South Africa has now very definitely come out of its shell. This incredible country offers anything from spellbinding scenery and cosmopolitan towns to gourmet cuisine and world-class wines, the safari experience simply the icing on the cake. A holiday here can be a very personal one, visitors able to pick and choose exactly what they want to
experience whether that’s a safari and the winelands, the Garden Route and the Whale Route or everything all at once!

Cape Town is usually where it all starts. This is one of those wonderful ocean cities where you can be chilling-out on a surf-drenched beach after breakfast, purchasing a designer handbag before lunch and dining on haute cuisine after sundowners. It offers the best that nature and man can conjure up, the former’s contribution including Table Mountain and Camps Bay, the latter’s more along the lines of the must-see V&A Waterfront and ritzy Beluga Restaurant!

If you drive an hour in a north-westerly direction you’re slap-bang in the middle of the Cape Winelands. This is where you’ll come across perfectly-arranged vineyards and eye-catching mountains, quaint towns like Paarl and Franschhoek betraying their European origins with their trendy boutiques and chic street cafés.

But if it’s a once-in-a-lifetime wildlife experience you’re after then make for nearby Hermanus between June and October, this charming coastal town famous for offering some of the best land-based whale-watching opportunities on earth. Equally celebrated, of course, is the Garden Route, this coastal drive showcasing anything from towns like
George and Knysna to the Outeniqua Mountains and Tsitsikamma Forest, even some first-class (not to mention malaria-free) safari options.

WHEN TO VISIT: IN GENERAL THE BUSIEST TIME IS THE HOT SUMMER PERIOD BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND FEBRUARY, ALTHOUGH THE AUTUMN MONTHS OF MARCH TO APRIL AND SPRING MONTHS OF SEPTEMBER TO OCTOBER ARE ALSO POPULAR. WHALE-WATCHERS SHOULD PLAN TO COME BETWEEN JUNE AND OCTOBER, WHILST MAY
TO OCTOBER IS A GOOD TIME FOR SAFARIS AS THE FOLIAGE IS LESS DENSE – SEE PAGE 112.

HOW TO VISIT: YOUR HOLIDAY WILL BEGIN WITH A BRITISH AIRWAYS OR VIRGIN ATLANTIC FLIGHT FROM HEATHROW TO EITHER JOHANNESBURG OR CAPE TOWN – THE FLYING TIME ABOUT 11 HOURS,
ALTHOUGH AS THERE IS ONLY A 1 HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE THERE’S NO TEDIOUS JET LAG. YOU CAN ALSO TWO-CENTRE THE COUNTRY WITH DUBAI (FLYING EMIRATES), THE SEYCHELLES (AIR SEYCHELLES) AND MAURITIUS ( AIR MAURITIUS).