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Guided journey

The Grand Tour of South Africa.

The whole country in two weeks, and two safaris. Cape Town and the peninsula, lunch in the Winelands, the whale coast at Hermanus and a free roaming Big Five reserve on the Garden Route. Then north to Johannesburg and Soweto, the Panorama Route, and four nights in the Kruger to finish. It is built as two halves of seven days, and each half can be taken on its own.

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

Table Mountain with a cloud lying over its flat top, seen across the surf of Table Bay
days
14
nights
13
stops
6

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

At a glance.

Style
Guided, with a private English speaking guide on touring days
Where
Cape Town, Whale Coast, Garden Route, Johannesburg, Mpumalanga and Kruger
When to go
September and October balance everything: whales at Hermanus, spring in the Cape and the dry season in the Kruger. April and May are also good, without the whales.
Suits
A first journey to South Africa for travellers who want all of it and have two weeks, honeymoons, and anyone for whom the animals are the reason to come.

What it is remembered for

  • Table Mountain, Cape Point and the whale cliffs at Hermanus in the first five days.
  • Two nights on a reserve where the Big Five roam free and there are no tablets to take.
  • Four nights of dawn and dusk game drives in the Kruger as the finale.

The route.

6 stops, in order.

  1. Cape TownCity. 3 nights.
  2. HermanusCoast. 1 night.
  3. Garden Route Big Five reserveSafari. 2 nights.
  4. JohannesburgCity. 2 nights.
  5. Mpumalanga escarpmentMountains. 1 night.
  6. KrugerSafari. 4 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 Cape TownCape Town.

    Travel: private transfer from the airport, about 25 minutes.

    Morning. Your driver is waiting at arrivals with your name. No queues, no shuttle. Table Mountain fills the windscreen for most of the way in.

    Afternoon. Check in and settle. If the flight was long, do nothing. The pool is there for exactly this.

    Evening. A welcome dinner with your guide, who talks you through the days ahead and asks what you care about most, so the plan can bend to it.

    Included
    • Private airport transfer.
    • Welcome dinner.
    Worth knowing
    • An early night. Tomorrow starts on the mountain.
    Stay
    A boutique hotel in Cape Town: a garden villa with a spa in the leafy southern suburbs, or a hotel on or beside the Sea Point promenade.
    Meals
    Dinner.
  2. Day2 Table Mountain and the cityCape Town.

    Travel: short drives in the city with your private guide.

    Morning. Up the mountain by cableway while the air is still. From the top you see the whole peninsula you will drive tomorrow. If cloud or wind closes the summit, your guide swaps the day around: the mountain goes when the mountain is clear.

    Afternoon. Down into the city. The painted houses and cobbled lanes of the Bo-Kaap, the Company’s Garden, and the stories that tie them together. Then free time at the V&A Waterfront.

    Evening. At leisure. Your guide books a table if you want one.

    Included
    • Table Mountain cableway ticket.
    • Private guide and vehicle for the day.
    Worth knowing
    • Kirstenbosch gardens if you would rather have trees than streets.
    • The cableway closes for about two weeks of maintenance each winter, usually from late July. On those dates the view comes from Signal Hill instead.
    Stay
    As day 1.
    Meals
    Breakfast.
  3. Day3 The Cape PeninsulaCape Town.

    Travel: a full day loop of about 150 kilometres, with many stops.

    Morning. Along the Atlantic coast and over Chapman’s Peak, one of the great coastal roads anywhere. On to the Cape of Good Hope reserve and the lighthouse at Cape Point, where the cliffs drop into open ocean.

    Afternoon. Lunch in a working harbour town, then the African penguins at Boulders, a few steps from the sand. Home by the False Bay coast.

    Evening. At leisure.

    Included
    • Private guide and vehicle.
    • Entrance fees for the Cape of Good Hope reserve and the penguin colony.
    Optional
    • Lunch in the harbour (your guide knows where the fish is freshest).
    Worth knowing
    • Bring a jacket. The Point is windy on the calmest day.
    Stay
    As day 1.
    Meals
    Breakfast.
  4. Day4 Stellenbosch for lunch, then the whale coastCape Town to Hermanus, by way of Stellenbosch.

    Travel: about two and three quarter hours in the day, in two legs.

    Morning. Out to Stellenbosch, the second oldest town in the country: a walk under the oaks, a cellar tasting and lunch among the vines.

    Afternoon. Down to the sea at Gordon’s Bay and along Clarence Drive, cut into the cliff above False Bay. Hermanus by late afternoon, and straight onto the cliff path above Walker Bay. From June to November southern right whales come in to calve, and the rocks are the place to watch for them, at times only thirty metres out. September and October are the peak, when a sighting is likely and never certain. Outside those months there are no whales, and the path and the coast are still the point.

