Where to go in South Africa
Introduction
Cape Town, the Cape Winelands and the Garden Route provide rich culture, spectacular landscapes and incredible cuisine, while the great wildlife reserves of Kruger National Park, the Eastern Cape and Northwest Province offer Big Five game drives and some of Africa’s finest luxury safari lodges.
Near the southern tip of the country, Cape Town sits at the foot of flat-topped Table Mountain, providing easy access to the famed Garden Route along the south coast for wide sand beaches and rugged, picturesque coves. You'll also find plenty of nature reserves for dolphins and primates, as well as bird watching sites and the artsy town of Knysna.
For adventure travel, go shark diving with Great Whites or bungee jump above the Bloukrans River in Tsitsikamma National Park. Head to Hermanus to watch whales migrate, and to relax afterwards, settle down in towns such as Paarl and Stellenbosch in the heart of the Winelands to sample celebrated vintages from the 106 cellars in the region.
The best wildlife watching is in Kruger National Park, home to the Big Five: elephants, leopards, buffalo, lion, and rhinoceros – and truly one of Africa's great wildlife reserves.
Alternatively, head into the mountains and hike amidst the peaks and valleys of the Drakensburg, listen to the silence in the Karoo, settle back on the warm sands of KwaZulu-Natal, visit the diamond mines in Kimberley and watch the stark landscape of Namaqualand burst into bloom during springtime.
Map
List of regions
Kruger National Park is one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in the world and is home to more animals than any other reserve in South Africa. The Kruger Game Reserves offer prestigious lodges and game viewing and plenty of free roaming wildlife including the Big Five.
Gateway to the Rainbow Nation, Cape Town is famed for its natural beauty, diverse culture, fine wines and celebrated restaurants. It's also a city made for outdoor living, with a host of adventure activities right on its mountain-framed doorstep.
South Africa's Garden Route passes through many lovely towns on its way from Cape Town to Knysna. For many, Plett is the epitome of the Garden Route, with white sands, clear waters, forest-clad mountains and fabulous seafood within easy reach.
From the dramatic sandstone peaks of its Drakensberg Mountains backdrop, KwaZulu-Natal’s spectacular setting spills down through wildlife-rich wetlands and grasslands to the pristine beaches of its Indian Ocean coast.
With its magnificent scenery, world-class vineyards, fabulous food and wide range of boutique luxury accommodation, it's not surprising that the Cape Winelands rank highly on many visitors' South Africa bucket list.
Slicing across the country from Cape Town to Pretoria and beyond, a number of superb rail journeys allow guests to travel in unrivalled style and comfort across South Africa’s most spectacular rural swathes.
Johannesburg is South Africa's largest city. Once at the forefront of the country's freedom struggle, it's rapidly developing neighbourhoods and townships are host to a rich cultural heritage and a thriving restaurant and shopping scene.
The Northern Cape is a land of wide-open spaces, home to wildflower meadows, the world's most important diamond mining towns and a host of rare species, from black rhinos to South Africa's famous black-maned lions.
South Africa's Eastern Cape is an area of outstanding beauty, with a pristine coastline fringed by untouched bushveld and sub-tropical forests. To the north of Port Elizabeth, the Eastern Cape's game reserves offer malaria-free Big Five game viewing.
The vast, semi-arid Kalahari and bushveld habitats of the Northwest Province, near the border with Botswana, were the scene of the world's largest game translocation exercise: Operation Phoenix.
