Our Top Five / Drives >>

In our opinion South Africa is one of the best countries for driving in the world. However most international travellers are so concerned about crime, poor roads or getting lost that they tend to stick to the major highways. This is to miss out on a large part of the magic South Africa has to offer – the amazing scenery, historical points of interest, quaint towns and the long, long empty roads. South Africa generally has excellent infrastructure and you can often travel as quickly on the back roads as the highways.

So we’ve put together a list of our top five drives. We’ve combined long drives that could take more than a day (for example Route 62) and short drives of only an hour (for example Chapman’s Peak Drive). All drives can be done without a 4X4, but some are on un-tarred roads, so require caution and speak to us to find out about the current local conditions.

We could easily have made a list of our top twenty and still they would all have been excellent, but this gives you a flavour of the routes that you’ll be taking when you come and explore with Satpack Travel.

So, in no particular order…

Route 62 (Western Cape)

Route 62 is our preferred alternative to the disappointing N2 highway along the Garden Route. It runs all the way from Cape Town and the winelands to where the best beaches, towns and coastline of the Garden Route start anyway. In addition to being at least as quick and avoiding the heavy freight lorries, you pass along the longest wine route in the world and then meander through the Little Karoo – a wild places of dramatic mountain ranges and big, big skies.

It is a route of majestic towering cliffs, scenic passes, indigenous fynbos, clear-running streams and other flora interspersed with orchards and vineyards. The towns along the way are amongst the oldest and most picturesque in South Africa… Franschhoek, Paarl, McGregor, Swellendam and Calitzdorp are well worth a visit in their own right. You will also pass through small farming and wine-growing communities like Barrydale, Montagu, Ashton and Ceres.

If you need a break from the driving, there are many distractions from wine-tasting to game reserves, cultural tours, museums, hiking trails, ostrich-riding or simply having a picnic by the road, enjoying the tranquillity of it all.

Route 62 is also known as the Mountain Route and there are a number of stunning mountain passes just off the main route such as Michell's Pass near Ceres, Prince Alfred's Pass from Knysna to Uniondale, Garcia's Pass from Riversdale to Ladismith, Cogmans Kloof from Ashton to Montagu and Swartberg Pass from Oudtshoorn to Prince Albert. But ask us to check you don’t need a 4X4!

There are any number of excellent accommodation options should you wish to take your time along the way, from boutique hotels to working vineyards, from village guesthouses to five star luxury.

Length: Approximately 330KM from the winelands to Oudtshoorn. However there are a number of alternative starting points, drives off the main route and Route 62 is marketed as going all the way on to Port Elizabeth (almost the same again). Allow at least one long day’s driving to get from the winelands to George or Knysna but rather than rush, take at least a couple of days ideally.

Belfast to Hazyview (Mpumalanga)

Simply the best way to get to safari from Gauteng. Especially if you are visiting the game reserves we recommend in the middle or southern Kruger National Park area.

After a quick, but unattractive dash along the N12/N4 from Johannesburg or Pretoria you turn off at Belfast onto the R540 and the fun begins. After meandering through the rolling green hills and trout-fishing country around Dullstroom you climb up on the R37 towards the dramatic Long Tom Pass (at an altitude of over 2,000 metres) named after the ‘Long Tom’ guns used in the Anglo-Boer War – this has long been the best way down the escarpment from the Highveld. The scenery, climate and landscape, with its bare rocky hilltops, pine forests and frequent low cloud will remind you of the highlands of Scotland.

A good detour from Lydenburg is to visit God’s Window to fully appreciate the drama of the escarpment, where the Highveld drops a thousand metres to the Lowveld below.

At the top of the Long Tom Pass, check the temperature outside, because within an hour you could be somewhere 10 degrees warmer! You drop through a series of easy hairpins opening out into more gentle, quicker roads through pine plantations with majestic cliffs and deep ravines on either side.

After stopping at Sabie for a break and perhaps lunch, take the R536 to Hazyview. The flora is changing discernibly now - everything is green, growing and fighting for attention. There’s a distinctly tropical feel to it and you may even see tropical fruit plantations. The R536 is a great ‘driving’ road and popular with motorcyclists because of it’s relentless but gentle and banked bends. The final approach into Hazyview is a bit straighter and flatter, but you now feel you’re in country where the big game roams.

