6 Days Garden Route Splendour – Escorted Tour

A classic tour of the Garden Route starting in Cape Town and ending in the friendly city of Port Elizabeth. You take in all the highlights from the evocative, sepia-tinged landscapes of the Karoo to jewel bright greens and blues of the forests and lagoons.

RATE ON REQUEST

Includes:

• Travel in a luxury vehicle with a professional English-speaking guide
• 5 Nights’ Hotel accommodation (4 star graded – A cut above)
• 5 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 dinner
• Porterage
• Sightseeing as specified

Itinerary

Day 1: Depart Cape Town – Prince Albert

Travel through the picturesque Hex River Valley, surrounded by magnificent mountains. This area is considered the biggest producer of table grapes in South Africa. Enjoy a wine tasting along a route that boasts with the longest harvest season in the world.

Continue to Matjiesfontein. The entire village was declared a National Heritage Site in 1975 and is today a charming, beautifully restored throwback to the late Victorian era. The journey continues to Prince Albert, another delightful village, dating back to 1762. The town is known for its sun-ripened fresh and dried fruit, vineyards, olives and local cheese. Overnight in Prince Albert.

Day 2: Prince Albert – Oudtshoorn

After breakfast, enjoy a spectacular drive through Meiringspoort Pass, with breathtaking rock formations and jaw-dropping beauty, as the road winds its way through the Swartberg Mountains to the quaint Little Karoo village of De Rust. Continue to Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world and home to the spectacular limestone caverns of the Cango Caves. Enjoy a tour of one of the world’s great natural wonders, sculpted by nature through the ages. In the afternoon, visit an Ostrich Farm for a guided tour. Overnight in Oudtshoorn. [BD]

Day 3: Oudtshoorn – Knysna

After breakfast, travel over the Outeniqua Pass to George, the sixth oldest town in South Africa, with many historical landmarks such as the Slave Tree and King Edward VII Library building; said to be the best example of Edwardian architecture in the town. The tour travels via Wilderness, an attractive holiday resort to Knysna, known as the oyster box of South Africa, nestling on the banks of a beautiful lagoon in the heart of the Garden Route. Enjoy a lagoon cruise to the Featherbed Nature Reserve, where you can take a trailer ride to the top of the Western Head to enjoy panoramic views of the town and lagoon, returning for lunch under the milkwood trees. The afternoon is at leisure to further explore this charming town set around a natural harbour lagoon. Overnight in Knysna. [BL]

Day 4: Knysna  

Today you’ll have the opportunity to explore the natural beauty of the Knysna area. Your journey will include a visit to the Garden of Eden, set in the lush, green, indigenous Knysna forest. The major attraction is the forest itself, beautiful yellow wood trees, thick green foliage and streams. Afterwards you’ll have the opportunity to visit Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary, where you will be able to see a variety of primates, roaming free in the forest. The sanctuary is well known for its efforts to rehabilitate and free previously caged primates. The tour continues to the famous Eastern Head, where you will enjoy spectacular views of the Knysna Heads (weather permitting). Afterwards you’ll travel to Brenton on Sea, a breathtaking holiday location and a nature lover’s paradise with its unspoilt beaches and peaceful surroundings. The remainder of the afternoon will be at leisure. Overnight in Knysna. [B]

Day 5: Knysna – Tsitsikamma

Travel to Plettenberg Bay, the jewel of the Garden Route, before visiting Birds of Eden sanctuary, the biggest single free flight aviary in the world. The sanctuary was developed to create a safe environment in which to release a large collection of free-flight African birds. Our journey continues to Bloukrans Bridge, the highest single span arch bridge in the world, currently offering the highest commercially operated Bungy Jump in the world. Visit the Tsitsikamma Park and Storms River Mouth (weather permitting). The Tsitsikamma Park incorporates 80 km of rocky coastline with spectacular sea and landscapes, a remote mountainous region with secluded valleys covered in mountain Fynbos and temperate high forests with deep river gorges leading down to the sea. Overnight in the Tsitsikamma area. [B]

Day 6: Tsitsikamma – Port Elizabeth

Head eastwards along the Tsitsikamma Forest to Port Elizabeth, known as the “friendly city”, with a wonderful climate. Enjoy a city orientation tour of Port Elizabeth, after which the tour ends. Guests may disembark, on request, at Port Elizabeth Airport. [B]