South Africa Garden Route

[Boxster5]

Just returned from our second visit to SA (first one was just before COVID hit) - absolutely superb again. Cape Town 6 nights, Wilderness (near George) 5 nights, Franschhoek 6 nights.
So what’s it like:-
Masks still needed inc outside in some areas, hand sanitiser everywhere & temp checks, contact details needed in some places - fully respected & no issues with no dheads saying “I know my rights”! Yes we’re sick of it now too & having to wear one on a 12 hour flight plus at the airport is no fun, trust me!
Petrol around £1/litre so cheap by comparison to Europe
Eating out - good 2 course meal with drinks & wine for 2 - around £40-50 (the latter amount would be the top end with lots of drinks!). An great example was a 2 course Michelin standard lunch at a lovely wine estate in Franschhoek with sparkling water, a very nice bottle of wine (£5 a bottle) plus coffee - total inc tip £41!
Some fantastic roads for us petrolheads but car hire like everywhere isn’t cheap at the moment so we had a weedy Nissan Almera automatic.
Top road recommendations - Chapmans Peak Drive (toll road) near Hout Bay just south of Cape Town, Route 62 through the Karoo from Oudsthoorn to Franschhoek including the Franschhoek Pass - all stunning roads
The Wine Tram in Franschhoek is worth doing if you’ve never done it before (lots of different routes that drop you off at various wineries then take you onto another although don’t do all of the stops, otherwise you’ll be pie-eyed!) - a better bet is to find a one you like then take your time.
The Cape Town open top bus tour is also worth doing as it takes in one of the wine estates (Groot Constantia).

[hairy v]

That sounds fantastic and Mrs V really wants to do this. Can i ask for a bit more detail, please?

[bennno]

Did similar a few years back, camps bay great area to stay in Cape Town. Go see penguins if it’s right time of year. Great car museum at vineyard near french hook.

[SR]

Currently in Brazil but I went on this tour a few years ago, amazing experience, Cape Town is a fabulous place and the Garden Route simply stunning!

[screw loose]

Thanks for the update Boxster5. It great to get first hand info on the local protocol.
Who did you use for your pre travel PCR test ? Unsurprisingly none of the companies appear to have glowing reviews.
We took out excess refund insurance here before we pick up the hire car at CPT to avoid the usual haggle there.
We fly out next week and are staying it Llandudno, just south of Camps bay. We have been a few times before to Cape Town and it somewhere you can return to time after time as there is always more beauty to discover. I would recommend Knysna, if anyone is looking to move around whilst in the Bay area. We have booked 3 nights on the peninsular in Knysna, its a wonderful area on the coast with its surrounding scenery and untouched nature is a joy to settle in a switch off.

[Boxster5]

hairy v said:

That sounds fantastic and Mrs V really wants to do this. Can i ask for a bit more detail, please?

What sort of detail are you after Hairy V? We flew with KLM from Newcastle via Amsterdam to Cape Town - not great and you land at 22:30 in Cape Town so we booked into Hotel Verde directly adjacent to the airport for the first night as driving at night in Cape Town is a bit dodgy.
Also driving back to the airport on the N2 road for our 00:20 return flight to Amsterdam, seeing signs saying “High Crime Area - no stopping” makes you realise it’s not all a bed of roses - the airport is surrounded by mile after mile of shanty towns (townships).
If you can get over that and stick to safe areas, use common sense, it’s all pretty straightforward. The people are lovely and the standard of service (if a bit slow) is far superior to our country or the US. It’s also very cheap eating out & the food quality is excellent.

[Boxster5]

bennno said:

Did similar a few years back, camps bay great area to stay in Cape Town. Go see penguins if it’s right time of year. Great car museum at vineyard near french hook.

We weren’t that impressed with Camps Bay (too many street hawkers) but we went on the Cape Town Sightseeing Tour which went through there so we were able to hop back on!
We stayed just behind the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town which was so handy and very safe.
We saw the penguins at Boulders Beach near Simons Town last time we visited - we stayed in Simons Town for 3 nights last time.
Agree the motor museum near Franschhoek is great and an absolute bargain at around £4 entry.

[Boxster5]

screw loose said:

Thanks for the update Boxster5. It great to get first hand info on the local protocol.
Who did you use for your pre travel PCR test ? Unsurprisingly none of the companies appear to have glowing reviews.
We took out excess refund insurance here before we pick up the hire car at CPT to avoid the usual haggle there.
We fly out next week and are staying it Llandudno, just south of Camps bay. We have been a few times before to Cape Town and it somewhere you can return to time after time as there is always more beauty to discover. I would recommend Knysna, if anyone is looking to move around whilst in the Bay area. We have booked 3 nights on the peninsular in Knysna, its a wonderful area on the coast with its surrounding scenery and untouched nature is a joy to settle in a switch off.

We went past Llandudno on the Cape Town Sightseeing Bus which was a great way to see that side of Cape Town - nice location right on the coast.
We stayed on Thesen Island near Knysna last time but we weren’t too impressed as our accommodation didn’t have air con and we were eaten alive by mosquitoes as we were on a tidal lagoon. I was also recovering from shingles at the time which didn’t help.
We did like Knysna Heads though and in fact this time we drove through to East Head Cafe for lunch when we stayed at Wilderness (Wilderness is lovely with some very nice properties although it has a bit of a hippy feel about it in some of the restaurants & bars and paragliding is big there). Brenton on Sea and Belvedere nearby are also worth a visit.
We didn’t like the Waterfront at Knysna as you could have been anywhere & we didn’t feel the food there was that special but everyone has their own preferences.
We used Randox for pre flight PCR tests (we’ve used them before) and they were fine - everything received in good time although i’ll be pleased when the whole thing is scrapped.
You have a form to fill in (like a passenger locator form) prior to arrival in SA where you have to list your accommodation (all of it if you’re touring) - on return to the airport, you have to fill in the same form but to be honest it is bureaucracy gone mad - you could actually fill in anything and I’m sure there were a few Micky Mouse’s as they weren’t checked! I’d be surprised if they could actually read mine as I literally scrawled it out whilst leaning on a column.
You also have a PLF to complete for entry back into the UK.