Garden Route

The Garden Route in the Western Cape is one of South Africa's main tourist attractions and is generally thought to stretch from Mossel Bay to St Francis along the Indian ocean and also includes parts of the inland.

Regions

The central part of the Garden Route is formed by the coastline of the Indian ocean. To the north it is bordered by the Little Karoo, a semi-desert region.

Cities

• George, the largest town along the Route
• Knysna, one of the most popular tourist destinations
• Storms River, the Gate to the Tsitsikamma National Park
• Plettenberg Bay
• Mossel Bay, this is where Bartolomeu Dias set foot ashore in 1488 and South Africa`s first post office was founded in 1500
• Nature's Valley, One of the few remaining areas of truly outstanding natural beauty along the Garden Route

Other destinations

• Tsitsikamma National Park: encloses one of the most beautiful coasts in South Africa between Storms River and Nature's Valley.
• Sedgefield
• Wilderness

Culture and History

Travel to Garden Route - Visa Requirements

Flights and airtickets to Garden Route

South African Airways has regular flights to George. The nearest international airport is in Cape Town

By car

The Garden Route is easily reached from

Cape Town : east on the N2 highway
Durban, Port Elizabeth : west on the N2 highway
Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein : south on the the N1 then the N9
Kimberley : south on the N12

The N2 is the main highway that passes through the Garden Route, connecting Cape Town with Port Elizabeth.

Buses to Garden Route

The main companies offer regular services along the Garden Route from Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The region is also on the Baz Bus route.

Tours and Getting around Garden Route

As local public transport between the towns is rare (except minibus services), the best way to tour the Route is by car. You can hire a car all along the Garden Route, be aware though that there is a fee if you drop the car off somewhere else from where you have picked it up.

By car

Substantial roadworks are in progress on the N2 with the current single lane sections being upgraded to double lanes in both ways. Imagine the intro photo on this article with two extra lanes being constructed on the left of the current road. Some sections are restricted to single direction traffic flow with manned stop/go control points. Typical delay at these points are 20 minutes each. Expect delays and plan your travel accordingly.

Garden Route tourist attractions and sightseeing

• The Big Tree, (In the Tsitsikamma forest, just off the N2 between the Storms River Bridge and the Storms River Village turn-off. You will see the signboards). One truly massive old yellowwood tree. Note: due to the roadworks is the Big Tree closed until December 2009. The nearest Big Tree is situated near the Khoi San Village at the Bloukrans Bungy site. 

Garden Route city tours

• Visit Tsitsikamma National Park and hike the Otter trail
• Surf in Plettenberg Bay or Vic Bay
• Bloukrans Bungee, ☎ +27 (0)42 281-1458, [1]. Do the world's highest commercial bungee jump Bloukrans Bridge 
• Bridge Walking Tour, ☎ +27 (0)42 281-1458, [2]. Take a walk on the catwalk under the deck of the Bloukrans Bridge, 216m above ground and see how it is build. 
• Wolf sanctuary, ☎ +27 (0)82 33-9799, [3].  
• Go on a ride with the famous Outeniqua Choo-tjoe Train [4], the last steam train in Southern Africa, from George to Mossel Bay or back and enjoy the coastal scenery.
• Quad Adventures, ☎ +27 (0)723 03-9011, [5]. Camp under the stars in the wild after a day of winding through dramatic mountain terrain of the Garden Route to the vast open spaces of the Little Karoo. Choose between 4 wheels or 2 and enjoy hours or even days of adventure. Tours range from a 25 minute introductory route through beautiful valleys to overnight all-out action deep in the wild. The adventure is here – you decide when. 
• Tsalanang Township Walk, Stormsriver, ☎ +27 (0)84 801-6274, [6]. Get acquainted with the locals of the Tsitsikamma and share their lives with your personalized guide, Geraldine Damons.R75.  

Garden Route Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

As a main tourist destination there are many restaurants for every taste. Enjoy superb fish from the ocean ; Knysna is the place to taste some oysters.

Garden Route cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

There is no shortage of all kinds of accommodation but book ahead on weekends / holiday. Especially during the summer the Garden Route is a popular holiday destination, not only for foreign tourists but also for South Africans. If you are backpacking, the area has numerous hostels. Find a listing of most of them on the Coast to Coast website [7]. Campers will find excellent facilities at sites like the Ebb and Flow campsite in Wilderness, [8]. The Tsitsikamma sites at Storms's River mouth and Nature's Valley are also places of scenic beauty, and out of season can be havens of peace where otters appear on the beach [9]. If its Elephants that you after then the best place to stay in is the Addo Rest Camp [10] located in the Addo Elephant National Park.

Stay safe

Compared with the larger cities the towns along the Garden Route are quite safe. As always use your common sense. Driving at night is fine.

Get out

• Go ahead for Cape Town or Port Elizabeth.
• Jeffreys Bay is a well-known for its surfing grounds.
• Visit the Little Karoo just to the north of the Garden Route

Destinations in Garden Route:

• George
• Knysna
• Mossel Bay
• Nature's Valley
• Plettenberg Bay
• Sedgefield
• Storms River
• Tsitsikamma National Park
• Wilderness

This page was last edited by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Babbelas, Craig, David, Nick Roux, Jessie ten Velde, Cassi, Paul Kilfoil, Gert, Tim Sandell and Felix Gottwald, Wikitravel user(s) Apwoud, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license