BootsnAll Travel Community

Ok so my partner and I are off to South Africa in March and we have 3 weeks there (21 nights). So far I have booked the first two nights in Jo'Burg and the 3 nights after that we will be on a Kruger tour which is also booked. This leaves us with 16 days/nights to see other things and ideally we would like 5 mights in Cape Town at the end.

So, my question is this? What should we do? Many friends have recommended Durban, East London, Drackensberg, Port Elizabeth, the Garden Route and Stellenbosch but I don't see how we can fit them all in as we want it to be a bit relaxing! What should we miss out?

I am very grateful for any advice.

I just had 5 months in Africa, mostly SA, staying in a township near Stellenbosch. Cape Town/Stellenbosch/winelands are all very close to each other, so if you rent a car it would be easy to fit them all into the same space of time. It is about a 40 minute drive from Cape Town to Stellenbosch. If wine tasting is your thing, the area all around Stellenbosch is full of vineyards, and you can just drive around and stop at the places you like the looks of... beautiful area too and yummy wine!

I spent a week with some friends on the Garden Route, which was amazing... ok so I can't give any really good advice on that because we basically got to Jeffreys Bay and never left again because we were having such an amazing time! If you'd like to try surfing then that's the place for you (also surf shop outlets galore). But the drive is lovely.

Never went to East London, PE or Drackensberg, so can't say... but didnt hear anything that made me feel i HAD to go there so would probs skip those. Went to Durban for a week and really enjoyed it. It has a completely different feel from Cape Town and must be lovely when it's warm in March!

Sorry if this is a big rambling! Ok sooo my recommendation would be: Cape Town/Stellenbosch/Winelands area, Garden Route, and Durban, and I think that would be a good amount of stuff for 3 weeks (Stellenbosch/Winelands only need a couple of days).

Have fun - I'm quite jealous I miss it already!!! If you have any other questions just ask!

Do you plan on self driving?

My links to ZA are work-related. I have spent 3 months in the Western Cape every year for about the last 5.

OK. As the previous poster said, you can do the winelands + Garden Route at your leisure in the remaining days. This is very much, "the nurture" of South African tourism in the sense that you can do it on your own, with a rental car, and use common sense to stay out of trouble. But don't get me wrong, the scenery is both areas is fantastic, but it's "tame".

Like the last poster, I don't care much for Durban. Hot, humid and Malaria. I don't care much for large animals, either.

The Drakensberg is more of ZA's "nature", an absolutely gorgeous mountainous place. However, it is quite heavily visited and also quite safe. You can also rent a car to get around or take a tour, or just stay at lodge.

It depends more if you are a nature or nurture person, or if you prefer mountains to beaches. (The winelands is also criss-crossed with mountains, but the Graden route is up the coast by the Indian ocean).

The Western cape is quite large and one could also spend the remainder of a vacation in this region. There a number of interesting, lovely small towns up the west coast from the Cape.

Have fun and be careful.

Bulungula. Google it. One of the most AMAZING places I've been to.

quote:

Originally posted by spiceymel:
Bulungula. Google it. One of the most AMAZING places I've been to.

Thank you for posting that bit of info... i googled it and the place looks amazing, i'll defiantly be making a trip downt here! I can't believe i've never heard of it before!

Well worth a trip and not THAT far from you??

quote:

Originally posted by spiceymel:
Bulungula. Google it. One of the most AMAZING places I've been to.

Woah... you literally just made my week. Great suggestion.