Big 5 Days, 5 Star Nights (South Africa/Botswana/Zimbabwe)

Twelve nights from Cape Town to Victoria Falls, guided, with six riding days, an all-inclusive Okavango safari and a five-star hotel at every stop.

This is the premium tier and it costs roughly double the operator’s other tours. The trade is time: the riding is concentrated into the best six days rather than spread over three weeks, and the rest is flown.

Cape Town opens it, with the peninsula, Chapman’s Peak, Cape Point and the Boulders Beach penguins done by support truck rather than on a bike. Franschhoek follows in the winelands, with the bike checkout and a test ride, then Swellendam by way of Cape Agulhas. The Seweweekspoort comes next, a gorge through the Langeberg ridden twice from a remote canyon overnight with a Big Five viewpoint, then Oudtshoorn by the Bosluiskloof, with the Swartberg Pass gravel route optional, and George, where the riding ends. The Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls close the trip, with dinner aboard a historic train parked on the bridge between two countries.

The bike hire is included and every BMW and Honda model comes at no upgrade cost; the full inclusions are not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. Thirteen days for three countries, a delta safari and the Falls is efficient rather than leisurely, which is what the price buys. No wildlife sighting can be promised. The dry season from May to October is the window for the Delta. For anyone short of leave and unwilling to compromise on the hotels, this is the tour in the range that answers.