South Africa Itinerary: The most beautiful destinations for 2 to 3 weeks

Tips for South Africa round trips and route suggestions for 1, 2, 3 weeks (and longer).

South Africa is simply huge. Are you planning your first trip to South Africa and don't know where to go? I have already been to Africa's southernmost country 7 times and have therefore listed my most beautiful South African routes.

You can also combine them - either as part of a road trip or with domestic flights, which are quite cheap depending on the destination.

→ Tip: Check out my 21 most beautiful places and South Africa sights!

Have fun in beautiful South Africa!

BOOK WITH TRAVEL SPECIALISTS????
We often receive emails with questions about itineraries and the fear of planning everything on our own. That's why there are travel specialists like DIAMIR. This agency will tailor-make your trip (either individually or as a group trip) so that you have the best experience on the trip. We have also travelled with DIAMIR and can recommend this sustainable provider to you. → Directly to DIAMIR

Garden Route

The Garden Route is one of the most beautiful and popular routes for all South Africa holidaymakers. I like the Garden Route because it is the ideal route for "South Africa beginners" and people who are here for the first time.

The infrastructure is great, distances are never too far and there are enough highlights for 2 weeks.

→ Do you only have 2 weeks? Then take a road trip along the Garden Route!

I particularly like De Hoop National Park, Robberg Nature Reserve, Plettenberg Bay and Tsitsikamma.

Swellendam is idyllic and perfect to relax for a day without having many highlights on site and Hermanus has the wonderful Cliff Path. When the weather is nice, one postcard motif follows the other. Or stay overnight at the Rest Camp in the Tsitsikamma. It couldn't be more beautiful. A dream!

No route is as famous as the section between Slang River near Heidelberg eastwards to the Tsitsikamma Forest and Storms River.

Here you can find all tips, travel reports and places at a glance:

Garden Route: travelogue, highlights, route and tips.

Cape of Good Hope - Day Trip with all Highlights

All highlights of the Western Cape at a glance

Tsitsikamma National Park

Addo Elephant Park

Huge sand dunes ending in the sea at Woody Cape in Colchester near the Addo Elephant Park. Cliff Path in Hermanus on the Garden Route. Panorama Route with Blyde River Canyon

The picturesque landscapes of the Panorama Route are just under a 4-hour drive from Johannesburg from Johannesburg. The route is ideally situated on the way to Kruger National Park.

It takes you up a series of mountain passes to a vantage point with great views of the Lowveld. The Blyde River Canyon, Bourke's Luck Potholes and wonderful mountain passes are not to be missed.

I have already been on the Panorama Route twice and can highly recommend it! Ideal before travelling on to the Kruger National Park or one of the adjacent private reserves for safari.

Suggested route with tips can be found here in the detailed report:

→ Panorama Route and Blyde River Canyon in South Africa
→ Eco Training" taster course for rangers (you can hardly get closer to animals)

View at World's End of the Blyde River Canyon with dam and the Three Rondavels. The view from World's End Lookout down into the Blyde River Canyon and the dam is really beautiful. Lisbon Falls on the Panorama Route. Bourke's Luck Potholes Cape Town and the Western Cape

The most popular destination for tourists is Cape Town with the Cape Peninsula and the Western Cape. Also for me Cape Town one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The city on the Cape attracts millions of people year after year. There are numerous sights and excursion destinations in the surrounding area, such as the West Coast National Parkthe city of whales Hermanus, the Cape of Good Hope and the Winelands around Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl make the offer seem endless.

Completely underestimated is a trip to the West Coast National Park, which lies 120 km north of Cape Town. Very popular with locals and a real insider tip for tourists from abroad. Here you will find beautiful beaches (lagoon at Langbaai) and sand dunes in the National Park, which invite you for a morning hike.

See tips for the West Coast in South Africa

Cape Town sights and highlights

21 Cape Town Tips: What you need to know before your Cape Town holidayknow

Highlights of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Peninsula

Excursions in and around Cape Town

filming locations for "The Horniest Day" atseen

Cape Town, one of the most beautiful metropolises in the world. Unique with a view of Table Mountain. The colourful beach houses of Muizenberg. Flamingos can be found in the Langebaan Lagoon and at Kraalbaai. Here in Kraalbaai we relax with a picnic in the lagoon! From Johannesburg to the Kruger National Park

Even though many claim that the most beautiful Johannesburg is to drive straight on, I advise you to give the city a chance. I've already been here three times! So it can't be that bad.

