Itinerary · 10 days · 40 places
10 Days in South Africa
Four days in Cape Town with Table Mountain, Robben Island and the Cape Peninsula, then by hire car via Stellenbosch and the whale coast at Hermanus along the Garden Route to Knysna, flying home from George.
Open in the appThere you can adjust the plan to your dates, your pace and your interests.
Photo: K · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival in Cape Town & the Atlantic coast
Arrival in Cape Town
Hotel check-in
Your base is in Green Point, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic, within walking distance of the Waterfront and the promenade.
Mouille Point Lighthouse
The red-and-white striped lighthouse of 1824 stands right on the seafront promenade, where the surf crashes against the rocks in the evening.
Day 2Table Mountain & City Bowl
Table Mountain by cable car
The rotating cable car takes you up to the plateau in five minutes; at the top, two short loop trails lead to views over the city, Robben Island and the Cape Peninsula.
Company's Garden
Laid out by the East India Company in 1652 as a kitchen garden, it is now a shady park with an oak avenue, a rose garden and cheeky squirrels.
Bo-Kaap
The quarter of the descendants of Malay slaves, with brightly painted rows of houses on the hillside, cobbles and the country's oldest mosque on Dorp Street.
District Six Museum
In an old Methodist church, street signs, a floor map and family photos tell how the apartheid regime drove 60,000 people out of the district.
Evening: Long Street
The street with its Victorian cast-iron balconies is the city's bar strip in the evening, from bookshops to live music.
Day 3Robben Island & the Waterfront
Robben Island
The ferry from the Nelson Mandela Gateway sails to the prison island, where a former inmate leads the tour — including Mandela's cell no. 5 and the limestone quarry.
Zeitz MOCAA
Inside the hollowed-out concrete silos of the old grain elevator, the largest museum of contemporary African art shows painting, video and installation across nine floors.
V&A Waterfront
The old harbour basin is still in use: tugboats, seals on the pontoons, the swing bridge and Table Mountain as a backdrop.
Two Oceans Aquarium
The kelp forest tank and the large ocean exhibit show what lives off the coast, from ragged-tooth sharks to the African penguins in the outdoor pool.
Evening: Signal Hill
From the car park on the ridge between Lion's Head and the city, you watch the sun sink into the Atlantic and then the lights of the City Bowl come on.
Day 4Cape Peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope
Boulders Beach
From the boardwalk you watch African penguins nesting, waddling between the granite boulders and diving in the turquoise water of False Bay.
Jubilee Square in Simon's Town
The square above the naval harbour with the memorial to the ship's dog Just Nuisance, and behind it the Victorian façades of St George's Street.
Cape Point
The funicular or 130 steps lead to the old lighthouse on the cliff, from which the view drops 250 metres straight down to the surf.
Cape of Good Hope
The wooden signpost at the south-westernmost point of Africa stands by a rocky cove with fynbos, ostriches and usually a stiff wind.
Evening: Kalk Bay harbour
The little fishing harbour with its colourful boats, seals by the harbour wall and the antique shops of Main Road on the way back to town.
Day 5Stellenbosch winelands
Onward to Stellenbosch
Hotel check-in
Dorp Street in Stellenbosch
The longest surviving street in Cape Dutch style: whitewashed gabled houses under old oaks, with bookshops and wine bars in between.
Delaire Graff Estate
High up on the Helshoogte Pass, this estate combines a tasting with a view over the Banhoek Valley to Table Mountain.
Stellenbosch Village Museum
Four furnished houses from four periods, from a clay house of 1709 to a Victorian parlour, linked by a herb garden.
Spier Wine Farm
One of the oldest estates at the Cape, with werf buildings from 1767, a picnic lawn by the Eerste River and a tasting in the old cellar vault.
Evening: Bird Street
On the edge of the university quarter, this street is busy with students in the evening, with craft beer on tap and live music under the oaks.
Day 6Whale coast at Hermanus
Onward to Hermanus
Hotel check-in
Cliff Path
The twelve-kilometre cliff path runs close above the water; between July and November you can spot southern right whales from here with the naked eye.
Old Harbour Museum
Whaling boats and the old winch stand in the harbour of 1904; the museum explains the fishing industry and the call of the whale crier with his kelp horn.
Hamilton Russell Vineyards
This estate in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley is known for the region's cool-climate Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, tasted by the pond in front of the hills.
Grotto Beach
The wide sandy beach at the eastern end of Hermanus stretches for kilometres to the Klein River lagoon, with dunes and mountains behind.
Evening: Marine Drive
The seafront road above Walker Bay with views over the darkening bay, plus the terraces and small bars on Market Square.
Day 7To the Garden Route: Mossel Bay
Onward to Mossel Bay
Hotel check-in
Bartolomeu Dias Museum
The museum complex houses a faithful replica of the 1488 caravel, and next to it the Post Office Tree, under which sailors left their letters in a shoe.
Santos Beach
The north-facing town beach lies in the lee of the headland and is one of the few bays on the south coast with calm water.
St Blaize Lighthouse
The lighthouse of 1864 stands above the cave where people lived 160,000 years ago; this is also where the clifftop trail begins.
Evening: the Point promenade
The rocky outcrop at the Point with its tidal pools, where anglers stand in the evening and the surf sprays against the terrace.
Day 8Little Karoo: Oudtshoorn & Cango
Onward to Oudtshoorn
Hotel check-in
C.P. Nel Museum
The sandstone building tells the story of the ostrich-feather boom that made Oudtshoorn rich around 1900, complete with synagogue and feather merchant's office.
Cango Caves
In this stalactite cave in the Swartberg limestone, the standard tour leads through several halls to Van Zyl's Hall with its six-metre columns.
Cango Wildlife Ranch
On this farm at the edge of town you see cheetahs, crocodiles and Nile crocodile rearing up close, plus a breeding programme for endangered cats.
Evening: Baron van Reede Street
The main street with its sandstone feather palaces, where restaurants open in the evening and the Karoo air quickly cools.
Day 9Knysna and the lagoon
Onward to Knysna
Hotel check-in
Knysna Quays
The harbour basin on the lagoon shore with sailing boats, wooden jetties and a view across the water to the two sandstone cliffs of the Heads.
East Head
From the viewing deck on the eastern headland you look straight into the narrow, notorious channel through which the tides push into the lagoon.
Brenton-on-Sea
Beyond the headland a six-kilometre sandy beach opens onto the open Indian Ocean, often deserted and good for walking.
Evening: Knysna Waterfront
The waterside jetties are lit up in the evening, with oysters from the lagoon and a last look across the dark bay.
Day 10Wilderness and flight home from George
Dolphin Point
The viewpoint on the old coast road looks out over the Kaaimans River railway bridge and the surf, often with dolphins in the bay.
Wilderness Beach
A broad beach several kilometres long between dunes and lagoon, with a view back to the forested slopes of the Outeniqua Mountains.
Departure from George
Make it your trip
Viatro AI opens this plan in the app — with map, travel times and opening hours. You change the days, pace and places yourself.
