Starting off in Johannesburg and ending in Cape Town, this 15-day vacation delivers a well-rounded South African experience that touches on everything that makes this country unique. You begin with the game reserves of the renowned Kruger National Park and sightings of the Big Five. Tours of the wine regions east of Cape Town are next on the agenda, followed by a wilderness adventure in the iconic Cederberg Mountains, an area well-known for its fascinating sites of millennia-old cave art. Your tour concludes with getting acquainted with Cape Town and basking in its surrounding parkland and vineyards.
Upon arrival, you will take a private transfer to your hotel in Johannesburg, spend the afternoon settling in and enjoy dinner at the hotel.
Hotel: The Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa
After breakfast, you are slated for a relaxing spa treatment, with the afternoon at your leisure to explore Johannesburg. The city is an international center for street art and has a number of fascinating walking tours dedicated to its incredible murals.
Hotel: The Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa
Today, you transfer to the Johannesburg airport for a safari flight to Tengile River Lodge for three nights in the Sabi Sands region. Morning and evening game drives deliver the Big Five – lions, elephants, buffalos, leopards, and rhinos. Other animals within these regions include the cheetah, hippo, wildebeest, giraffe, zebra, and hyena. The unique Tengile River Lodge only has nine suites, so you’re set for a personal luxury hospitality experience. Enjoy indoor and outdoor lounges, outdoor showers, a private pool, and a personal bar. During your visit, you can explore the region on foot with a guide and take a tour of one of the communities nearby.
Hotel: andBeyond Tengile River Lodge
After breakfast, you head to the airport at Skukuza for a flight to Cape Town. You then take a private transfer to the 17th-century Babylonstoren, one of the country’s oldest Cape Dutch settlements, set at the foot of Simonsberg Nature Reserve in the Franschhoek wine valley. Enjoy various wine tours customized to your tastes, including a lunchtime visit to Delaire Graff Estate. Babylonstoren is still a true farm, replete with traditional whitewashed walls, roaring fireplaces, superb farm-to-table food, and a comfortable spa. And the diverse garden and grounds are a real treat, an always-changing botanical feast for the eyes.
Hotel: Babylonstoren
A private car collects you at Babylonstoren today for a beautiful drive north to spend three nights at Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat within the Cederberg Mountains in the Western Cape. Set on an almost 20,000-acre private reserve, this family-run, 16-room ecological oasis features five-star luxury, contemporary wellness offerings, and exquisite South African cuisine. The open plains here are yours to discover, a mountain landscape of astonishing beauty. Imagine thrilling wildlife tours, hiking and kayaking, picnic lunches, spa afternoons, and romantic dinners under the stars. The region is also home to more than 130 ancient rock-art sites, some of them more than 10,000 years old.
Hotel: Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat
After breakfast, you transfer to Cape Town for a three-night stay at Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, set high above the Atlantic Ocean amid the 12 Apostle Mountain range and Table Mountain National Park. The perfect culmination of your African adventure, the 12 Apostles offers classic style, panoramic mountain views and a rejuvenating spa, while setting you within easy reach of the charms of Cape Town and the sanctuaries of the surrounding parkland.
Hotel: 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa
After breakfast, you enjoy a full day of exploration in Cape Town, with fast-track tickets to Table Mountain. Visit Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum and discover the city center, before heading to lunch at a winery in Constantia, a wine-producing suburb. The afternoon is spent at Kirstenbosch National Botanica Garden, with dinner later on back at the hotel.
Hotel: 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa
Today brings a private day tour of Cape Point Nature Reserve, a biodiverse section of the Table Mountain National Park. Enjoy the extraordinary cliff vistas, the sandy beaches, the penguins at Boulder’s Beach, a funicular ride, and a thousand species of endemic plants. The day concludes with a sumptuous farewell dinner.
Hotel: 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa
You will be escorted to the Cape Town airport for your return flight home.