Multi-centre · South Africa
11 Night Cape Town, Winelands & Kruger
A world-class city, a wine region forty-five minutes away, and the Big Five at the end — with almost no jet lag, because South Africa is one or two hours ahead of the UK.
A world-class city, a wine region forty-five minutes away, and the Big Five at the end — with almost no jet lag, because South Africa is one or two hours ahead of the UK.
Two decisions that save you three days and several hundred pounds.
Cape Town and Kruger are 1,500km apart — that's Land's End to John o' Groats and back. Driving it wastes two days of an eleven-night trip. A two-and-a-half-hour internal flight to Hoedspruit or Nelspruit puts you in the reserve by lunchtime. And flying home from Johannesburg rather than returning to Cape Town removes a pointless backtrack; open-jaw usually costs the same as a return and almost nobody offers it.
Eleven nights: in at Cape Town, out from Johannesburg, with one internal flight and a hire car for the Winelands.
1Mountain, city and peninsula within an hour of each other. Four nights and you'll still leave things undone.
Where you stay: V&A Waterfront for safety and convenience, Camps Bay for the beach, or the City Bowl for restaurants.
Getting there: 11h 30m direct overnight from the UK, landing in the morning with almost no time difference.
2Forty-five minutes from the city and a completely different landscape — mountains, Cape Dutch farmhouses and some of the best-value fine dining anywhere.
Where you stay: A wine estate guesthouse in Franschhoek or Stellenbosch. Both are small enough to walk.
Getting there: 45 minutes by hire car from Cape Town. Easy driving, on the left, good roads.
3Twice-daily game drives, and the best leopard sightings in Africa. Four nights gives you eight drives, which is what makes the difference.
Where you stay: Sabi Sand for the best sightings, Timbavati or Manyeleti for excellent value, Kruger's own camps for self-drive.
Getting there: 2h 30m by air from Cape Town to Hoedspruit or Nelspruit, then a road transfer into the reserve.
Everything below is quoted up front. Nothing appears after you've paid a deposit.
Guide prices per person, two sharing, outside school holidays. The hotel standard is the biggest single variable.
| Standard | What that means | Guide price pp |
|---|---|---|
| 4-star | Good Cape Town hotel, wine estate guesthouse, comfortable bush lodge | £2,699 |
| 4-star plus | Waterfront or Camps Bay, boutique estate, private reserve lodge | £3,699 |
| 5-star | Landmark city hotel and a top Sabi Sand lodge | £5,999 |
The safari leg is where the money goes, and it's where paying up makes the most difference — private reserves allow off-road driving and cap vehicle numbers, which is why the sightings are better. Cape Town and the Winelands are remarkably good value at every tier.
The Cape and the bush want opposite seasons, so a combined trip is always a compromise.
Cape Town is Mediterranean: warm dry summers from November to March. Kruger is best in the dry winter from May to September, when thin bush and scarce water concentrate animals at waterholes. April and October are the honest compromise — the Cape is warm and dry, the bush is workable, and neither is at peak price. Whale watching at Hermanus runs June to November if you add the Garden Route.
We'll build the open-jaw routing, match the reserve to your season and budget, and write the payment plan out in full.
Yes. The Eastern Cape reserves near Port Elizabeth need no antimalarials and are the usual answer for families with young children. Sightings are good, though not Sabi Sand good.
Almost none — one or two hours depending on the season. It's the single biggest practical advantage South Africa has over any other long-haul destination.
Yes, and it's much cheaper. You do the finding yourself, which some people prefer. Private reserves get you a ranger, a tracker and off-road access.
It's the minimum we'd recommend — eight game drives. Three works but leaves less margin if the weather turns.
Similar shapes, and the ones people most often weigh up alongside it.
Same approach, different shape. All reshapeable around your dates.
13 nights · Jul–Oct, Jan–Feb · from £4,299pp
10 nights · Jun–Oct, Jan–Feb · from £2,899pp
12 nights · May–Oct · from £6,499pp
11 nights · Jun–Aug, Dec–Feb · from £4,899pp
14 nights · May–Oct · from £3,299pp
12 nights · Jun–Oct, Jan–Feb · from £3,399pp
