10-Day South Africa Safari, Cape Town, Kruger and Johannesburg

You arrive at Cape Town International Airport and are greeted by a local guide. As you travel into the city, Table Mountain watches over you, with views across Table Bay to Robben Island and beyond. Your time in Cape Town can be fully customised to your wishes, with entrance fees already included in the cost (evenings excluded), and your guide happy to begin exploring this afternoon if your arrival time allows.

Distance: Airport transfer to Cape Town

Activity: Arrival, optional afternoon exploration

Accommodation: Hotel in Cape Town

Meals: Meals at own expense

An insightful walk through Cape Town’s historical heart is followed by a dramatic cable car ascent of Table Mountain (the cableway closes for annual maintenance in late July to early August). From the V&A Waterfront, take a trip to Robben Island, a place of exile and imprisonment for nearly 400 years, most famously holding Nelson Mandela for 18 years. The 3.5-hour tour includes a return ferry across Table Bay, a visit to the Maximum Security Prison, interaction with a former political prisoner, and a guided bus tour of the island. Return to the Waterfront for shopping and dining. This is a suggested itinerary and can be adjusted to your preferences.

Distance: Full-day Cape Town tour

Activity: City walk, Table Mountain cable car, Robben Island tour

Accommodation: Hotel in Cape Town (second night)

Meals: Breakfast

A relaxing day touring the scenic Cape Peninsula, starting at the fishing village of Kalk Bay and the historical naval town of Simon’s Town, home to a resident colony of African penguins at nearby Boulders Beach. Continue south to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, rich in shipwreck legend, before visiting both Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope and returning via the dramatic Chapman’s Peak Drive. This is a suggested itinerary and can be adjusted to your preferences.

Distance: Full-day Cape Peninsula tour

Activity: Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, penguin colony visit

Accommodation: Hotel in Cape Town (third night)

Meals: Breakfast

The Cape Winelands region is internationally famous for its wines and equally valued for its natural beauty, set among soaring mountains and sweeping valleys within the Cape Floral Kingdom. Visit a number of vineyards to enjoy fine wine and good food, with hosts committed to the environmental and social welfare of the region. Alternatives, if wine isn’t your focus, include the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, the city’s museums, a shark dive at additional cost, or a trip south to the whale-watching region around Hermanus.

Distance: Full-day Cape Winelands tour or alternative activity

Activity: Wine tasting, or an alternative activity of your choice

Accommodation: Hotel in Cape Town (fourth night)

Meals: Breakfast

A local guide returns you to Cape Town Airport for your flight to South Africa’s wildlife-rich Lowveld, where you are met and transferred to the Greater Kruger, embarking on your first game drive en route to your lodge in a private reserve adjoining Kruger National Park. The reserve’s rocky outcrops along the Olifants River make ideal terrain for leopard and a strong look-out point for lion, and with fewer visitors than the better-known reserves nearby, sightings are often enjoyed without other vehicles present.

Distance: Flight to the Lowveld, then transfer and arrival game drive

Activity: Arrival game drive

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp adjoining Kruger National Park

Meals: All meals included, drinks not included

A full day of game viewing within this private "Big Five" reserve, with regular sightings of buffalo, elephant, rhino, lion and leopard. Your luxury en-suite safari tent overlooks the camp’s waterhole, with a shaded patio and spacious interior. Schedules can be arranged to suit your preferences, with both game drives and bush walks on offer, the latter revealing the smaller details of nature that aren’t always visible from a vehicle.

Distance: Morning and afternoon game drives, optional bush walk

Activity: Game drives and optional bush walk

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp adjoining Kruger National Park (second night)

Meals: All meals included, drinks not included

A further full day exploring the reserve, with continued opportunities for Big Five sightings among the rocky outcrops and riverine terrain that make this area such a rewarding place to spend several days.

Distance: Morning and afternoon game drives, optional bush walk

Activity: Game drives and optional bush walk

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp adjoining Kruger National Park (third night)

Meals: All meals included, drinks not included

A final game drive and brunch precede your collection and return to the airport for a flight to Johannesburg, where a local guide greets you and transfers you to your accommodation.

Distance: Final game drive, then flight to Johannesburg

Activity: Final game drive and travel day

Accommodation: Hotel in Johannesburg

Meals: Breakfast

Head north of the city to visit South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, including the Voortrekker Monument and the Union Buildings. Continue to the Cradle of Humankind, one of South Africa’s eight World Heritage Sites and widely recognised as the origin point of humankind, visiting the Maropeng Visitor Centre and, time permitting, the Sterkfontein Caves and the "Harties" cableway for sweeping views of the area.

Distance: Full-day tour of Pretoria and the Cradle of Humankind

Activity: Pretoria sightseeing and Cradle of Humankind visit

Accommodation: Hotel in Johannesburg (second night)

Meals: Breakfast

A fascinating, informative final day exploring South African society. Visit the Apartheid Museum for an audio-visual journey through the country’s history, followed by a tour of Soweto with a local guide, taking in Nelson Mandela’s former home, the Hector Pieterson memorial, Vilakazi Street, and the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the world. Towards the end of the day, transfer back to the airport for your evening flight departure.

Distance: Full-day Johannesburg and Soweto tour, then departure

Activity: Apartheid Museum and Soweto tour

Accommodation: N/A, end of trip

Meals: Breakfast