Wine meets the bush
Hereafter you will find a short itinerary through South Africa along its South coast from Cape Town along the Garden Route until you reach the Addo Elephant Park in the western part of the Eastern Cape, which will combine city vibes with a bit of African bush feeling. This is a great route for everyone that is a bit short of leave days.
South Africa in 7 Days from Cape Town to Addo!
Apr 2022: Hello, Bonjour and Molo from a one week travel route through the Southern stretch of South Africa along the Garden Route. Here, you can find ideas for an individual itinerary and what you would like to discover along the South African coast line. Prepare for fine dining experiences, beautifully long beaches and big tuskers emerging from acacia trees.
Short summary:
- Length – 7 days / 6 nights
- Total km – ca. 830km
- Vehicle – A normal sedan will do
- Road conditions – tared, gravel in generally good conditions
- Accommodation – Hotel, Chalet
- Highlights – Serendipity fine dining, Jeffrey’s Bay beach
If you have about one week only of vacation and you would like to explore the Southern coast of South Africa you can combine exquisite food experiences with relaxing beach days as well as close encounters with incredible wildlife. Keep in mind to not drive during darkness as it bears many risks due to crossing wildlife, bad road conditions and other hazardous possibilities you might not be familiar with. Hence, plan always enough time to reach your next goal within the sunlight.
CPT Airport – Cape Town drive about 20km; 20min
Day 1: Most likely you will arrive in the late morning hours at the airport, allowing you to pick up your car and relax in Cape Town. If you fancy you can hike one of the marvelous routes that will spoil you with magnificent views of Mother City, the ocean and Table Mountain. Or you can indulge in one of the best food experiences and enjoy fine dining in town. that being said, you should book your table a good amount of time in advance as most of Cape Town’s fine dining places are fully booked months in advance. In any case, enjoy Cape Town before you will head eastwards to start your journey along the Garden Route.
Cape Town – Wilderness drive about 430km; 5hr
Day 2 – 3: You will follow the N2 tar road that passes by the Cape Town Airport, along some of the biggest townships of Cape Town and over the Sir Lowry’s pass. Don’t miss to stop at the Houw Hoek farmstall to buy yourself a delicious pie or some great organic food. The drive is quite pleasant and very easy due to top road conditions. Once you have arrived in Wilderness, the Mont Fleur B&B is a good base to explore the town, the beach and its hiking places nearby. There is also the possibility to rent a canoe from Eden Adventures to explore the river and paddle to the Touw River waterfall. The first part of about 3km you will be on the river in your canoe while the last 2,5km you will need to hike up to the fall. If you are not much of a canoeing person, there is also the possibility to hike to the waterfall, which as a roundtrip might roughly take about 3 hours. Otherwise, there is a small roundtrip for about 1 hour that leads to some elevated viewpoint overlooking the river. For all non-hikers, there is of course the great beach in Wilderness, where you can relax and watch the waves. One highlight to not miss out on is the fine dining experience in the Serendipity Restaurant, which will surely take you into the top levels of cuisine and might even beat your food experience in Mother City.
Wilderness – Jeffrey’s Bay drive about 240km; 2hr 30min
Day 4: You will further follow the N2, pass by Knysna shortly after Wilderness where you can stop for a breakfast, drive through the Tsitsikamma area where you enter into the Eastern Cape until you reach Jeffrey’s Bay. A little town that is right by the ocean side and a surfers paradise. But also for non-surfers, the never ending beach holds gorgeous views and a sunrise emerging from the sea. Just relax at the beach, listen to the ocean or go for a run along the sea side on the white sand. Supertubes Guesthouse is a great place to stay at as it has access to the beach and you will have a view on the ocean.
Jeffrey’s Bay – Addo Elephant National Park drive about 120km; 1hr 15min
Day 5 – 6: A short drive on good tar road will lead you to the Addo Elephant Park, which you can enter via the South Gate, Mathyolweni. Here, within the park the roads will be mostly gravel roads, hence you would want to deflate your tires a bit to not put too much strain on them. However, a 4WD is not necessarily needed to explore most of the park. There is some SAN Parks accommodation available in the park that you have to book via SAN Parks. Due to the park’s popularity you might face the situation that not all camps are available at all time, thus remember to place your booking early. The chalets in the fenced Addo Main camp are fine, nothing too special but they have a nice veranda and a braai place. Most of the wildlife will be probably found in the middle section of the park and you need to have extremely bad luck to not spot one of the big elephant herds. There are a lot of the gentle tuskers roaming freely within the park. As they are well acquainted with the cars, there is no need to fear them, just leave them enough space to continue their path and don’t drive in their way. Morning self-drives are quite rewarding, don’t miss out the waterholes close to Addo Main camp as you might spot the curious hyenas. At some of the waterholes or viewpoints you can step out of your car, but always be on alert as the Big 5 might be closer than you think or the hyenas more curious than you wish.
Addo Elephant National Park – Gqeberha drive about 50km; 30min
Day 7: Depending which Main camp you are staying in you can be within 30min to 2hr in Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth) where you can drop of your car and board your plane that will take you back home after a short but eventful adventure. Bybe bye, salut and sala kakuhle∞
If you have any questions, contact me or read my advices about South Africa on Instagram.