South Africa: The Garden Route

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The garden route is a 300km stretch of coast between Mossel Bay in the Western Cape and Storms River in the Eastern Cape.  It is a really popular road trip and we couldn’t recommend it highly enough. If you are in Cape Town and have a week or two to spare (the longer the better) then hire a car and take this journey of a lifetime.

Our version of the road-trip is a loop, beginning and ending in Cape Town and includes some extra stops between Cape Town and Mossel Bay and extends past Storms River all the way to Addo National Park.  We took the coastal route on the way and the inland route (Route 62) on the way back.  We did this over 8 days but we definitely felt rushed and if (no WHEN) we do it again, we would recommend at least 2 weeks to fully appreciate all that this wonderful part of South Africa has to offer

We live in Australia where the closest comparison would be the Great Ocean Road, which we have driven many times over the years and absolutely love.  Therefore when we planned our Garden Route trip, we were expecting a similar experience, but we were wrong! It may split opinion but we felt that the Garden Route was by far the most picturesque route we have ever driven, and I dare say that in terms of the overall experience and vistas, it has even more to offer than the Great Ocean Rd; please feel free to discuss and give us your view!  This doesn’t take away from our love of the GOR, but on the Garden Route the beautiful ocean views and beaches are complimented by incredible mountainous backdrops, which add such a jaw dropping element, that the keen photographers among you will struggle to make progress each day as there is a cracking shot to be taken around every corner.  In addition to the beautiful scenery, there are many interesting and varied stops that you can make and a plethora of activities to keep you busy, not to mention the great food to be had.  The inland route is equally spectacular and should be included if you are completing the loop.

8 Days – Cape Town to Cape Town via the Garden Route, Addo National Park and Route 62:

Car hire

  • We used Avis in Cape Town on Waterkant Street, it was around $230 AUD for 8 days, so worked out at around $30AUD per day; we had a Toyota Corolla which was perfect for the roads we traveled, even with a few kms on gravel roads at 80km/h! Size-wise we fitted our 2 large (65 & 70l) backpacks, day packs and other bags of foods and wine we collected on the way in the boot without any problems. Rather than pay the $20 per day for a GPS or portable Wi-Fi, we just downloaded offline Google maps of where we were going and used those for directions (you even get the voice to direct you).
  • Planning your trip
    • There is so much to see on the garden route, both on the ocean side and Route 62 so research the options and activities that are most suitable for you and try to plan your rest stops and overnight accommodation accordingly (good luck!).
    • Don’t try to cover too much ground each day as you won’t have time to enjoy the great activities along the way. There are also a lot of photograph opportunities so you will be slower than you think.
    • Try to get to your final destination before sunset each day so that you can get your bearings and shop for food before the supermarket closes (if you are cooking for yourself) or work out what the local options are. Not everywhere stays open late.  As a general rule of thumb we wouldn’t recommend covering more than 200kms per day.
  • Where to stay
    • We used Air BnB and Booking.com and made a conscious choice to stay in bed and breakfast or self catering accommodation to keep our costs down. We were extremely lucky to stay in some beautiful places, and will share more details below.

 

Our itinerary

Day One:              Cape Town to Somerset West – 140km

Where:

Eats:

Mariners Wharf

Lunch: Fish and chips at Mariners Wharf, Hout Bay Harbour – try the Snoek ( it is a local delicacy, a bit like mackerel!).

Dinner: Henri’s Restaurant and Wine Bar, Somerset West. The Ostrich steak is fantastic.

Stay:                     AirBnB @ Somerset West. We stayed in a really lovely self catering cottage, hosted by Estelle.

Comments:         We had a few things left over from our Cape Town wish-list which were easily covered on our way out so day one isn’t technically part of the Garden Route. We decided to cover off these outer Cape Town sights and then stay the night on the outskirts of the City so we could hit the road running the following day.

