Planning Your Trip to South Africa

The beauty of a self-drive holiday is that there doesn’t even have to be a plan. You can go with the flow and in true African style, go where the wind takes you. The only problem with this is that it can be a little stressful making sure that you have a place to stay each night if you keep changing your route! A planned itinerary is the best way to have a relaxing holiday as all your hotel accommodation and routes will be booked in advance, leaving you with nothing to worry about except taking in the sights.

Self-Drive Holidays in South Africa

South Africa is a country of immense natural beauty, intriguing cultural sites and many exciting attractions. A holiday here can never encompass everything that South Africa has to offer, but one of the best ways to see as much as possible is by driving yourself. The flexibility offered by a self-drive holiday means that you can see the attractions and places that appeal to you, although sometimes in a country as diverse as South Africa, the choice can become overwhelming. But with a little forward planning or the help of a tour operator, self-drive holidays can really work for you.

A Coastal Itinerary

South Africa has everything from spectacular coast lines to game parks and one of the best ways to see the best that the country has to offer is to drive yourself and be able to include both of these in your itinerary.

• Start out in the sleepy little city of Port Elizabeth. The unique blend of modern amenities and old-world values make for a lovely atmosphere and the beaches are among the finest in the world. The international airport makes getting to this city easy and it is an ideal place to sleep off jetlag in preparation for your holiday.




• Next head up the coast to the Addo Elephant National Park. Here you can get up close to many of South Africa’s more natural inhabitants in an unrivalled safari experience.




• Include some of South Africa’s rich history in your self-drive tour and stop off at the frontier site of the 1820 Settlers as well as the historic and beautiful town of Grahamstown.




• On your next stop at the Nelson Mandela Museum you can learn more about this fascinating leader’s life and leave feeling more than inspired.




• The drive up into KwaZulu Natal’s capital city of Durban traverses the beautiful wild coast

with numerous picturesque places to stop. The beaches and nightlife of Durban offer enough fun and excitement to keep you busy for days.

Choosing a Pre-Planned Self-Drive Holiday

While a self-drive holiday offers you many freedoms, going through a reputable tour company in the beginning can give you the best of both worlds. Using an online booking reservation portal or travel company helps you plan out your ideal itinerary and includes many added extras that you would not be privy to otherwise. Planning your self-drive through one of these companies also gives you peace of mind as each of the accommodation options are guaranteed to be reputable with the most incredible and worthwhile attractions being the ones featured below.

Many pre-planned self-drive holidays include extra features like:

• Airfares and airport transfers as well as 'meet and greet' at the airport to assist with any administration matters.




• Car hire is usually included, often with discounted car hire rates or insurance due to a company’s affiliation with a particular car rental agency.




• A GPS navigation system for the car ensuring that you don’t get lost.




• Document packs that include maps, suggested routes and detailed information on each place you will visit.




• A free rent-a-fone ensuring that you can be in constant contact with family back home or your tour organiser should you need to, 24 hours a day.




• Complimentary tickets to some attractions or a VIP card to give you exclusive or discounted access to certain places.




• Free access to private emergency services.

Whatever you decide to do - just enjoy the experience!