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In a country like South Africa, where there is so much to see and such long distances to cover, the journeys between places are as almost as important as the time spent once you’ve arrived. You shouldn’t be worrying about your next long drive or arriving stressed.

Travel agencies forget this fact and don’t seem to recognize that concerns about personal security in South Africa can get in the way of seeing the best of the country… the fear of becoming a victim of crime by straying into the wrong part of town... the stress that’ll you’ll get lost… worrying that there will be more pothole than road! 

So most international travelers tend to rent a car and then stick to the major highways. But this is to miss out on most of the magic South Africa has to offer – the amazing scenery, historical points of interest, quaint towns and the long, long empty roads. Look at Satpack Travel's top five drives to get a flavour. South Africa generally has excellent infrastructure and you can often travel as quickly and much more pleasurably on the back roads as on the highways.

So when we’ve agreed your itinerary we will put together the best route for you, according to your route preferences (for example the quickest, the most scenic, the most historical).

Some Examples.

A ‘standard’ itinerary for international travelers will include Cape Town and the winelands nearby, and most of them take the N2 from Cape Town to get there. However, they could avoid the city centre and take Chapman’s Peak Drive - a stunning engineering achievement where roads seem to be glued to cliffs dropping into the Atlantic Ocean - towards Cape Point, follow the wide, wild beach of False Bay with the chance to see whales and meander up towards Franschhoek taking in a mountain pass or two on the way.

And international travellers follow the N2 to get to the Garden Route. Here they find roadworks and heavy-freight lorries. With a few exceptions, most of the resorts along the way are frankly very disappointing anyway. But running parallel and directly from the winelands is Route 62, the longest wine route in the world. It meanders through the Little Karoo, a wild place of soaring mountain ranges and big skies, taking in some of the most historical towns in SA. And Route 62 ends where the best beaches begin anway!

Or if you’re going on safari around Kruger, save the cost and hassle of a flight or long journey along the highway. Take in the spectacular Mpumalanga escarpment where the Highveld suddenly drops a thousand metres to the Lowveld. This is part of the same geological fault-line that runs all the way from the Nile Valley in Egypt, through the Rift Valley and along the backbone of Africa. Stop at ‘God’s Window’ for a breath-taking view, wind your way through the best trout-fishing country in Africa and watch as the Alpine landscape changes to tropical fruit plantations in a matter of minutes.

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