Cape Town fills a week. Then the country starts.
Which peninsula day actually stops at the penguins. What an open vehicle in the Kruger costs before sunrise. Whether the Winelands beat a second morning on the mountain. Reviews of every tour you can book in South Africa.
The peninsula, the mountain, a vineyard, and one morning in an open vehicle.
The five bookings a first South African trip is built around. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The peninsula dayCape Point & Boulders Beach Full-Day TourChapman’s Peak, the Cape of Good Hope and the Boulders colony on one loop. Take the version with a pickup and skip the car hire.
02The mountainTable Mountain Cable Car, Hop-On Hop-Off Bus TourCable car up Table Mountain, sightseeing bus for the rest of the day. Go on the first clear morning you are offered.
03The Winelands dayWine Tour: Paarl, Franschhoek & Stellenbosch incl 3 wineriesThree estates across Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, with the driving done for you.
04The first game driveBig Five Game Reserve with LunchA Big Five reserve within reach of the city, lunch included. The one that works when the Kruger will not fit.
05The long viewTandem Paragliding AdventureOff Signal Hill with an instructor strapped in behind you, landing on the sand at Camps Bay.
Kruger, Pilanesberg, or a reserve you can reach from Cape Town.
A South African safari is not one decision. Where you fly to settles which park is reachable, and that settles the price. Four kinds of game day, what each one starts at, and where it leaves from.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · Big Five Game Reserve with Lunch
KrugerOpen vehicle in the big park. Fly to Nelspruit, or come in over the Panorama Route.
PilanesbergBig Five, malaria free, close enough to do from Johannesburg between breakfast and dinner.
From Cape TownA private reserve under two hours from the city, with lunch on the stoep.
AddoElephants by the hundred on the Eastern Cape, off the far end of the Garden Route.
All 317 game drives →
Cape Town first. Then pick a park, a coastline or a city.
A mountain that makes its own cloud, a peninsula that runs out between two oceans, vineyards an hour inland, elephants up north, whales along the southern shore, and a city that tells the hard half of the story. Six starting points, and the best day out in each.
Whales off Hermanus, seals off Plett, and the harbour at dusk.
Two oceans meet at the bottom of this country and both of them are bookable. Southern rights calve in Walker Bay from June, the seal colonies swim all year, and the harbour cruises leave on the hour all afternoon.
Two oceans, a lighthouse, and a penguin colony on the way back.
All peninsula days →
The loop runs down the Atlantic side through Hout Bay and over Chapman’s Peak, out to the Cape of Good Hope, then back up the False Bay coast to Boulders. Driving it yourself costs a day and the gate queue. Most people book the seat.
Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope
The working lighthouse sits at the top of a short funicular ride. The older one further down was in cloud too often to be any use. Baboons run the car park, so keep the windows shut and nothing edible in your hands.
Table Mountain by cable car
The car turns a full circle on the way up so everyone gets the view without moving. It runs on wind rather than on timetables, which is why the first clear morning beats the day you had planned.
Boulders Beach and the penguins
African penguins nest in the dune scrub and swim off the granite, with a boardwalk held back from the burrows. Early is quiet. By midday the coaches have stacked up through Simon’s Town.
Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, with somebody else driving.
Three valleys of whitewashed Cape Dutch estates, close enough together to do two in an afternoon. The tram in Franschhoek hops between them on a fixed loop. Everywhere else, book the seat and let the tasting run long.
All Winelands days →
Soweto, the Apartheid Museum, and the caves the fossils came out of.
Johannesburg is where the country explains itself. A guided day through Soweto and the museum is the reason most people stop, and the Cradle of Humankind is an hour west of the same airport.
- 1Pilanesberg Nature Reserve Game Safarifrom $186
- 2Johannesburg Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour with Soweto Optionfrom $16
- 3Full Day Ultimate Pilanesberg National Park Safari from Johannesburg or Pretoriafrom $159
Under $50, under $150, and the ones worth saving for.
Per person, and what each tour starts at. Harbour hours and township walks sit at the bottom. Private reserves and lodge overnights sit at the top.
Harbour cruises, township walks, the sightseeing bus, and most of the penguin runs.
Full peninsula days, Winelands tours with tastings, and the whale boats out of Hermanus.
Private reserves, helicopter time over the bay, and the overnight safaris.
- 1Big Five Game Reserve with Lunchfrom $236
- 2Pilanesberg Nature Reserve Game Safarifrom $186
- 32-Day Safari at Garden Route Game Lodgefrom $533
The South African days out that fill up first.
Every review →The mountain, the peninsula and the vineyards take most of the top ten. Prices are per person, and what each one starts at.
1
Wine Tour: Paarl, Franschhoek & Stellenbosch incl 3 wineries
Spend eight hours touring Cape Town’s three major wine regions by air-conditioned coach. Taste 15 wines at three estates, pair wine with cheese and sweets, walk historic Stellenbosch, stop at Drakenstein Prison, and enjoy live commentary from guides such as Louie, Brahm, Horea and Charles.
