The other day I was planning a two weeks travel itinerary for South Africa, of which one week will be a safari and the remaining week will be around Cape Town and possibly also the Garden Route. During this planning I realized that even though the Garden Route seems to be included in every South African travel itinerary, it is not necessarily that obvious to me that it belongs there. The more I thought about this, the more I was convinced that the remaining week should be spent around the Cape Peninsula rather than the Garden Route.
I’ll make this quick and straight forward. I believe that by spending your time on and around the Cape Peninsula, you will see just as much as on the Garden Route, but with far less driving. So if the case is that you only have one week to explore the Western Cape area, I would stick to the Cape rather than spend the time driving all the way up to Knysna, Plettenburg and Jeffreys Bay. In the Cape area you have Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Constantia, Simons Town, Hermanus and of course the mighty Cape Town! These are all great places that will definitely keep you entertained for that week you have disposable.
My honest opinion is that the Garden Route is nice and pleasant, but not amazingly exciting. It has a lot of cute beach towns that are fun to visit with friends, but if you have traveled all the way to Africa for the first time, you might want something more interesting. Around the Cape Peninsula you can enjoy the beautiful wine country, relaxed beach towns, penguins in Simons Town, the Cape of Good Hope, hiking in Constantia (sa-venues.com just posted this great article about hiking in South Africa’s wine country), whale watching in Hermanus, and nightlife, culture and fun in Cape Town.
However, if you are an adrenaline junky, it would be a shame to be in the Western Cape without doing the world’s highest bungee jump or surfing the famous super tubes in Jeffrey’s Bay, both which are located right on the the Garden Route.
Now, before you go read these important travel tips for a successful vacation in and around Cape Town!
Do you have any questions or suggestions for a one week itinerary in the Western Cape? Leave a comment below!
