Cape Town to the Garden Route

RFC Boulders Beach is a stretch of beach located in Simons Town on the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. It is home to a colony of African jackass penguins and is therefore a tourist attraction. Photo: Getty Images

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Cable cars glint in the sunlight. Climbing the soaring face of Table Mountain, their passengers look down on hikers, cyclists and surfers on the slopes and beaches below, and to South Africa’s Mother City, Cape Town.

The country’s pin-up city has added culinary and artistic kudos to its outdoor appeal in recent years, and now offers an unexpected dose of sophisticated charm at the southern tip of Africa, best seen in fascinating neighbourhoods such as pastel-painted Bo-Kaap, home to its Cape Muslim community. A city stay is often combined with a visit to the nearby winelands and a journey along the famous Garden Route, a wonderful road trip east of Cape Town through the region’s diverse landscapes, a beloved holiday strip of beaches, lagoons and forests around the town of Knysna.

This classic urban-rural trip follows in the footsteps of the Dutch East India Company, Brits, Trekboers and others who ventured out of the maritime refreshment station turned colony at the Cape. It’s tourists who lead the charge to Knysna these days, especially during December, to enjoy the town and island marina that offers views across a boat-dotted estuary at the sandstone cliffs of The Heads. Between breakfast at le de pain artisan bakery and a sunset cruise, there are trails to follow and peaty lagoons to paddle in the Afromontane forests beneath the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma ranges.

With the world’s second-mildest climate (after Hawaii) and activities such as the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour, walking the Storms River Suspension Bridge and exploring a gorge by kayak and lilo, a few days on the Garden Route is more appealing than a platter of Knysna oysters. Stay on Thesen Island or find tranquility deep in the forest. Popular alternative bases include stylish Plettenberg Bay, beachfront Wilderness and rustic Natures Valley or Stormsrivier.

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After taking in the Garden Route’s many delights, most visitors zip back to the city along the N2, but crossing the Outeniqua Pass to the ostrich-farming Oudtshoorn area offers a slower return through the semi-arid Little Karoo, where a bucolic mix of fruit orchards and vineyards unfurls between the Swartberg and Langeberg Mountains. Pick up some dried peaches from a roadside farm stall and join the dusty bakkies (pick-up trucks) on Route 62, which leads 240km west from Oudtshoorn to the town of Montagu. Toast the trip beneath a twinkling night sky at a farmstay in the peaceful town, where Cogmanskloof Pass is a dramatic portal from the Little Karoo to the Breede River Valley, marking a return to the fertile wine-farming area surrounding Cape Town.

Stay

Immerse yourself in the African bush with a stay on a private wildlife reserve, such as Sanbona in the Little Karoo and Gondwana on the Garden Route.

Experience

Enjoy the views across Cape Town’s Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden from the Boomslang (tree snake) canopy walkway, which soars through the Arboretum.

Shop

The Garden Route coastal road near the Twelve Apostles and heading towards Table Mountain. Photo: Getty Images

Visit the Old Biscuit Mill in arty Woodstock, Cape Town, for local craft work and home wares, as well as the Neighbourgoods food and design market on weekends.

Eat

Try bobotie, a delicious Cape Malay dish of curried mince and raisins, topped with an eggy crust and served with saffron rice. The dish shows influences brought from Southeast Asia by Cape Muslim people.

Drink

For a local take on Baileys Irish Cream, order a sweet glass of Amarula, a liqueur made with the fruit of the marula trees that dot the African plains.

Getting there and around

A Stellenbosch vineyard at the base of a mountain in the late afternoon sun. Photo: Getty Images

Many airlines fly to Cape Town International Airport, but it can work out cheaper to travel via Johannesburgs or Tambo International Airport. The latter is good if you’d like to include northern highlights such as Kruger National Park or neighbouring countries in your itinerary. South African roads are hair-raising, but renting a car is still the most convenient option. Having a car in Cape Town is recommended, but Uber taxis are widespread, MyCiTi buses serve the city centre and guided tours explore everywhere from the Winelands to Cape Point. Hop-on, hop-off Bazbus offers 13 stops between Cape Town and Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), including Stellenbosch and Knysna.

When to go

Avoid December, when roads are busy and South Africans descend on the Garden Route. Otherwise the summer months between November and February have reliably hot, dry weather.