    Evening. Dinner on your own account, with the sea below.

    Included
    • Private guide and vehicle.
    • A cellar tasting in Stellenbosch.
    • Lunch on a wine estate.
    Stay
    A boutique hotel above Walker Bay in Hermanus.
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch.
  5. Day5 East to the free roaming Big FiveHermanus to a Big Five reserve on the Garden Route.

    Travel: about four hours, with a stop in Swellendam.

    Morning. A last look at the bay, then inland and east across the wheat fields of the Overberg. Coffee under the white gables of Swellendam, the third oldest town in the country. At Mossel Bay the road turns inland, into hills covered in fynbos.

    Afternoon. At the lodge by early afternoon. Out with your ranger in an open vehicle as the day cools. Nothing here is kept apart: lion, elephant, rhino and buffalo roam the same 11,000 hectares of hills, and so do leopard, which nobody anywhere can promise you.

    Evening. Dinner at the lodge, around the fire when the weather allows.

    Included
    • Private transfer.
    • Afternoon game drive.
    • Dinner at the lodge.
    Worth knowing
    • This is malaria free country. There are no tablets to think about until the Kruger.
    Stay
    A lodge on a free roaming Big Five reserve inland from Mossel Bay, a step up from the other stays.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  6. Day6 A full day on the reserveThe Big Five reserve.

    Morning. Out before sunrise, coffee in hand. On a free roaming reserve the animals are found, not shown: your ranger reads tracks and follows the alarm calls, and the finding is half of it.

    Afternoon. Back for breakfast and the middle of the day at the lodge. Pool, deck, sleep. Out again as the light softens.

    Evening. Dinner at the lodge. By now you know your ranger, and the questions get better.

    Included
    • Dawn and dusk game drives.
    • All meals at the lodge.
    Stay
    As day 5.
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
  7. Day7 A dawn drive, and north to JohannesburgThe reserve to Johannesburg.

    Travel: about one hour by road to George airport, a direct flight of about two hours, then about 30 minutes into the city.

    Morning. One last drive at dawn, breakfast, and the road down to George for the flight north.

    Afternoon. Two hours in the air, from the coast to the Highveld. You are met at arrivals and driven to Houghton, one of the old garden suburbs, where the streets run under tall trees.

    Evening. At leisure. The garden is quiet, and dinner is at the hotel if you want it.

    Included
    • Dawn game drive.
    • Private transfers on both sides.
    Not included
    • The flight from George to Johannesburg.
    Stay
    A boutique hotel in Houghton, Johannesburg.
    Meals
    Breakfast.
  8. Day8 JohannesburgJohannesburg.

    Travel: about 15 minutes each way to the museum.

    Morning. The Apartheid Museum with your guide. It tells the story of the country you have been travelling through, and it is best taken slowly.

    Afternoon. Lunch, and the rest of the day at your own pace in the garden.

    Evening. Dinner with your guide, and the plan for the week in the bush.

    Included
    • Apartheid Museum with a private guide.
    • Dinner.
    Worth knowing
    • The museum is closed on Mondays. If day 8 falls on a Monday the two mornings swap: Soweto today, and the museum on day 9 before the flight.
    Stay
    As day 7.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  9. Day9 Soweto, then to the escarpmentJohannesburg to the Mpumalanga escarpment.

    Travel: about 45 minutes from Soweto to the airport, a flight of about 55 minutes, then about one and a half hours by road.

    Morning. Soweto with a guide: Vilakazi Street and the Hector Pieterson Memorial. Then straight to the airport.

    Afternoon. A short flight east, and up onto the escarpment, where the air is cooler and on a clear day the view runs across the lowveld towards Mozambique.

    Evening. Dinner at the hotel.

    Included
    • A morning in Soweto with a private guide.
    • Private transfers on both sides.
    • Dinner.
    Not included
    • The flight to the Kruger airport.
    Stay
    A hotel on the escarpment near Graskop.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  10. Day10 The Panorama Route, then into the KrugerThe escarpment to the Kruger.

    Travel: about four hours in the day, in short legs.

    Morning. The Panorama Route, early, before the mist can rise: God’s Window, the potholes at Bourke’s Luck, and the Three Rondavels above the Blyde River Canyon, one of the largest canyons on earth.

    Afternoon. Down off the escarpment into the lowveld. You reach the Kruger by mid afternoon, and your first game drive goes out in the last light, which is when the bush wakes up.

    Evening. Dinner at the lodge.

