Travel advice for South Africa
From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to South Africa
Book your individual trip, stress-free with local travel experts
written by Kieran Meeke
updated 4.11.2019
7 days / from4800 USD
Cape Town and Garden Route - a luxury guided tour
Cape Town and the Garden Route have it all - a fascinating culture, safaris, chocolate and wine tasting, and much more. Discover the coastal city of Cape Town and the Peninsula before heading out to the Garden Route with Knysna and Mossel Bay, where you'll experience some game drives.
view tour ⤍15 days / from4000 USD
The Cape Peninsula and Safaris in Kruger and Pilanesberg
Wildlife in South Africa is still truly wild, a fact that you'll be able to discover in this fascinating two weeks trip. Enjoy whale watching in Cape Town and first safaris in Aquila before heading up north: the famous Kruger and Pilanesberg national parks with all its wildlife await.
view tour ⤍7 days / from3000 USD
Explore the North of South Africa: Sun City and Madikwe game reserve
For those short on time, staying close to Johannesburg may make sense. On this trip, you'll arrive and depart in Johannesburg and then transfer to the theme park Lost City before continuing to Madikwe for a few days of game drives to spot plenty of wildlife.
view tour ⤍17 days / from4500 USD
Secret gem in South Africa - Northern Cape Self Drive
Embark on an epic self-drive adventure from Cape Town to the Northern Cape. Witness the breathtaking floral displays of Namaqualand, marvel at the diverse wildlife in Karoo National Park, and be captivated by the awe-inspiring cascades of Augrabies Falls.
view tour ⤍7 days / from950 USD
A family self drive in South Africa & Swaziland
Take the family on an African adventure in your own rental car, it's the ideal companion to discover Kruger National Park at your own pace. Further on to Swaziland and then Hluhluwe, this trip focuses on wildlife and exploration, all at your leisure.
view tour ⤍3 days / from1000 USD
A Kruger adventure
Kruger National Park is one of the best known national parks in South Africa and always worth a visit. Starting and ending in Johannesburg is the most convenient one, the perfect stop to then take a domestic flight towards George or Cape Town for the rest of your trip.
view tour ⤍17 days / from3650 USD
Safaris, culture & wine - South Africa's must do's
Explore cosmopolitan Johannesburg, go on safaris in Kruger NP, sip wine on the Cape Peninsula and explore the Eastern Cape - this fast-paced itinerary allows you to truly immerse yourself in the culture and lifestyle of South Africa, discovering the most fascinating parts of the country.
view tour ⤍8 days / from2970 USD
Cape Amazing: Cape Town Explored
Visit Cape Town, South Africa's most breathtaking city, as you follow the circular route around the stunning peninsula. Make the most of deserted sandy beaches, quaint towns and rich winelands before you fly to Kapama Private Game Reserve for an encounter with the Big Five.
view tour ⤍17 days / from5000 USD
Best of South Africa
Discover the best South Africa has to offer - start with the marvelous city of Cape Town with its peninsula, further on to the wine lands with gorgeous views of the Garden Route and on to culture, heritage & wildlife in Plettenberg Bay. End your trip with an authentic Kruger experience.
view tour ⤍23 days / from4100 USD
Ultimate South Africa Road Trip
The adventure of a lifetime in your own rental car. Johannesburg and Cape Town, the Garden Route and the Eastern Cape, Kruger National Park and the Panorama Route - this itinerary packs the highlights of South Africa in one, easy to follow route. Hop in and get on the road!
view tour ⤍7 days / from1610 USD
Complete Cape Town: Wildlife, Wine and Whales
Discover the natural beauty all around Cape Town. Located on the southwestern tip of South Africa, the area is home to rugged coastlines, undulating vineyards, and expanses of grassland, home some of the largest, wildest and most majestic creatures on earth.
view tour ⤍10 days / from4300 USD
Cycling South Africa's Garden Route
An active, cycling adventure that is perfect for nature lovers. This exhilarating and unique tour takes you through leafy forests and up magnificent mountainsides to absorb break-taking views of the South African countryside.
view tour ⤍17 days / from4250 USD
City Life & Safari - South African Gems
The perfect South Africa trip in just 17 days. Start in Cape Town with Mountain Table, Robben Island, the Peninsula and more. Head further to the wine lands for a relaxed stay before proceeding to Kruger National Park - 3 days of safari await before finishing your trip in Johannesburg.