From · $43
Read our review →
2
Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour with Optional Cruise
from $23
3
Cape of Good Hope & Penguins Day Tour with Pickup
from $52
4
Zipline Cape Town – From Foot of Table Mountain Reserve
from $49
5
Table Mountain Cable Car, Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour
from $45
6
Cape Point and Boulder’s Penguins Full Day Tour
from $34
7
Cape Point & Boulders Beach Full-Day Tour
from $40
8
Big Five Game Reserve with Lunch
from $236
Three South African days that exist nowhere else.
The island in Table Bay, the whale coast in winter, and the climb everyone does before breakfast.
Robben Island
The ferry leaves the V&A Waterfront and takes about half an hour. On the island a bus covers the quarry and the lime pits, and a former prisoner walks the cell block. The tour is fixed in length and runs to the boat, so there is no lingering at the end of it.
- 1Robben Island Ferry Ticket and Guided Prison Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 1,792 reviews
- 2Robben Island Ferry Tour with 1-Way Hotel Pickup★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 1,380 reviews
- 3Robben Island Ferry Ticket and Townships Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 400 reviews
The southern right whales
From roughly June to November southern rights come into Walker Bay to calve, close enough that Hermanus watches them from the cliff path for nothing. The boats go out from the harbour and from Gansbaai, and the permit rules keep them a set distance off.
- 1Boat Based Whale Watching Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 1,180 reviews
- 2Whale and Dolphin Watching Boat Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 807 reviews
- 3Whale, Dolphin & Penguin Island Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 687 reviews
Lion’s Head at sunrise
A spiral path climbs the cone beside Table Mountain, with chains and staples on the last section. Guided groups leave in the dark to be on top for first light, and the walk down lands in Camps Bay in time for breakfast.
- 1Lion’s Head Sunrise or Sunset Hike★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,084 reviews
- 2Table Mountain Hike with an Expert Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 666 reviews
- 3Hike Table Mountain or Lions Head in Cape Town Like a Local★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 266 reviews
Four South African bookings that will not wait for you.
The cable car answers to the wind, the island ferry answers to the swell, and the whales answer to the calendar. These four shape a week here more than the flights do.
- 01Zipline Cape Town – From Foot of Table Mountain ReserveThe cableway shuts whenever the south-easter gets up, and that is most summer afternoons. Take the first clear morning rather than the day you had planned.
- 02Robben Island Ferry Ticket and Guided Prison TourFerries leave the V&A Waterfront and cancel on rough water. Tickets go weeks ahead in season and there is no standby queue at the gate.
- 03Boat Based Whale Watching ExperienceSouthern rights are in Walker Bay from roughly June to November. Outside that the boats still run, but not for whales.
- 04Kruger National Park Full Day Private safariOpen-vehicle drives leave before sunrise and fill first in the dry months, when the bush thins out and the animals come to the water.
Forest, lagoons, and the seal colony at Plettenberg Bay.
The road east out of the Cape runs through indigenous forest and a string of lagoon towns. Swim with the seals at Plett, walk the Knysna heads, and pick up the whale boats on the way through.
- 1Boat Based Whale Watching Experiencefrom $93
- 22-Day Safari at Garden Route Game Lodgefrom $533
- 3Swim with Sealsfrom $61
Braai smoke, biltong counters, and a cellar that finally explains Pinotage.
Eating here runs from a township shisanyama to a tasting room looking at the Simonsberg. Book the market walk before the heat of the day and the tasting for the end of it.
By place
Cape Town, the vineyards, the coast road, and a park at the end of it.
The newest South African tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Private Tour to Aquila Game Reserve in Cape Town – see the Big5
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Wine Tasting in Cape’s Top Three Winelands Private Tour
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Robben Island and Table Mountain Cableway with Bo-Kaap Day Tour
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Full Day Big 5 Aquila Safari Private Transfers Including Park Fee From Cape Town
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Private Tour:Cape of Good Hop>Seal island>Chapman’speak &Penguins
Read our review →
Private Half DayTour:Cape Winelands, Stellenbosch from Cape Town
Read our review →
Private Full Day Cape Town City Scenic and Table Mountain Tour.
Read our review →
Private Cape of Good Hope and Penguins Tour with Luxury Mercedes or BMW Vehicle
Read our review →
Tastes of Stellenbosch Wine Full Day Tour with Private Transfer
Read our review →
Private Tour: Cape Winelands to Stellenbosch & Franschhoek
Read our review →
Full day Cape Point + Constantia Wine Tour with Private Transfer
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Cape Peninsula and Boulders Full Day Tour with Private Transfer
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Cape City Like-a-Local Full Day Tour with Private Guided Transfer
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