Bloemfontein to Cape Town

If you had eight days to get from Bloemfontein to Cape Town and see CT and its surroundings, would you think that this plan sounded good?

Day 1: Drive Bloemfontein - south to Addo Elephant NP. Can anyone recommend any interesting (brief) stops en route?
Day 2 and 3: Addo (two nights, one full day)
Day 4 and 5: Garden Route to CT
Days 6, 7 and 8: CT, Robben Island, Table Mountain. Doesn't look like we'll have time to tour the wineries...

I had wanted to do the Wild Coast so much (not to mention spend more time in CT!), but it just doesn't look like we can fit it into our plans. Grrr.

hm, keep in mind that Bloem to addo is at least a 600km drive...

seb

TC - That is really only a 6-hour drive, though. Done very comfortably too.
Depending on the route you take after Middleberg, you could stop at Graaf-Reinet (an historical town with many national monuments and some lovely views from the Valley of Desolation) and before that you could also visit the Owl House at Nieu-Bethesda. Then after graaf-Reinet take the R75 via Jansenville to Kirkwood and then on to Addo. Alternatively, if you take the N10 you could ahve a look at the Mountain Zerbra National Park and have a look around Cradock.
I would do the former and stay over at Graaf-Reinet, then spend the next day and night in Addo.

@ Rudi - a 6 hour drive might be not long for a South African, but imagine coming from a small European country. Then driving for 6 hours can be quite a lot....

seb

You can easily detour to the Winelands as you approach Cape Town. Worth it.

Seb, DrP says she's a Canadian chick. Now Canada is just a teeny-weeny little bit bigger than SA. And your country is not exactly the smallest I have seen either (or are you based in Lichtenstein?). Heck, on Thursday my wife and I drove down to Bloemfontein and back just to have lunch there - had to forego the wine, though.

okokokokok.... ;-)

Seb

LOL ... it's a valid point if I came from Lichtenstein. But we're fairly used to Canadian distances, so I think we'll be okay. Last summer we drove from Toronto to Cape Breton (22 hours) without stopping to sleep. We'll be there in July, so there should be about nine or ten hours of daylight to do the drive.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys. Graaf-Reinet looks like a good place to stop, check out, and then head into Addo from there. peterscot, are there any wineries or vineyards in particular you recommend?
Thanks again!

Drove 22 hours without sleep? You should fit in well with some SA drivers......

Dr Pepper - I've been once to the Winelands. Would love to spend a month there. I picked a couple of vineyards that had some interest to me or had been recommended, but there are dozens. There's been some very good posts on here about them.
Also, the roads around the Winelands cross some wonderful passes and through stunning mountain scenery, so another reason for an all-too-brief detour.

The 3 main towns (Paarl, Franschoek and Stellensbosch) are only a few miles apart. If time short, I would skip Paarl, and drive through Franshoek to Stellensbosch for lunch (no problem if you don't follow this advice).

Or have lunch at one of the more scenic vineyards. I went to Boschendal, which, as well as being the former home of Cecil Rhodes (important figure in SA history(!), who could have chosen anywhere), also provided picnic lunches on their lawns. Enjoy

Don't forget the hidden gem of Robertson - It is now the second biggest Wine producing area in SA -having taken over from Paarl and Franshoek. Drp you might want to consider it on the way to Cape Town

Wow, these distances for driving in one day are mind-boggling to me, especially on vacation. My husband and I are leaving on a trip through the Smokey Mountains from Florida this Saturday and I've been tied up in knots for days trying to figure out if we can handle 480 miles on the last day. I'm off the opinion we can't so I'm thinking we'll spend the night somewhere.

That said, my one great regret on my trip to SA was that I didn't add the drive to Neu Bethesda to see the Owl House. And if you stay in Graaf-Reinet make a reservation to stay at the Andries-Stockenstrom Guest House so you can have dinner there. I've talked with a few people who raved about the food. But you have to make your reservations in advance since that's the only way you can have dinner there. Well--there's another excuse for me to return to SA.

Di - our distances are in kilometres - which makes them seem far longer than they really are.
On the last day one always tends to drive a greater distance - after all, what is the point of spending another night paying for a B&B or hotel if one is only a couple more hours' drive from one's own bed?

Rudi, Kilometres makes it seem shorter since I always know the miles are only about 60% of the stated number. There's the trade-off--cost versus comfort. 800 km (480 miles) seems like a long driving day to me. Although I recently did a round trip to Miami in one day and it works out to about that. So I can do it. I'm no wimp. :)

800km. Thats from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. Even in the fifties, when us kids were sitting in the back seat shouting "Go faster, Dad, somebody is catching us up" we used to do it in a day to start our annual holiday. But then it wasn't actually 800km - it was still only 500 miles.