If you’ve considered visiting Africa, chances are South Africa has been high on the list of destinations. We’ve been busy compiling country guides and things to do for you, but what about some tips from the locals? Well, we would hate to disappoint! Our team in Cape Town has put together this list of South Africa travel tips and tricks to give the edge when you’re planning your holiday.
Take to the road
South Africa is an excellent country to navigate by car and there are many different road trip options. We’d highly recommend renting a car (most towns and cities in SA have the usual suspects – Avis, Europcar etc), and taking an adventure out into the incredible surrounding landscapes. Obviously the most famous trip is the Garden Route, leading you from Cape Town (it technically starts in Mossel Bay but we think the Mother City makes an excellent starting point, and it means you can add a visit to Hermanus or De Hoop Nature Reserve) all the way to Plettenberg Bay. We also love taking a few days to drive from Cape Town up the Western Cape, a little explored area filled with wine farms, mountains and the gourmet hotspot Paternoster. If you’re in Durban we’d recommend a drive to Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park or Phinda Private Game Reserve before heading up to the beaches of the Elephant Coast. Finally, from Johannesburg you can drive yourself to the famous Kruger National Park or even to the lesser known (but no less fabulous) Waterberg or Madikwe.
Save time and fly
Don’t worry if your trip length doesn’t allow for you to whizz about the country on four wheels, another excellent way to travel the breadth and width of South Africa is by air. There are some excellent internal airlines that will zip you to exactly where you need to be and often very affordably too! This means you can easily combine some time in the Mother City with the game reserves in the north, despite them being at the other end of the country. You can also drive the Garden Route and then hop up to Kruger by air for a spot of safari – these little carriers can get you just about anywhere. And if it’s some off-the-beaten-track adventure you’re after, why not fly to East London in South Africa’s Eastern Cape to explore the Transkei, also known as the Wild Coast? The whole country is yours for the taking with just a little bit of planning.
Keep the seasons in mind
This might sound like a bit of an obvious South Africa travel tip and you’re probably thinking you’d always check the weather wherever you’re going on holiday. We mention it because different parts of the country reach their peak seasons at totally different times, so managing everything you want to do and see can sometimes be a bit tricky. For example, Kruger is at its most beautiful during South Africa’s winter season (June to August), whereas Cape Town ticks all the boxes during summer (December to February) and the whales that pass through have their own season entirely (June to October). But fear not, with a little bit of thought you can almost always squeeze in whatever you want. We’ve actually put together this handy little guide that should cover off just about everything you want to see!
Explore the unexpected
Being such a popular destination, it’s sometimes easy to feel like you’ve already visited the hot spots in South Africa through everyone else’s holidays and Instagram posts. So if you prefer trips that take you to places no one else seems to be going, definitely don’t cross this country off your list! One of our top South Africa travel tips is to absolutely explore the path less trodden. It’s very easy to think that Cape Town, the Garden Route and Kruger are the only places to explore but that just isn’t true. We’ve mentioned it before, but we’d always highly recommend driving up the Western Coast – we guarantee the Cederberg Mountains are like nowhere you’ve ever been. If it’s safari you’re after but without the crowds then there are so many incredible options like Kwandwe and Kariega Private Game Reserves in the Eastern Cape, Phinda Private Game Reserve and Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park in Kwa-Zulu Natal, and the north is home to those shining stars Madikwe, Waterberg and the Tswalu Kalahari. We also love flipping the Garden Route and travelling inland through the desert landscape that is the Karoo – have a look at this trip for some inspiration. We’re also sure you’ve heard of the Cape Winelands and their hotspots Stellenbosch and Franschhoek but try and escape to some of the smaller (and sometimes better for it) towns of Robertson and Tulbagh.
Make it a multi-destination trip
Another favourite South Africa travel tip is actually to combine a visit to this country with another destination. South Africa is extremely fortunate to have international airports in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, making it very easy to hop, skip and jump to somewhere else. And if you’re travelling long haul to Africa (as most of you will be), then it’s quite thrilling to tick off as much as you can whilst you’re here. If it’s all about heading to those bucket-list hot spots then our Highlights of Southern Africa trip is the one for you, whisking you from Victoria Falls to Kruger to Cape Town, before finishing with some well earned beach time in Mauritius. We’ve got something special for our safari loving travellers and our A Trifecta of Southern Africa ticks off all those wildlife hotspots, combining Kruger, Victoria Falls and Botswana’s Okavango Delta – our greatest hits album if you will. Our new Kruger and the Islands trip is perfect for adventurers, beginning with a touch of safari before jetting to Reunion Island (the perfect escape for adrenaline junkies) and then finishing again in Mauritius – because it’s beachy perfection.
Unleash your inner gourmand
If you’re thinking of planning a gourmet getaway you might imagine yourself in Italy, Vietnam or France but we think you really need to add South Africa to that list. The food scene here is on the up and it would be remiss not to include it in our South Africa travel tips! Cape Town is arguably the beating heart of the food movement in the country with restaurants like The Test Kitchen and Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantia putting the city on the map. Have a read of our full guide for some more inspiration. or salivate over our favourite breakfast spots. Similarly, Johannesburg is also making a name for itself with some incredible fine dining spots such as Marble and an increasingly excellent street food scene – we have another guide for that here! We’d also highly recommend tasting some of the country’s local delicacies whilst you’re here; the seafood and steak often get top billing (and they really are fabulous) but we’d also recommend you sample some more unusual meats such as ostrich, springbok, kudu, the spiced beef sausage boerwors and the cured and dried biltong. You should also try and tag along to a braai or stay somewhere like the Forest or Orchard cottages at La Cotte that come with their own, and understand why South Africans love to cook over an open fire so much.
