There is so much to see and do here we could have easily spent the entire two weeks here and never gotten bored. So much culture, history and nature to enjoy around here

In November 2016 me and 3 friends rented car and did a Road Trip through South Africa from Johannesburg all the way to Cape Town. The journey was amazing and we were all fascinated by this beautiful country. In this post I will share our itinerary, travel times and general tips and tricks we learned while driving through this country. You can use this information to plan your own trip. In other post I will share more details about each main destination in our itinerary.

The Itinerary

In this section I’ll list main destinations we visited, this excludes some of the stops we had out of practical reasons. I’ll mention those at the end. You can find the entire trip with all stops, sights and hostels mapped onto a Google Custom map at the end of this post. For more detailed info on each destination just click on the title and it will take you right to my post about that stop.

1. Joburg

We did not visit Johannesburg itself for two main reasons:

• I had already seen a lot of the cities main sights when I had a 24 hours layover.
• We had a lot of other destinations in mind and this did not fit in our tight schedule anymore

Joburg is still definitely worth a visit and one day I’ll post about my adventure there. However we did land in the OR Tambo Airport and rented out our fantastic cheap Ford Figo here. So it was the starting point of our Road Trip!

2. Sani Pass

Although Sani Pass is not a city or town, it was our first destination. It is a mountain pass in the Drakensberg Area close to Himeville and Underberg.

Lodging: Sani Pass Backpackers Lodge

Sights:

• Hodgson’s Peaks
• Sani Mountain Lodge (Africa’s Highest Pub)
• Drakensberg National Park

3. Coffee Bay

A tiny town that has it all: beaches, green hill and a wild coastal area. It was the most tiresome hike I ever did with loads of wind and rain but I will never forget the views! Beautiful green coastal area with surf options. The Coffee Shack was a super fun place to stay but for its atmosphere and facilities, and let’s not forget the food! Click here for more details about Coffee Bay.

Lodging: Coffee Shack

Sights:

• Hole in the Wall
• Coffee Bay Coastal Area

4. Port Elizabeth

A place of vast long beaches, rich suburbs, green dunes and amazing Game Reserves. The only place I had visited before while I was volunteering in a nearby private Game Reserve called Kwantu. Check out their amazing volunteer program if you’re interested. Our visit now during our Road Trip however was mostly about our only Safari Experience during our self drive in Addo Elephant National Park. Also a very good place for a party!

Lodging: Lungile Backpackers Lodge

Sights:

• Donkin Reserve
• The Boardwalk
• Shark’s Rock Pier
• Addo Elephant National Park

5. Jeffrey’s Bay

This stop was in our case more of a practical one but I included it anyway because this is THE place to surf according to a lot of people. The perfectly shaped waves roll into Jeffrey’s Bay beach and many championships have been held here in the past. This includes the surfing vibe we experienced in the very nice Island Vibe Hostel. A name familiar with lot’s of backpackers that made their way to Jeffrey’s Bay! It is also the perfect base to go Bungee Jumping at Bloukrans Bridge and to visit the breathtaking Tsitsikamma National Park.

Lodging: Island Vibe

Sights:

• The beach
• Bloukrans Bridge & Face Adrenalin (Bungee Jump)
• Tsitsikamma National Park

6. Cape Town

I do not need to sell this place. It sells itself. There is so much to see and do here we could have easily spent the entire two weeks here and never gotten bored. So much culture, history and nature to enjoy around here. The city center offers many great sights you can explore on your own or different tours, I’ve listed the sights more outside the center that you can’t miss. For more tips on what to see check out my separate post on Cape Town.

Lodging: The Backpack and HomeBase

Sights:

• Table Mountain (Platteklip Gorge)
• Robben Island (Ex-Prison)
• Langa Township (Culture)
• Muizenberg Beach (Cabins)
• Kalk Bay (Hipster Town)
• Camps Bay (Beach)
• Cape Point and Cape Good Hope
• Simons Town
• Boulders Beach (Penguins Colony)
• Noordhoek Beach
• Stellenbosch (Wine Tasting)

The Map

I’ve added all the information needed to explore our itinerary to a Custom Google Map. You can find it here below:

This map not only includes our different destinations. It also includes a the small additional Road Trip we did around Cape Town, all the main sights we visited and the hostels we stayed at. If you have any questions about the map or you need more information about anything, feel free to contact me! I’m happy to answer any questions. Detailed experiences per destination can be found in separate posts in the South Africa category of my blog. They are split more or less per destination or part of the trip: Drakensberg, Coffee Bay, Port Elizabeth & Jeffrey’s Bay, Tsitsikamma & Hermanus, Cape Town itself and all around Cape Town.