The botanical gardens are definitely worth spending an hour or two in. We particularly enjoyed the sculptures and the treetop walkway. We then headed to the nearby Constantia wine region, which is really picturesque and a great place to taste wine, especially if you don’t have time to visit the Stellenbosch or Franschhoek wineries.  Groot Constantia (translation: Large Constantia) is a huge winery with a very well run tasting room.  You pay a small fee for a private tasting and you get to keep your tasting glasses.  You can also pair your wine with chocolates, which we did and it was delicious.

After stocking up on wine we moved onto Hout Bay, which is a beautiful spot with a vintage nautical feel. Fish and chips at the big pub on Mariner’s Wharf overlooking the bay is a great lunch option. From there we decided to drive up Chapmans Peak Drive, to take advantage of the breathtaking views, which are well worth the small toll that you have to pay to drive on this road. We stopped briefly at Boulders Beach to see the penguins but opted not to pay the fee to enter the reserve, in the interest of time – as we were planning to visit the penguins at Betty’s Bay later in the trip. You can see quite a few penguins from the car park at Boulders Beach, so even if you’re not planning to stop it is worth stretching your legs to check out these cuties.

We had planned to visit the Cape Point National Park but time was not on our side. By the time we reached there, the sun was low in the sky and we needed to keep moving to reach our accommodation before dark.  We’ve heard great things, so try to make more time than we did.  In any case we drove right around the peninsula and the views were worth the detour.

Once in Somerset West we settled into our apartment and then visited Henri’s Restaurant for dinner. The food and service was great, my ostrich steak was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. That said, we were sadly made to feel uncomfortable by a set of circumstances.  Although this isn’t a reflection on the restaurant, we did experience a few situations whilst in South Africa which really show that there is still a way to go in terms of healing the wounds of the past and creating an integrated and tolerant society.  Somerset West was one of the places we stayed, where there seemed to be a high level of fear (or perhaps paranoia) with regards to security. Most houses had barbed or razor wire, sophisticated alarm systems, high walls etc.  The restaurant was an example of this with no entrance on the main street. You have to go in the back way through a car park, to a locked door with a speakerphone and video camera where you are given the once over and then given access.  The clientele was without exception middle aged, white, middle class and we were unfortunate enough to sit next to a group of people who spent the entire evening having the most offensive, disgusting, racist conversation that we have ever heard in a public place – culminating in them pining for the “old days” of apartheid when things were much better…and I won’t say any more as I wouldn’t want to repeat it.  It really ruined the meal and experience for us, needless to say we were disgusted.  This is not in any way typical of South Africa and I must add that the majority of people we met were welcoming, sweet and extremely friendly but it was unfortunately not the only time we experienced it.  Let’s hope that time will weed out such views and attitudes and that this special and stunningly beautiful country can truly heal, the way its wonderful and varied people deserve to.

Day Two:              Somerset West to L’Agulhas – 230 km

Where:

Eats:

Lunch:  The Tides Restaurant in Betty’s Bay (have the seafood platter! one is enough for 2 people, although we gorged on a platter each),

Stay:   Tide’s Song –  L’Agulhas.

Comments: Let’s start by saying that this was one of the days where we felt rushed and wished we’d packed less in.  We made the decision to stay the night in L’Agulhas, which is the southernmost tip of Africa, however this requires a significant detour and driving on unsealed roads.  That said, we did really enjoy our brief stop in L’Agulhas and have no regrets in taking the detour but it did leave us very short for time, so we wish we’d done this over a couple of days.

Back to the beginning of the day – we set off from Somerset West and stopped for a coffee and a walk around in Gordon’s Bay, which has a really lovely harbour, worth getting out of the car and stretching your legs for, if you can’t afford a longer stop.  We were even greeted by a very friendly seal. frolicking in the water below us.  From there we hit the road toward Pringle Bay and this is where the stunning views really kicked in, causing us to slow down for pictures a LOT.  We reached Betty’s Bay by lunchtime and paid the small fee to walk along the wooden boardwalk through the reserve and see hundreds of cute little penguins who live in the colony there.  Again this took a while by the time we had taken a thousand photos and watched the cute little critters playing, sleeping and doing their thing.   We had a fantastic seafood platter at The Tides Restaurant – highly recommended – and then hit the road again,.

