Determining what number of days (or weeks) in South Africa might be crucial resolution to make once you’re planning a visit to the nation. How lengthy you spend there straight impacts what number of locations you may go, and the way deeply you may discover every.
Indeed, it’s tough to hammer down a quantity, and even actually discover a place to begin. On one hand, South Africa is the simplest nation in sub-Saharan Africa to discover independently; you possibly can spend only a week or two right here and canopy numerous floor.
On the opposite hand, South Africa appears downright enormous once you break it down into its areas, and get out of the Cape Town and Johannesburg areas. Hopefully, this text will show you how to down the suitable path, no matter that finally ends up being.
Popular South Africa Trip Ideas
1 week in South Africa
With every week in South Africa, you could have to select. Some vacationers will arrive in Cape Town and spend every week within the metropolis and surrounding space, be that within the wine international locations of Franschoek and Stellenbosch, or alongside the plush Garden Route. Others will fly to Johannesburg after which make a beeline for Kruger National Park or different close by sport lodges.
2 weeks in South Africa
If your reply to what number of days in South Africa is “about 14,” you may get pleasure from the very best of each worlds: Cape Town, the Cape Winelands and the Garden Route; plus Johannesburg and Kruger. You may additionally have the ability to enterprise elsewhere, similar to persevering with onto the Wild Coast from the Garden Route, or heading south from Johannesburg to the Drakensberg, Africa’s oldest mountain vary.
One month in South Africa
With a month in South Africa, you may see a lot of the nation. I’d in all probability suggest beginning in Cape Town the place, after exploring the town and wine nation, you may slowly make your approach down the Garden Route to Storms River. From right here, move by Port Elizabeth, the de-facto starting of the Wild Coast, heading all the way in which to Durban earlier than pivoting north by the Drakensberg to Jo’burg and Krugen.
6 weeks in South Africa
Six weeks is a very long time to spend in South Africa. With this period of time, it’s possible you’ll select to comply with the journey plan I’ve laid out for a month, however take extra time having fun with it. Alternatively, you may add in secondary and tertiary locations. From the Garden Route, for instance, you may detour inland to Oudtshoorn and its quirky ostrich farms. Alternatively, spend a while “away with the faeries” in Hogsback, or enjoyable on the dune seashores of Chintsa.
Longer journeys to South Africa
If you spend longer than six weeks in South Africa, you in all probability have a selected purpose to be there. For instance, it’s possible you’ll hire an Airbnb in Cape Town or Jo’burg and determine to “live” in South Africa for some time, or hire a safari car and discover the wilder elements of the nation (and even close by Botswana and Namibia) by yourself. In my opinion, a visit of this size can be fairly lengthy for a standard “tourist” go to to South Africa.
The Best Time to Visit South Africa
South Africa’s seasons are the other of the Northern Hemisphere—their summer time is our winter. Indeed, I might say that January and February are a few of my favourite months to go to South Africa. You’ll get pleasure from sizzling climate that’s good for the seashores of Cape Town, whereas Johannesburg (and, extra importantly, close by Kruger Park) might be dry. This ensures that animals will collect round watering holes, making the “Big 5” simpler to identify.
With this being stated, there are benefits to visiting throughout different elements of the yr, regardless of what number of days in South Africa you find yourself spending. Coming within the spring months of October and November, for instance, lets you get pleasure from flower blooms, together with Praetoria’s well-known Jacaranda. The South African winter could be downright chilly in locations, however the trade-off is that there might be nearly no crowds.
No matter what number of days in South Africa you spend, this magical nation on the finish of the world will attraction and delight you. South Africa occurs to be the simplest African nation to discover independently, however that isn’t the one purpose you need to come right here. Spend every week or two and discover Cape Town and the Garden Route, or give attention to Johannesburg and close by Kruger National Park. Or keep longer and discovery secondary areas such because the Wild Coast and the Drakensberg Mountains.
Robert Schrader is a journey author and photographer who’s been roaming the world independently since 2005, writing for publications similar to “CNNGo” and “Shanghaiist” alongside the way in which. His weblog, Leave Your Daily Hell, supplies a mixture of journey recommendation, vacation spot guides and private essays overlaying the extra esoteric features of life as a traveler.