2 nd part of our itinerary, CP, wine, Garden route

i would allow as much time as possible for cape town and surroundings. without knowing your interests, i feel that the following attractions / sights are must sees:
- table mountain
- robben island
- 2 days on the cape peninsula (preferably with a car) - drive chapmans peak drive, visit the cape of good hope, the penguin colony in simons town, the harbour in kalk bay (a great place to have lunch if you like fish), the beach in muizenberg with the colorful beach houses, the fantastic kirstenbosch botanical garden, maybe hout bay and a boat trip to the seal colony, the constancia valley with several great wineries
- maybe spend some time on the atlantic seabord - camps bay, clifton, sea point
- spend a day out in the winelands. dont self drive, but join a day excursion so that both of you can taste some wine. if you decide to spend a night in the winelands, personally i would choose stellenbosch over franschhoek. stellenbosch is a old and interesting university town with a lot of atmosphere, franschhoek is a "pseudo french place" (in my opinion of course). if you only visit on a day tour, you will be visiting both places.

if feel that 6 nights in cape town (including the peninsula and the winelands) is the minimum.

for the garden route, it obviously again depends on your interests. its "only" 800km from pe to cape town, so if you fly to pe, even if you have only 4-5 days for it, you can still do it. concentrate on the 1-3 places you want to visit, and in between, drive. if all the places you want to see are between george and cape town, you obviously want to fly to george, and not to pe.

Hi Nathalie,

thanks for your answer. I think the interesting places starts Tsitsikamma NP ? Would you suggest to fly to George instead of flying to PE ?

Fly from JB to PE or George. First head to Tsitiskamma NP. Where would be the best place to overnight ?
Thnan Plattenbergbay. Overnight a Plattenberg Bay ?
Dirve to Oudtshoorn. Is it worth to dirve over the Swartberg Pass ?
Frm Oudtshoorn via the R 62 till Swellendam. From Swellendam to Cape Agulhas. Drive to Somerset West. From Somerset West drive to Franschhoeck. From there to Cape town. Cape of the good hope and visit CT. 1 days table Maountain and the HOP, last day Robben islands.

I plan to rent a car for the till the last 2 days in CT and do the last 2 days on the HOP bus.
We have to be at the airport on our last dayy in CT at 4:30 p.m. I`ve booked the robben island tour for the last day at 9 a.m. How would you spend the 2 last days directly in CT ?

Does it sound like a good plan ? Whare would you suggest us to stay ?

Thanks
Sina

In relation to Sina1's question, I would also like to inquire about planning a tour from Cape Town to George, if I may. I only have 5 days to tour. Perhaps 1 day in Cape Town then 3/4 on the road. Would it be possible for me to drive to Hermanus and Stellenbosh in the same day, including a wine tasting in Stellenbosch; then head on to George the next day?

hi sina
if you want to visit tsitsikamma np (which is definelty a highlight of the garden route), it doesnt really matter if you fly to george or to port elizabeth, both are more or less the same distance from the park. as you will then continue towards cape town, i would probably fly to pe (to avoid having to drive part of the route between george and tsitsikamma twice). but if it more convenient for some reason (availability, time of the flight) to fly to george, go for it.

in tsitsikamma np i would stay in storms river restcamp, which has a spectacular setting right on the ocean. for another stop on the ocea, i would probably choose wilderness over plettenberg bay, also because its a bit "further" on the way to oudtshoorn. i havent driven over the swartberg pass, so cant comment from personal experiences. it looks beautiful and spectacular, and if you have time and like "dramatic view", you should probably go for it. it will probably make sense to drive there after leaving oudtshoorn, when you continue to swellendam.

how much time do you have in total for cape town ? one day (when you still have the car) to visit the cape peninsula is a must in my opinion. if you have more time, 2 days for the peninsula are better. if you have only one day for it, what you include and what not depends on your interests. the cape of good hope is a must, as is chapmans peak drive. camps bay (the st. tropez of south africa, a beautiful beach, great for people watching) / hout bay (working harbour, good fish and chips, seals in the harbour and a short boat trip to a seal colony on a small island) / noordhoek is a long and wide deserted beach, great for walking and you could also go horse riding there / the penguin colony in boulders beach (simons town) / kalk bay with a small working harbour and great places to enjoy seafood or fish and chips / st. james and muizenberg for the small colorful beach houses, st. james with a natural rock swimming pool and muizenberg with a beautiful and wide beach.

in cape town, personally my favourite area to stay is gardens. it of course also depends on your budget where you stay. look at some posts i have written about where to stay in cape town:
www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/africa/south-africa/cape-town-accommodation-location
www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/africa/south-africa/cape-town-accomodation-recommendations

Sounds good. I didn't know about some of these places like Hout bay

yes, there are just so many beautiful in around cape town. its really one of the most beautiful cities in the world in my opinion. i'm off to zambia and then south africa tommorow (including a week in cape town), yeah :-).

yes, there are just so many beautiful in around cape town. its really one of the most beautiful cities in the world in my opinion. i'm off to zambia and then south africa tommorow (including a week in cape town), yeah :-).

That's fantastic. Do enjoy. And I do agree. Cape Town seems so marvelous. I've always wanted to visit,so I'm really excited about this trip