Not only do you find the Apartheid Museum here, but also an interesting township bike tour through Soweto. I even stayed in a backpacker hostel in Soweto. It was a wonderful experience with lovely people. I did not feel unsafe. Our brand new rental car was parked here just as safely.

See tips & sights for Johannesburg

Almost everyone then drives along the Panorama Route into the Kruger National Park or the adjoining private reserves. It is worth combining these places. An ideal round trip offers something from all facets.

All travel reports and tips on the Kruger National Park

Ranger Training in South Africa: Tips Experiences with EcoTraining

Tips & Sights in Johannesburg

Safari Packing List - what to bring

During the game drive in the TImbavati Game Reserve, curious young bulls joyfully approach us. Game drive with ranger and elevated sitting. Perfect for animal sightings Discovering the Northern Cape from Cape Town

One of the less visited regions of South Africa by European tourists is the Northern Cape. Why is that? I don't know. Probably because most people don't know that there are places worth seeing and great national parks here too.

After acclimatising and exploring Cape Town you drive to Sutherland in the Karoo semi-desert. This is where SALT is located: the South African Large Telescope! They are particularly proud of it and the Sutherland Astronomical Observatory is definitely worth a visit.

Since this is a Dark Sky Reserve - a place with very little air pollution and more than 80% cloud-free night skies, you can't imagine a better place for star gazing. It's gigantic!

Tips for the Northern Cape road trip

No place in South Africa is more remote and ideal for stargazing than Sutherland!

Continue into the desert of the Kagga Kamma Private Nature Reserve (Cederberg Mountains) . Here you can explore extraordinary rock formations on hikes, mountain bikes or quad tours. The starry sky is also excellent here!

Photographing the night sky. We can't get enough of it.

The highlight for many is Namaqualand and its wildflower blooms. The flowers really shine from a long distance away. Even though conditions were not ideal on our visit (we estimate we only saw 30% of the intensity) this place was very impressive!

Wildflowers in Namaqualand bright yellow and orange

But it's not just for the flower blooms that you should come here. The hidden quiver tree forest (ask the locals) is also far more impressive than in Sossusvlei (Namibia) - or so they say. The community of the inhabitants is remarkable. Everyone seems to know everyone else, even if you live over 1 hour away from each other. Great!

Quiver trees in the Northern Cape. Supposedly more beautiful than the ones in Sossusvlei - but we haven't been there yet.

In Augrabies Falls National Park we go kayaking and rafting on the Orange River. In addition, there is the Augrabies Waterfall in the national park, which is very impressive during the rainy season. We were only able to see the main fall (August). The game drives are also rather less productive. But the landscape here is also very impressive! The Rest Camp of SanParks is surprisingly modern, we are thrilled!

At the end, of course, we go to the wild animals: !Xaus Lodge is situated in the Kgaligadi Transfrontier National Park (Kalahari), only accessible by a 4x4 drive over 91 red sand dunes, right on the border to Botswana and Namibia. There is hardly a guest here who does not report sightings of wild cats - except for us. We are extremely unlucky here. A reason to come here again.

The !Xaus Lodge can be reached via 93 sand dunes and is situated above a dry salt lake.

Before the return flight we have a brandy and wine tasting at the Bezalel Wine & Brandy Estate near Upington, before returning to Germany via Johannesburg.

Travel time: 10 - 14 days is ideal.

Tips for your road trip in the Northern Cape

Wildflower blossom in the Northern Cape near Springbok (Namaqualand).

HOTEL WANTED

For the search for a good hotel we recommend the platform booking.com. We always book our accommodation on this platform or directly with American Express, as we get additional discounts with the American Express Platinum credit card (see details here, only worthwhile for frequent travellers).

Map with all travel routes for South Africa

In this map I have entered all my previous trips to South Africa. Some of the routes overlap:

What is your favourite route in South Africa?

Leave me a comment, I am very curious!