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Destination Options Africa

Self drive journey

Self drive: Panorama and the Kruger.

A week from Johannesburg, built for people who like to drive. Up onto the escarpment for the viewpoints of the Panorama Route, down into the Kruger in your own car, and three nights at the park gate with a ranger’s open vehicle booked for the hours that matter.

Ask about this journey or write to enquiries@vdoafrica.com

A leafless tree silhouetted against a pink and orange sunset in the Kruger bushveld
days
7
nights
6
stops
3

As set out in VDO’s own journey outline of 6 October 2026.

At a glance.

Style
Self drive, with every stay booked and a route book for each day
Where
Johannesburg, Mpumalanga and Kruger
When to go
May to September: dry, cool and clear, with thin bush and animals at the water. From November to March it is hot and green, with afternoon storms, mist on the escarpment and a higher malaria risk.
Suits
Confident drivers, families with teenagers, and anyone who wants a proper safari and is happy to take the wheel between game drives.

What it is remembered for

  • God’s Window and the Three Rondavels at your own pace.
  • Driving yourself through the Kruger, gate to gate.
  • Dawn in an open vehicle with a ranger who reads the tracks of the night.

The route.

3 stops, in order.

  1. JohannesburgCity. 1 night.
  2. GraskopMountains. 2 nights.
  3. KrugerSafari. 3 nights.

Day by day.

Breakfast is daily from the first morning. Other meals are included only where a day shows them. Travel times are approximate.

  1. Day1 Arrive JohannesburgJohannesburg.

    Travel: private transfer from the airport, about 30 minutes.

    Morning. A driver meets you at arrivals and takes you to Houghton, one of the old garden suburbs. No car today: you start fresh tomorrow.

    Afternoon. Rest. Your route book is waiting at the hotel.

    Evening. At leisure. Dinner at the hotel or a short taxi ride away.

    Included
    • Private airport transfer.
    • Your route book.
    Stay
    A boutique hotel in Houghton, Johannesburg.
  2. Day2 To the escarpmentJohannesburg to Graskop.

    Travel: about 400 kilometres, five hours of driving, much of it on toll highway.

    Morning. Your SUV is brought to the hotel after breakfast, with a proper briefing: the car, the route book, the rules of the road. Then east out of the city on the highway, across the open grassland of the Highveld.

    Afternoon. Turn north at Belfast for Dullstroom, a trout fishing village at about half way and the place for lunch. Then the Long Tom Pass, named for the cannon that were fought over it, down through pine forest to Sabie and on to Graskop at the edge of the escarpment.

    Evening. Graskop is known across the country for its pancakes. Dinner is settled.

    Included
    • SUV delivered to your hotel, with a briefing.
    Optional
    • Fly to the Kruger airport instead, about 55 minutes, and collect the car there. The drive to Graskop is then about one and a half hours.
    Worth knowing
    • Leave by nine and you are in Graskop by four, with lunch and stops. Do not start this drive after midday.
    Not included
    • Fuel and tolls.
    Stay
    A hotel on the escarpment near Graskop.
    Meals
    Breakfast.
  3. Day3 The Panorama RouteGraskop and the Blyde River Canyon.

    Travel: a loop of about 115 kilometres, two hours of driving in the whole day.

    Morning. Go early, before the mist can rise. God’s Window first, where the escarpment drops straight into the lowveld. Then the waterfalls beside the road north, and the potholes at Bourke’s Luck, where two rivers have drilled the rock into cylinders.

    Afternoon. The Three Rondavels viewpoint over the Blyde River Canyon, one of the largest canyons on earth and one of the greenest. Back in Graskop by mid afternoon.

    Evening. At leisure.

    Worth knowing
    • In summer, mist can hide God’s Window by mid morning. The route book gives the order to drive the loop in each season.
    Not included
    • Entrance fees at the viewpoints, paid on the day.
    Stay
    As day 2.
    Meals
    Breakfast.
  4. Day4 Into the Kruger, in your own carGraskop to the southern Kruger.

    Travel: about one and a quarter hours to the park gate, then about 110 kilometres and three hours of slow driving through the park. The direct road outside the park takes about two and a quarter hours.

    Morning. Down Kowyn’s Pass to Hazyview and in through the Phabeni Gate. From here your transfer is a game drive: south east on tar through the southern Kruger, at the park’s pace, with the route book marking the waterholes worth a detour.

    Afternoon. Lunch at the main rest camp at Skukuza, on the Sabie River, then on south and out at the Malelane Gate by mid afternoon. Your lodge is on the bank of the Crocodile River, looking back into the park.