    Included
    • Private guide and vehicle.
    • Viewpoint fees.
    • Afternoon game drive.
    • Dinner.
    Worth knowing
    • This is a malaria area. Speak to your doctor before travel.
    Stay
    Your choice of safari style: a lodge on the river at a gate of the Kruger National Park, or a lodge in a private reserve beside the park.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  11. Day11 SafariThe Kruger.

    Morning. Out before sunrise, coffee in hand. This is the drive that matters: the cats are still moving and the light is gold.

    Afternoon. Back for breakfast and the heat of the day. Pool, deck, sleep. The animals rest too. Out again at four.

    Evening. Home as the light goes, and dinner under the stars. In a private reserve the drive runs on after dark with a spotlight.

    Included
    • Dawn and dusk game drives.
    Stay
    As day 10.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  12. Day12 Further into the parkThe Kruger.

    Morning. A longer drive today, beyond the loops near the lodge: breakfast packed, a stop on a river bank, and the animals that keep their distance from the gates.

    Afternoon. Back by early afternoon. The pool, the deck and the heat of the day.

    Evening. A dusk drive for those who want one more, or an early dinner and the night sounds from the deck.

    Included
    • A long morning game drive with a picnic breakfast.
    • Dusk game drive.
    • Dinner.
    Stay
    As day 10.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  13. Day13 SafariThe Kruger.

    Morning. A last full day. By now you are reading the bush yourself.

    Afternoon. At leisure, then the last dusk drive.

    Evening. A boma dinner around the fire.

    Included
    • Dawn and dusk game drives.
    • Boma dinner.
    Stay
    As day 10.
    Meals
    Breakfast, dinner.
  14. Day14 A last dawn, and homeThe Kruger to Johannesburg airport.

    Travel: about one hour by road to the Kruger airport, then a flight of about 55 minutes.

    Morning. One last drive at first light, then breakfast and goodbye to your ranger.

    Afternoon. A short flight to Johannesburg, to meet your flight home that evening.

    Included
    • Dawn game drive.
    • Private transfer to the airport.
    Worth knowing
    • Allow at least three hours in Johannesburg between this flight and an international departure.
    Not included
    • The flight to Johannesburg.
    Meals
    Breakfast.

Take it whole, or in parts.

This journey is built in parts that follow one another. Take the whole journey, or a run of parts that suits your client.

  • Cape Town and the PeninsulaTable Mountain, the city and the full loop of the Cape Peninsula with a private guide. Days 1 to 3.
  • Winelands lunch and the whale coastStellenbosch for a tasting and lunch, Clarence Drive, and the cliff path at Hermanus. Day 4.
  • The free roaming Big Five reserveTwo nights and four game drives where lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard roam free. Days 5 to 6.
  • The join night in JohannesburgA last dawn drive, the flight north from George, and a quiet night in Houghton. Day 7.
  • JohannesburgArrival day for the second half, and the Apartheid Museum for travellers already in the city. Day 8.
  • Soweto and the Panorama RouteA morning in Soweto, then a flight and a drive up to the edge of the escarpment. Day 9.
  • Four nights in the KrugerGod’s Window and the Blyde River Canyon, then four nights of game drives in the Kruger. Days 10 to 14.

Take the whole journey, or any parts that follow one another, starting where you may join and ending where you may leave. If you start in the middle, be at the starting place by the hour we give you. A night before can be added.

What is included.

Included

  • Private airport transfers and a private vehicle throughout.
  • A private English speaking guide on touring days.
  • Hotels and lodges, with breakfast daily and the lunches and dinners named in the plan.
  • Entrance and park fees for everything marked included.

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.

  • Two halves of seven days. Days 1 to 7 are Cape Town, Whales and Wildlife. Days 8 to 14 are Soweto, Canyon and Kruger. Each can be taken alone as a tour of 7 days and 6 nights.
  • How the days are counted: taken alone, the first half ends on day 7 with the flight out of George, and the second half begins on day 8 with your arrival in Johannesburg. On the full journey you fly from George to Johannesburg on day 7 and sleep there. That one night, the join night, is why the whole tour has 13 nights and the two halves have 6 each.
  • The two longest road days are about four hours each, on day 5 and day 10. The three flights inside South Africa are each about one to two hours.
  • Two safaris: two nights on a free roaming Big Five reserve on the Garden Route, malaria free, then four nights in the Kruger, where the Big Five roam free in one of Africa’s great parks. A leopard is never promised anywhere. The Kruger is a malaria area: speak to your doctor before travel.
  • Stays are described by style and place.
  • One stay is on a free roaming Big Five reserve on the Garden Route.
  • 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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