We made a very brief stop in Hermanus where we met a local who was keen to show us his war wounds: scars from being shot a few times in Jo’burg apparently, although I’m not entirely sure – he was a real character.  If you are here at the right time of year, Hermanus is the place to go for whale watching. Unfortunately we were out of season so we continued onto Gansbaii, which is the shark diving capital of South Africa.  If this is your thing then this is the place to do it.  I had a few niggling doubts re: the ethics of bating sharks using chum so we decided to give it a miss but I have friends who have really enjoyed the experience, so will leave that one up to you.

From here we started to panic when we realised how far we still had to go and even more so when we realised that much of the road was unsealed.  So we made a quick stop at a supermarket to buy supplies for dinner (knowing that they close early) and then powered on to L’Agulhas, where arrived just before an absolutely stunning sunset.  Our accommodation was quaint and perfect – right by the water on this rugged coastline.

Day Three:          L’Agulhas to Knysna – 378 km

Where:

Eats:

Breakfast: @ Die Skeerhok Padstal, If you spot this place along the road, make sure you stop – at any time of day. It is filled with amazing South African treats to eat there and to take away, Their bacon is unbelievable; take one of their meat pies for the road, you will not be disappointed! We saw a group of portly gentlemen tucking into a platter of various types of Biltong for their breakfast.  If you don’t eat meat – don’t worry there are plenty of yummy bakery items for you too.

Stay:     2nights  @ Thesen Island Edgewater Loft in Knysna.

Comments:  If “day 2” was rushed then “day 3” was even worse.  We really didn’t do some of these awesome locations justice by not stopping over a night.  If we were to do it all again, we’d definitely spend a night in Wilderness and Sedgefield to make the most of the amazing activities on offer there.  As it was, we had to squeeze it into a day but we still had the most amazing time and the scenery was off the scale beautiful – this is where the real “Garden Route” begins.

We made a quick stop for photos at the monument that marks the most southerly point in Africa and then hit the road. By the time we reached Mossel Bay from L’Agulhas (with a fair few stops for photos) it was lunchtime so we found a bench overlooking the ocean and tucked into the pies we had bought earlier at the Padstal (more detail above).  If you have time, you should go into the old town here ,which is like a step back in time. See if you can find the Post Office Tree.  The story goes that in 1501 a Portuguese Sailor sought refuge in Mossel Bay during a storm and he left a written account, with an address, in an old boot. The report was found by the person it was addressed to and the tree then served as a post office – you can still post letters in it today.

From here we wound around increasingly beautiful scenery to the coastal town of Wilderness, which has a famous viewpoint where the flow of the river has formed a piece of land that looks like a map of Africa.  It is a fantastic place for hiking and for photos, we just wish we had stayed longer to properly explore. It has spectacular views of the mountains, forest and river.  Close to here is the Kaaimans River Bridge which is a curved bridge, passing over water, which used to be a railroad – it is a very worthy photo stop.

20 minutes from WIlderness is the village of Sedgefield, another noteworthy stop on the route, which deserves a night if you have time. It is surrounded by lakes, sand dunes, an estuary and the ocean.  It has a beautiful lagoon where you can spend the day fishing, canoeing, swimming bird watching or hiking.

Next stop was our overnight destination of Knysna, which is famous for it’s lagoon which is protected by two imposing sea cliffs, called the Knysna Heads as well as for its delicious and plentiful oysters.  We opted to stay in an apartment on a private island called Thesen Island.  It was a slightly surreal place, only accessible by residents and reminiscent of Martha’s Vineyard in New England and a little bit like Noosa in Queensland Australia.  That said, it was a nice place to stay and we enjoyed walking around and watching the sunset over the canals in the evening.  We based ourselves here for 2 nights.

