pass to George Airport (GRJ)

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 10 details

    A slow last morning: breakfast at your own pace and a free hour in town, with bags in the vehicle at about 10. We cross the Outeniqua Pass for the last time, from the dry Karoo slopes down into the green forest above George, and reach George Airport (GRJ), about 60 km and an hour away, by about 11:30. Your guide sees you to the check-in desk and confirms your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm; George has direct flights to Cape Town and Johannesburg for connections home. If you would like to stay on, we can add nights on the Garden Route coast at Wilderness or Knysna, or back in Cape Town, and quote them when you book.

    Included

    • Drop-off at George Airport (GRJ)

    Free time: Free morning in Oudtshoorn until about 10

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm.

Wildlife and weather: September to November brings spring flowers, mild days and the last southern right whales in Hermanus. December to February is hot and dry with long days, and Cape Town is busy over the holidays. March and April are settled and warm, the most comfortable months for an easy pace. We do not run this version from May to August, when cold fronts bring rain and chilly mornings to the Cape.

• Cape Town3 nights
• Stellenbosch2 nights
• Knysna2 nights
• Oudtshoorn2 nights