1

For five days I'd take the R62 all the way to Oudsthoorn and then to George (maybe continue onto Wilderness and Knysna) and then back along the N2 to Cape Town (via Hermanus/Betty's Bay).

Driving the N2 directly to George takes about 4 hours (non-stop) so you can see how easy it would be to divide up a 5-day loop involving George. Roads are nice and scenic so the driving itself is relatively easy.

So it be one night along Route62 (http://www.route62.co.za/), two nights in Garden (George, Knysna, Vic Bay or Wilderness etc.), and one night on the way back along the N2 (Mossel Bay or Hermanus etc.).

2

I completely agree,

Garden Route is unmissable, and with the loop route suggested above, you get the best summarised version of what's on offer. I would highly recommend Nature's Valley and Storms River Mouth if you can fit them in,

Best,

Sarah Nelson
http://www.rentalsincapetown.com/

3

Where will you be leaving from ? If Franschhoek then head to Montagu or Ashton then Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Swellendam, CT.

4

Hi

Given your timeframe, this is my advice:
Oudsthoorn has some nice caves and you can ride an ostrich but I didn't like the town
Keep it simple and stay with the coast, lots of great things to see
If you can, go directly to Storms River and make your way back along the coast. Lots of outdoor activities if you
Iike that
Nature's Valley is lovely but no Cafes and shops, just waterfalls, walks etc
Plettenburg Bay is the place for lots of shops and Cafes but very commercial
Wilderness is a lot nicer than Kysna
Sounds like you might like Swellendam
Didn't go to Hermanus as there are no whales there at the moment
Given your interests, a few days in Stellenbosch might be nice

5

Thanks guys! We did pretty much exactly what the 1st 3 of you suggested. From 2 nights in Franschloek to 62, stopped in Calitzdorp cause we needed to rest. Then a night in Knysna, Wilderness, 2 in Swellendam, and then CT.

I have to say I really wish I'd listed to the last comment. You were pretty much exactly right. 62 was too long and boring for us. And we were unimpressed with Oudtshoorn and we didn't even get to ride an ostrich! (The place we went to was closed). We had planned on 2 nights in Knysna b/c I was excited about the nature/storm's river around there, but BLECH, we HATED Knysna. Not cute at all. :( We went on a hike but nothing spectacular at all, and we couldn't take going any further to Storm's River. We stayed th next night in Wilderness, which we loved. but when it was super rainy the next day we decided we should move on. So we did Swellendam for 2 nights, which was so so wonderful - just to REST somewhere pretty for 2 nights and not have to move. So beautiful there.

We drove back a long the coast. In hindsight, in case anyone reads this, I think it would have been ideal to do just Fransloek, Swellendam, somewhere on the coast, CT. Going all the way out to Knysna was totally not worth it to us. Seems like Oudtshoorn and Knysna etc have cool stuff around, but if you're moving every night you don't have time (or energy) to get in the car to see it.

The coast/beaches are so wild and awesome, but we never really had time to chill or walk on one for the day b/c we were always moving.

Anyway, thanks for replies. Hope this can help the next person!