    Evening. Sundowners on the deck. Keep an eye on the water below: this river is where the park comes to drink.

    Included
    • Dinner at the lodge.
    Worth knowing
    • Be out through the Malelane Gate at least an hour before it closes. You may not be on the park’s roads after gate time.
    • This is a malaria area. Speak to your doctor before travel.
    Not included
    • The park’s daily conservation fee, paid at the gate.
    Stay
    A lodge on the Crocodile River at a gate of the Kruger National Park.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  5. Day5 Safari, with a rangerThe Kruger.

    Travel: none in your own car, unless you choose to.

    Morning. Out before sunrise in an open vehicle with a ranger. This is the drive that matters: the cats are still moving, the light is gold, and for once you can look instead of steer.

    Afternoon. Breakfast, the pool, the heat of the day. Then out again with the ranger for the afternoon drive, which runs on into the dusk.

    Evening. Dinner at the lodge.

    Included
    • Guided dawn game drive.
    • Guided afternoon game drive.
    • Dinner.
    Stay
    As day 4.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  6. Day6 Your own day in the parkThe Kruger.

    Travel: as much or as little as you like. Skukuza is about one and a half hours each way at park speed.

    Morning. A last dawn with the ranger, or take your own car in when the gate opens and drive the loops in the route book. By now you know what to look for.

    Afternoon. Lunch at a picnic site in the bush, a slow road home, and out before the gate closes.

    Evening. A farewell dinner around the fire in the boma.

    Included
    • Guided dawn game drive.
    • Boma dinner.
    Not included
    • The park’s daily conservation fee, if you drive in yourself.
    Stay
    As day 4.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  7. Day7 To Johannesburg, and departThe Kruger to Johannesburg airport.

    Travel: about 400 kilometres, four and a half hours of driving on one highway.

    Morning. Leave after breakfast. The highway runs west through sugar cane and orchards, past the city of Mbombela, and climbs back onto the Highveld.

    Afternoon. Hand the car in at the airport by mid afternoon, in good time for an evening flight.

    Included
    • Car hire to Johannesburg airport.
    Optional
    • Hand the car in at the Kruger airport, about one hour from the lodge, and fly to Johannesburg in about 55 minutes.
    Worth knowing
    • Book an evening flight. If yours leaves before six, take the flight option above or add a night in Johannesburg.
    Not included
    • Fuel and tolls.
    Meals
    Breakfast.

What is included.

Included

  • A mid size SUV, brought to your hotel with a briefing.
  • Booked stays, with breakfast daily and the dinners named in the plan.
  • A route book: each day’s road, distance, time, fuel stops and the places worth pulling over for.
  • Guided game drives with a ranger, booked for you at the reserve.
  • A private airport transfer on arrival.

Not included

  • International and domestic flights, unless a day says otherwise.
  • Travel insurance, visas and tips.
  • Drinks, and meals not named in the plan.
  • Anything marked optional.
  • On self drive tours: fuel, tolls and entrance fees paid on the day.

Good to know.

  • What you get: a mid size SUV, booked stays with breakfast, a route book with each day’s road, distance, time and stops, and guided game drives booked at the Kruger.
  • You drive on the left. Every road in the plan is tarred and much of it is toll highway, but two days are long: about five hours on day 2 and about four and a half on day 7. Either can be cut to under two hours by flying between Johannesburg and the Kruger airport and collecting or returning the car there.
  • Bring your driving licence. If it is not printed in English, bring an international driving permit as well.
  • Fuel, tolls and park fees paid at the gate are your own account.
  • Inside the Kruger the limit is 50 kilometres an hour on tar and 40 on gravel, you stay in the car except at marked places, and the gates close at dusk, between half past five and half past six depending on the month.
  • All of the Big Five roam free in the Kruger: rangers lead your dawn and dusk drives, you may drive the park’s public roads yourself by day, and no sighting is ever promised. Malaria area: speak to your doctor before travel.
  • Stays are described by style and place.
  • Travel times are approximate driving or flying times without stops, rounded up.
  • Flights are not included unless a day says so. Scheduled flights change by season: the days and times are checked for each journey.
  • The Kruger and northern Botswana are malaria areas, and Etosha carries a seasonal risk. Speak to your doctor before travel. The Cape, the Karoo and the Garden Route are free of malaria, and in Windhoek, the Namib and on the Namibian coast the risk is very low.
  • Wildlife is wild. Each tour says plainly what its reserve holds, and no sighting is ever promised.

What happens next.

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  3. We confirm in writing

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