South Africa Luxury Holiday, Garden Route & Safari

Seventeen nights from Cape Town through the Winelands and along the Garden Route, tailor-made, with three nights on a private game reserve.

This is the luxury end of the operator’s South African range, and it is also the one arranged with accessibility in mind: a private driver and guide can be provided in place of self-driving, which opens the itinerary to travellers for whom a hire car is not an option.

Cape Town opens it at Bantry Bay, then the Cedarberg, a private wilderness reserve of weathered sandstone with San rock art in it and fynbos excursions on foot. Franschhoek and the Winelands follow, then Hermanus, where southern right whales come close enough to the shore between June and November to be watched from a clifftop path rather than a boat, with the Grootbos reserve nearby. Knysna and the Garden Route come next, with sea kayaking, walking and cycling available, then three nights at Kwandwe in the Eastern Cape for the game drives.

The itinerary is tailor-made and the inclusions are not itemised in detail on the operator’s page, with the price based on two sharing; flights are not included. The price shown is per person sharing. Eighteen days at this standard covers the Cape properly rather than ticking it off. No wildlife sighting can be promised, at Hermanus or at Kwandwe, though the whale season is predictable enough to plan dates around, which is more than can be said for most wildlife. The Cedarberg early in the route is the part people do not expect and often remember best: bare sandstone, old rock art and almost nobody else there.