The best stops on a Garden Route road trip

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The Garden Route in South Africa is the stunning stretch of coastline that officially starts in Storms River to the east of Knysna and stretches all the way to Mossel Bay. However, there is so much to see west of Mossel Bay all the way to Cape Town that it’s worth taking a bit of additional time to see things like the Southernmost Tip of Africa and the penguin colony in Simons Town if you have the time. The whole area is packed with natural beauty – hikes, viewpoints, outdoor activities – you can’t really go wrong. There is so much to do and see that I found it tough to narrow it down and prioritize what really needs to make it on the list. Below I’ve compile what I think are the best stops for a Garden Route road trip along with some tips about navigating the whole thing. Finally, at the very bottom, you’ll find a map of many of the places I stopped so you can see how we arranged our road tripping.

Driving in South Africa

Driving in South Africa is straight-forward. There are few checkpoints, signs are clearly labelled and the roads along the Garden Route are wide open with few confusing splits and turns. The speed limits range from about 60kmh in cities to 120kmh on the highways. There are passing lanes, but there are also a lot of speed cameras in higher traffic areas – it’s usually best not to exceed the limit by about 10kmh or you risk getting busted for speeding.

The N2 is the main highway that connects cities along the Garden Route and all the way to Cape Town. The whole route is so beautiful that there’s really no need to speed through any segment of it. Along the road from Storms River to Bloukrans bridge the road is lined with colorful flowers that really does give the impression of driving through a well-maintained garden.

How long to spend driving the Garden Route

The official Garden Route from Storms River to Mossel Bay is a quick drive of 2.5 hours if you drive without stopping, but that’s not the point and with all of the beautiful things to see, it’s not realistic. I recommend planning for a full week and beginning your trip in Storms River and then extending beyond the official end of the Garden Route all the way to Cape Town. If making it all the way to Cape Town isn’t feasible, I suggest at least trying to make it to L’Agulhas, which is where you’ll find the southernmost point of Africa. L’Agulhas would be an epic end to a Garden Route road trip.

The best stops on the Garden Route

It’s hard to say what the best places to stop on the Garden Route are. I’ve included my top picks from Stormsriver all the way to Cape Town. At the bottom of this post I’ve included a more comprehensive map of some of the things I’ve done and things I’d recommend. There is so much beauty here and it’s hard to go wrong in choosing what to do along the coast.

Tsitsikamma National Park

We got to the park at 10am and found that it wasn’t crowded, despite beautiful weather. Entrance costs 62 rand for South Africans and 248 rand for international passport holders. The walk to the suspension bridges is an easy 1km walk and is definitely a must-do if you come here. You can also go on a kayaking excursion up the river between massive cliffs or hike to the waterfall nearby. By early afternoon when we were leaving the lot was full and cars were parked along the much of the road leading into the main lot.

Things to do at Tsitsikamma National Park

• Walk over the suspension bridges
• Hike the short, but very steep trail to the view point
• Hike the waterfall trail
• Swim
• Kayak
• Rent a cabin and stay the night
• Hike the Otter Trail, which starts here!

Just further west along the N2 is Boukrans Bridge, which is a very popular spot for bungee jumping as it’s the highest bungee bridge in the world. From a height of 216 meters (709 feet!) you’ll find yourself free falling for 6 seconds. You’ll drive over it, but it’s worth pulling over into the cafe near the bridge and watching a few jumps. You can watch jumpers start their experience on the long zipline they ride just to get to the bungee platform in the middle of the bridge.

Knysna National Park

Knysna National Park is a massive forested coastal park with no shortage of great hiking and adventuring. We opted for the Circles in the Forest trail, which was 9km and took us just under 3 hours. We stopped at the river that’s about halfway and made a bunch of short stops to check out trees, insects and take photos along the way. The Cirlce in the Forest hike was mostly shaded, though the last 3km was along a gravel road with a little bit of sun shining between the branches overhead. We hardly saw anyone else for the majority of the hike.

When we arrived at the parking area at 9:45am there was one other car in the cleared dirt lot. We ended up seeing the group at the river. They had clearly taken a swim break. The water in the park is a dark reddish brown color. It seems this comes from humic acid present in the water as a result of natural decay of vegetation. Everyone tells us it’s harmless – though a quick search indicates there might not be enough evidence available to conclude it’s entirely safe, but I’m a massive skeptic.

Things to do at Knysna National Park

• Hiking! We did Circles in the Forest, but there are so many others that look equally as beautiful.
• See Knysna Heads where two cliffs tower over the entrance to the lagoon.