view tour ⤍18 days / from10488 USD
Five Star South Africa
Start your trip in Johannesburg with a few days exploring the city. Afterwards, take the exclusive Rovos Rail to Cape Town with several stops on the way. From Cape Town you will explore the peninsula as well as the wine lands. The Garden Route rounds up this luxurious trip.
view tour ⤍A wildlife destination par excellence, Limpopo's rolling savannahs are home to Africa's Big Five - the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and Cape buffalo. Its monumental ranges, the Soutpansberg and Waterberg, host hundreds of bird species and walking trails that give way to vistas so beautiful, they'll bring a tear to your eye. Bordering Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, South Africa’s northernmost province is also the link that joins the country to its sub-Saharan neighbours. It's a land where it's possible to trace the very roots of civilisation at archeological sites that date back to the stone age and beyond. To put it simply, there's a wealth of incredible things to do in Limpopo.
With so much on offer, it can be hard to know just where to begin. To give you a starting point for exploring this unique South African province, we've put together our list of five of the best things to do in Limpopo.
Home to the Kruger, the world’s largest national park, Limpopo has many other less famous, but equally wonderful places to get close to nature and wildlife. Several smaller game and nature parks flank Kruger itself, including Timbavati, Kapama, Thornybush, Balule, Makalali, Karongwe and Klaserie, while the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve includes the Marakele National Park and the Welgevonden, Entabeni, Waterberg, Mabalingwe and Mabula reserves.
Nature lovers also have a choice of game or birdwatching safaris, travelling by car, horse or on foot. You can enjoy pampered luxury, budget trips or visit sustainable tourism projects that feature local culture and heritage. And you can add golf, spas, honeymoon or photography to the experience.
Want even more of a thrill? Try hiking, hot air ballooning, horse trails, river safaris, boating, quad or mountain biking, and fly-fishing. Get even more extreme with kloofing (canyoning), canopy tours, abseiling, skydiving, microlighting, rock climbing and tubing. Many of these adventures take place around wildlife, when you can walk with lions, ride among zebras or fly on an anti-poaching patrol by helicopter.
Limpopo has a great variety of landscapes and there are many trails that allow you to explore this wonderful part of Africa. Whether you want to walk, ride a bike or a horse, you’ll find one of the right length and challenge to suit, from gentle bushveld safaris and shady forest paths to strenuous mountain climbs.
Along the way, you'll spot ,any different animals and more than 600 bird species, 420 of which are native to the province. There are several trails dedicated to birdwatching, including the Soutpansberg, Capricorn-Letaba and Waterberg routes. Trails might be on private reserves or in national parks. Other trails will take you through cultural villages and craft projects, perhaps visiting a socially uplifting initiative.
The Legend Golf and Safari Resort is home to what has been described as the ‘most extreme golf hole in the world’. The Extreme 19th is the world’s highest and longest par-3 hole, where you can see a green shaped like Africa herself from a mountaintop almost 500 yards above.
It’s certainly a highlight, but there are many other memorable courses in Limpopo, including Koro Creek, Euphoria, Hans Merensky, Zebula and Mabalingwe. On many of them, you can see African wildlife as you play, an unforgettable experience. Some of the courses are part of resorts that offer spa pampering afterwards (or instead), with first-class restaurants and amazing rooms and suites.
There are over 700 rock art sites in Limpopo, featuring many beautiful paintings and engravings, with many more sites still awaiting discovery. While it is impossible to accurately date rock art, the oldest are thought to be many thousands of years old.
The majority of the art is from the ancient San (“Bushman”) people and give us valuable insights into their daily life and even religious beliefs, with the trance dance of shamans a common subject. Many animals are also shown, some very accurately and others in more abstract form, with the kudu being very important here.
Keen to find out more about travelling to the Limpopo province in South Africa? Check out the official Limpopo microsite for more inspiration.
written by Kieran Meeke
updated 4.11.2019
Kieran has lived in 12 countries – including Yemen and Mozambique – and written about countless others, specialising in long-form features that get beneath the surface. This love of exploring the quirky and hidden in every destination saw him run the Secret London website for 15 years, but more recently has taken him on long distance walking and horse-riding adventures. Follow him on Instagram @kieran_meeke.
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From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to South Africa