Day four:             Day trip to Plettenberg Bay and Storms River

Where:

Eats:                      Dinner at Anchorage in Knysna

Stay:                      Thesen Island Edgewater Loft in Knysna.

Comments:   We decided to stay another night in Knysna and day-trip to the next few destinations.  In the morning we headed over to Plettenberg Bay, stopping at Bloukrans Bridge for photos of the world’s highest bungee jump. Try as they might to persuade us to jump, there was NO WAY either of us were going to do it, with our fear of heights…and death in general. If you’re an adrenaline junkie, then this is a bucket list item for sure and regardless it is pretty cool to watch people jump from the viewing platform, which is free to access.

There are a number of wildlife sanctuaries and activities in this area and we had been recommended Birds of Eden, so we decided to buy a double ticket and combine it with a visit to Monkey Land which is run by the same organisation. Although these are animal “attractions”, they do feel like sanctuaries rather than zoos and we were assured that they are focused on conservation efforts.  There are no cages or enclosures and the birds and monkeys roam freely within the confines of the two sanctuaries.  In Monkey Land you have to walk around with a guide but you are free to roam at Birds of Eden.  We did have a bit of an “incident” whereby one of us (no names) dropped the keys for our hire car inside Monkey Land without noticing until it was time to leave and we couldn’t get into our car.  “We” may have had a small freak-out at the prospect of a monkey having seen a shiny object and whisked it up a tree, never to be seen again, but luckily someone had found and handed the keys in. Phew!

This filled our morning and in the afternoon we drove into the Tsitsikamma National Park (small park entrance fee payable + road toll) toward the Storms River Mouth, to take part in a kayak and lilo experience that we had booked through Untouched Adventures.  Our experience was excellent: starting with sea kayaking across the bay (very choppy when we did it), a gentle paddle through the storms river canyon including a cave; after which we switched to lilo’s (inflatable mattresses) for the final part. Yes the water is cold and yes we fell in … a lot…but it was great fun. Make sure you take part in the optional cliff jump into the water from the rocks, it’s safe enough but if you’re like me and don’t like falling it may be a challenge to make yourself jump.

Once back in Knysna we went for a wonderful seafood dinner and got to try the huge, plump and delicious oysters that this town is famous for (YUM!).

 

Day five:              Knysna to Addo – 300km.

Where:

Eats:

Breakfast: Le Fournil En Route,

Dinner: Cattle Baron Grill at Addo Main Camp.

Stay:   Addo Main Camp.

Comments:  We had a long way to go and wanted to make the most of our time at Addo so apart from a few photo stops, we powered through to Addo after a hearty breakfast.  This was our first African safari experience so we were super excited and had no idea what to expect.  We booked ourselves into one of the cottages within the main  camp, which was basic but really good value for money. We reserved a spot on the night time guided game drive (6-8pm) and were told that we could do a self-drive safari on the marked routes in the park until then, so we hit the road as soon as we got there. If you have a car and are staying at the main camp then you should definitely do this, we saw the majority of the animals ( with the exception of lions, porcupines and hyenas which we saw on the guided game drives) driving ourselves around the first afternoon we got there.

The excitement of spotting your first few animals cannot be described and we got some amazing photos.  It wasn’t the most picturesque of all the safaris we did but it packed a punch in terms of variety of what we saw and the self drive option is really fun and not an option in many other places,

Animal Sightings:

  • Lions
  • Giraffes
  • Elephants
  • Zebras
  • Spotted Hyenas
  • Warthogs
  • Kudus
  • Eland
  • Red Hartebeest
  • Meercat
  • Yellow Mongoose
  • Black Backed Jackals
  • Dung Beetles
  • Ostriches
  • Scrub Hares
  • Spring Hares
  • Porcupines
  • Goshawk (phew!)