Length: Approximately 180KM, allow 2-3 hours. The top of the escarpment can often be covered in cloud, especially in summer time, but you should soon drop out of it.

Baberton (Mpumalanga) to Piggs Peak (Swaziland)

Certainly not the quickest route to Swaziland from the Kruger area. But definitely one the most scenic ways to get from one country to another in the world! Until the road is fully upgraded, this requires a sense of adventure - it can’t be rushed and at times you are driving on dirt tracks with many potholes but we’ve done it twice in saloon car, including in torrential rain, and had no problems.

From Baberton you climb rapidly up to Saddleback Pass through increasingly dramatic mountain scenery. The road is tarred and in good condition, and you’re grateful for that because the drops are not worth thinking about. Every corner presents you with a kaleidoscope of changing views down to remote valleys sprinkled with mud huts and waterfalls.

Near to the Swaziland border the road becomes a dirt track, however it’s in relatively good condition and in the process of being upgraded. Finally you round a corner and you’re at the border crossing – a series of small buildings and huts staffed by a few sleepy guards. Guantanamo Bay this is not. The lack of queues and self-important border guards contrasts refreshingly with the more commonly used Oshoek Border Gate.

On the Swaziland side the road descends slowly through intense forest and plantations on a poor, but passable road. Take your time because potholes probably lie around the next switchback! This used to be big mining country, so you can see a lot of signs of human habitations, but most the settlements feel like ghost towns now. Once you hit the highway at Piggs Peak it’s a quick dash down to Malolotja Nature Reserve, Mbabane and beyond.

Length: Approximately 60KM from Baberton to Piggs Peak, but allow 2-3 hours, including the border crossing. Check border opening times.

Chapman’s Peak Drive (Cape Town, Western Cape)

Upgraded in 2003 Chapman’s Peak Drive is a stretch of just 9KMs from Hout Bay to Noordhoek (on the way to Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve or False Bay). However, what it lacks in distance it makes up for in stunning views and sheer engineering audacity. This is surely one of the most spectacular short ‘city’ drives in the world.

From the picturesque working harbour at Hout Bay you climb up (paying R26 for a car) at the toll booth) with magnificent views back to the Bay and Constania Berg behind. Then the road literally runs halfway up a cliff through a series of switchbacks (there are 114 curves in just 9KMs) and tunnels. The drop to your right is sheer and straight into the Atlantic Ocean.

There are many areas along the route where you can stop and take in the scenery over a picnic. From Noordhoek, the Cape Peninsula National Park can be reached via the M65 to the west or the M6 and M4 on the eastern side of the Peninsula.

However, note that Chapman's Peak Drive has been closed intermittently for upgrading recently, so ask us in advance to find out if it's open.

Length: 9KMs. Allow 1 hour with frequent breaks to take it all in. Chapman’s Peak Drive can be combined with other back roads to create a much more scenic and enjoyable alternative to the N2 when travelling from Cape Town to the winelands.

Underberg to Nottingham Road (Kwazulu-Natal)

We only discovered this by chance. On the map it looked like a short-cut, but when the tarmac ran out we realized that we had to forget the clock and just sit back and take it all in.

From Underberg follow the signs to The Sani Pass but keep on the road towards Nottingham Road via Lower Loteni. You drop deeper and deeper into the bewitching foothills of the Southern Drakensberg that climb in a series of dramatic rocky outcrops and peaks to Lesotho almost a kilometer above you to the west.

This is one of very few roads that actually goes somewhere through the Drakensberg Mountain Range, rather than simply around them. On both sides you are surrounded by deep green valleys and soaring cliffs interrupted by the occasional village or river crossing. Goats and local farmers on horseback wander the roads. Dirt tracks head off into seemingly impenetrable mountains on either side to farms and guesthouses with quaint English names. This is, after all, Settler Country.

Too soon you pop back out onto the tar not too far from Nottingham Road.

Length: Approximately 100KM from Underberg to Nottingham Road. Allow 1.5 hours, but don’t rush it – you want to be looking up, not down.

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