Cape Town and the Garden Route

Wamkelekile eKapa! Welcome to Cape Town! The Mother City is South Africa's oldest city and one of three official capital cities. After meeting your tour leader at the hotel, join them and the tour group on a Cape Town City Tour! The city is a bustling metropolis with an array of sights and attractions. This exciting driving tour will reveal beautiful and important sights such as Signal Hill, District 6 and the Castle of Good Hope. Set foot in the Company's Gardens (the oldest garden in SA!) and the colourful Cape Malay Bo-Kaap region before heading back to the hotel. This evening, enjoy an included welcome dinner!

Cape Town is yours to explore today! Choose from a variety of optional activities - Cape Town has something for every kind of interest. A popular option is to join a day trip to Cape Point and the Cape Peninsula. Here, visit the Cape Point Nature Reserve, the Cape Point Lighthouse, the most south-western point of Africa, and see beautiful landscapes filled with Cape Fynbos. Also make stops at Kalk Bay and Boulders Beach Penguin Colony. More activities include visiting the District 6 Museum, the Two Oceans Aquarium, the stunning Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and the Constantia Wine Valley - which is a short 20 minute drive from Cape Town and home to a number of award-winning wine estates!

Today it’s off to the Cape Winelands! South Africa has 100,000+ hectares of vineyards and the wine industry is the world’s oldest outside of Europe. Top wine varieties include Chardonnay, Shiraz, and Pinotage, which is unique to SA. After breakfast, drive to Stellenbosch, a beautiful university town that is full of charm and history! Here, enjoy a special wine tasting. A wine specialist leads a tasting of local wines and tells us about South African varietals. Then, enjoy a tasty lunch in the vineyards. After lunch, explore the Cape Dutch architecture, boutiques and art galleries. Before leaving, enjoy one more wine tasting. Finally, visit the coastal town of Hermanus before heading to the hotel for the night.

This morning, enjoy free time before heading for the Garden Route! Join an optional shark cage diving experience to see great white sharks up close! En route to Swellendam, enjoy a lunch stop in Riviersonderend. In Swellendam, explore the town’s incredible architecture. Outside Albertinia, visit a Cape Aloe Vera factory. Try aloe tea and body products made from this medicinal plant and learn about its many uses. Next stop, Mossel Bay, a popular coastal village. On the way to the hotel, stop at Pinnacle Caves. Fossils of 170 000+ years have been found at this ancient site. Enjoy an included dinner at the hotel tonight.

A South African wildlife experience awaits at Botlierskop Private Game Reserve. Here, enjoy the chance to see wildebeest, rhinos, giraffes, elephants and lions on a real-life safari with the group! Spend lunch time in Knysna, the heart of the Garden Route. Get dropped off at the harbour where you can explore or eat at a local restaurant. The local seafood, especially the famous Knysna oysters, are highly recommended! After lunch, enjoy some more animal encounters! Choose between two optional excursions: roam free with the monkeys at Monkeyland, or visit Birds of Eden, the world's largest free flight aviary and bird sanctuary.

Get adventurous and spend time outdoors in the Garden Route National Park! The Tsitsikamma forest is filled with rivers, gorges and mountains. There are lots of exhilarating things to do in this beautiful place. Take a zipline tour through the trees or bungee jump off the Bloukrans Bridge - the highest commercial bungee jump in the world! Or, stay on the ground to learn more about the region's fauna and flora. Drive to the Storms River Mouth in Tsitsikamma National Park where you can hike through the forest, take a seaside stroll and cross the breathtaking suspension bridge. Enjoy free time this evening to relax, or grab a beer from the local microbrewery or pub in Storm’s River.

A whole new landscape unfolds as the tour heads into a semi-desert area today. The Karoo is a unique place known as the 'land of the thirst'. The scenic Route 62 takes the coach through Langkloof. Here, have a look at the many fruit and vegetable farms along the road and among the foothills of the epic Kouga and Tsitsikamma mountains. In Oudtshoorn, visit a working ostrich farm to take a tour and learn more about the world’s biggest birds. Next, it’s time to take a heritage tour of the magnificent Cango Caves. These dripstone caverns are over 20 million years old! This evening brings a delicious Karoo dinner at the lodge.

After breakfast, travel down Route 62 and take in the scenery along the way. After a quick comfort stop at a quirky road stall along the way, enjoy an included lunch in the Robertson area, known as the valley of wine and roses! Then, head to Paarl for another culinary adventure of cheese and wine tasting at a local vineyard. After a full day in the spectacular winelands, head back to Cape Town and settle into the hotel for the evening.

This is the last day of this wonderful tour of Cape Town and the Garden Route. Enjoy one last breakfast with your new tour buddies at the hotel. Be sure to swap contact details so that you can stay in touch once you are back at home. Don’t forget to share your amazing tour memories with us using the hashtag #ExpatExplore!