Robberg Nature Reserve

This warrants an entire day and was my favorite stop along our Garden Route road trip. I loved Robberg Nature Reserve so much, I wrote a separate post about it (also partly so I could share more photos of this gem). You can check out that post here.

Entrance is 50 rand per adult and it’s well worth the entry fee. The views are stunning the entire way around the peninsula and the secluded beach below the cliffs feels like a private paradise and welcome respite at the end of a hike.

Things to do at Robberg Nature Reserve

• Hike the seal trail all the way out to the point of the peninsula.
• Walk to the Plettenberg Bay side of the reserve to see the seals lazing on the rocks.
• Make the steep climb down to the beach for a swim.
• You can make reservations (only one group at a time) to stay in the reserve for a night.

Sedgefield / Wilderness

Sedgefield and Wilderness are two towns right next to each other that could be visited in one day – or you could easily spend a week exploring the beautiful coastline, art markets, and hikes in the area. I recommend timing this for a Saturday if possible because there is a wonderful market in Sedgefield. You can find its location in the map below, or you can visit their website, here. It’s a great spot for coffee, homemade rusks, crafts, gifts, etc.

We stayed at Baywater Village in Sedgefield, which runs about $60 per night for a one-bedroom chalet on the lake. It’s located right in the middle of everything; we could easily drive to Kaaimans Railway Bridge in Wilderness, Myoli Beach where we swam and watched the sunset, and to the nearby markets. Baywater Village is located on Swartvlei lake and has its own great views and free canoe use if you’re staying there.

We chose to stay at Baywater Village in Sedgefield for multiple days and from there were able to drive to many of the best stops on the Garden Route: Storms River (1.5 hour drive), Robberg Nature Reserve (1 hour drive), Knysna (30 minutes), Wilderness (15 minutes), George (30 minutes).

Things to do in Sedgefield and Wilderness

• (Saturday only) Wild Oats Market
• Paraglide
• Visit Kaaimans River Railway Bridge
• Eat dinner at Kaaimans on the River

The Southern Tip of Africa

The main thing here is to stand at the southern point of Africa. You don’t need to do anything else. Just be there. It’s free to drive into the park. There are even braai (bbq) stands built along the beaches if you feel inspired to cook dinner while enjoying the sunset from the very southern tip of Africa.

This is where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet. The 18-meter continent-shaped monument was built from concrete and metal powder so that it would age with the landscape and, over time, develop a character of its own. There are thick steel plates embedded in the concrete, marking east, west, south, and north. The steel plates are partly rusted and were designed by the artists as an ode to the many shipwrecks along the coast.

The southernmost point of Africa would be a fantastic way to end a Garden Route road trip if you aren’t keen for a road trip all the way to Cape Town. L’Agulhas is technically west of the Garden Route, but it’s only a three-hour drive from Mossel Bay and totally worth the trip. Take an extra day, spend the night in Still Bay, and then just make the drive to L’Agulhas – it’s certainly one of the best stops (not quite) on the Garden Route.

Boulders Beach

One cannot pass up the chance to see the penguins – and the baby dassies that follow you around on the boardwalk. The entrance ticket costs 40 rand for South Africans and 160 for international visitors. It’s a short walk down the boardwalk to get to the beach where the penguins congregate. Along the way you’ll be able to spot plenty who have retreated into the shade of the brush right next to the walkway.

The boardwalk juts out over the beach, and on a nice day it can get a bit crowded so it might be best to time your visit early if you aren’t a big fan of crowds.

Chapman’s Peak Drive

Chapman’s Peak Drive is a scenic drive along the coast over the mountains just south of Cape town. If you follow the M6 just south of Hout Bay you come to the entrance checkpoint for the drive. It costs 50 rand to take a vehicle through. It’s worth noting that the checkpoint is only on the north end of the drive and you pay each time you pass through – so if you were to pass through driving south and then turn around and come back, you’d end up paying 100 rand. Conversely, if you went around through Noordhoek and came north to the Chapman’s Peak Lookout Point and then turned around… I’m not sure you’d end up paying anything. We drove south and then turned around and came back through and paid 100 rand in total – worth it for the view. At the lookout point we saw a crew of old folks who had the right idea – they were posted up with snacks, drinks and lawn chairs just enjoying the view.

Below is a map of what I think are some of the best stops on the Garden Route. Of course there are a million other places I haven’t been, but below are the places I went that I would recommend to others. One of my favorite places to stop was the Inverroche Gin Distillery. You can read more about that here, if you like.