 

 

Day Six:                Addo to Port Elizabeth – 90km.

Where:                  Self Drive Safari Southbound through the Colchester Exit of Addo National Park

Eats:

Not, the Cattle Baron Grill

Breakfast: Cattle Baron Grill at Addo Main Camp

Dinner: Brae at Ebubelini Guest House – YUM!

Stay:  Ebubelini Guest House – Port Elizabeth.

Comments:  We were booked into the sunrise guided game drive, which wasn’t as fruitful as the night time one had been but we did see some more lions, so it was worthwhile.  We then headed toward Port Elizabeth via a self drive safari taking in the southern part of the park. It is worth driving out through the South of the park; we did it in around 3 hours but you can take longer if you have the time. Your access to the park will run for 24 hours from when you bought the permit.  We saw lots of animals in this part of the park and felt we had truly made the most of our time there.

From Addo we headed toward Port Elizabeth to visit friends, who own a guest house.  They treated us to some incredible South African hospitality, including a never ending Brae where we ate our own body’s weight in delicious meaty goodness.

Day Seven:           Port Elizabeth to Oudtshoorn – 340km.

Where:                 Route 62

 

 

Eats:

Brunch: Servo pie (see picture) from Jeffreys Bay

Dinner:  Nostalgie in Oudtshoorn – one of my favourite SA restaurants. The food was traditional South African fare with huge portions, great service, incredible value for money and a really nice atmosphere. Don’t miss it!

Stay:  88 Baron Van Reede Guesthouse.

Comments:   After a brief stop for some highly recommended Biltong, we hit the long, long road to Oudtshoorn, via the incredibly scenic Route 62.  If you are completing your Garden Route trip as a loop, you MUST drive this inland road on your return, it is just as spectacular as the coastal road and has many interesting stops and activities – many which we unfortunately didn’t leave ourselves time for.  You will see many craft shops, art galleries, quaint village shops and eateries and the rural mountain landscapes are to die for.

We only really had time to make a few photo stops before reaching our accommodation in Oudtshoorn.  The Baron Van Reede Guesthouse is a gorgeous property run by two of the nicest people we met in our whole time in South Africa. They are what the hospitality industry should be about.  We could have sat and chatted to them for days – in fact we are so very sorry that we didn’t spend a few days in the area, as it has so much to offer. Oh and breakfast was 5 star!  We will be back and next time it will be a much longer stop.  If you stay here, make sure you check out the 88 reasons to visit Oudtshoorn factsheet which is filled with ideas for how to spend your days, from Ostrich Farm tours to port tasting, to the incredible Cango Caves and more.

Day Eight:            Oudtshoorn to Cape Town – 420km.

Where:

  • Calitzdorp
  • Ladismith
  • Barrysdale – Ronnie’s Sex Shop
  • Montagu – Port Port Port

Eats:

Lunch: at Diesel and Crème in Barrysdale – ok so it wasn’t lunch per se; more of a giant thickshake with chocolate brownies in it, bring on the sugar rush!

Stay:  Innscape on Castle, Cape Town.

Comments:  The last day was a continuation of Route 62, back to Cape Town. This is just a fantastic drive with lots of small cute towns with arts, crafts, and cafes and more amazing scenery.  Please, please give this route more time than we did.  It deserves it.  Calitzdorp has some great wineries (try the whisky at Boplaas winery), Ladismith, and Barrysdale have lots of worthwhile stops. If you can, then make the effort to stop at Ronnies Sex Shop….we will let you experience it for yourself without an explanation – its not what you think.  Also the milkshakes at Diesel and Creme are worth stopping for and the food looked great too although we couldn’t eat after our shakes.

We had a deadline to return our hire car and jump on an overland tour the following day but otherwise, you could also drive back via the winelands for more wine tasting, if you had time.

And that’s it – a whirlwind version of the awesomely beautiful Garden Route!

 

 

 

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