Cape Town

3 Day Garden Route's Best Highlights with Safari from Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa

3 Day Garden Route Tour from Cape Town with Big Five Game Drive

From $349.48

Price varies by group size

Select Date and Travelers

up to 6 days in advance

3 days (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Spend three days exploring South Africa’s famed Garden Route from Cape Town, stopping at most of the best highlights the area has to offer. Adventure awaits as you cover several hundred miles over the next three days. This fast-paced packed itinerary includes a 4x4 safari drive, canoeing in the wild, exploring the Cango Caves, and the option to jump from the highest bungy jump bridge (at an additional expense).

3-day Garden Route experience from Cape Town including a 4x4 game drive
Look out for elephants, buffaloes, lions and rhinos on a game drive
Enjoy optional activities such as a bungee jump from Bloukrans Bridge, one of the world’s highest bridges
Spot most of Africa's Big Five and other wildlife during 4x4 safaris at private game reserves

What's Included

Hotel pickup within 10km radius of Cape Town central or Stellenbosch town
Transport by air-conditioned mini coach & English speaking guide
4x4 Game drive safari shared with group
Kayak in Wilderness region shared with group
Accommodation for 2 nights
A portion of your trip fee is donated to help fund 2Cchange non-profit local charity projects
Drop-off after tour to your original pickup location
Breakfast (2)

Some meals and drinks if not mentioned inclusions. Time is available to buy and enjoy meals on tour.
Optional Bungy jump + Zipline shared activity (about R1700)
Optional Elephant Observation in Nature shared activity (about R650 )

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

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Start time

Confirm time with the local provider in advance of your experience.

Opening hours

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Pickup details

Pick-up included from any hotel, guesthouse, backpackers or street address within 10km radius of Cape Town or Stellenbosch central. If your hotel is not listed, simply select "my hotel is not listed" on the drop-down menu and message us your preferred pickup address for consideration.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Note that this tour has a packed pace with many activities and stops a day. It is advised to book a longer or private Garden Route tour if you prefer to have a more relaxed journey.
Minimum age is 8 years. Children from 8 to 18 years of age must be accompanied by a responsible adult, legal guardian or parent and cannot stay in dorm rooms.
According to availability, the itinerary can run in reverse or different route.

Daily drive time: about 4 to 6 hours / in total 1200 km distance route. This packed, fast-paced itinerary is filled with many of the best highlights of the region and ideal for the young-at-heart traveller that wants to explore this vast region with limited time available.
Personal comprehensive travel insurance is excluded and recommended
The tour operator already pre-booked space at all optional activities for the group and you can simply decide on the first day of the tour if you'll partake. Optional activities can only be paid on the tour directly to the supplier. Bungy jump optional activity waiting time can vary from 1 to 2 hours and is subject to group size and how busy it is during the time visited. Optional activities are subject to weather conditions and cannot be guaranteed.
According to availability at time of booking, accommodation will be in the mentioned hotel or in one of a similar standard and star rating in a similar area. Sedgefield accommodation will occasionally be sold out and then your accommodation will be in nearby town of Wilderness or Knysna.
Some meals and drinks are not included on most tours; giving the ideal opportunity to experience typical South African meals (or your own preference) at local restaurants, shops or eating spots. Do check your tour's specific included and excluded section to verify the included meals for your tour package. You'll have free time scheduled daily to buy and enjoy meals. – Breakfast is mostly enjoyed at the accommodation's breakfast room/restaurant in the morning. Bed & Breakfast multi-day packages include breakfast for each overnight stay. – Lunch will be en-route with limited time & limited options to choose from. – Dinner-time during multi-day tours is scheduled in free-time after each day’s tour schedule. You can dine out at leisure; or book meals with your guide at the overnight accommodation that day. Your guide can recommend the best local restaurants, or most backpackers even have communal kitchens to prepare your own food - should you wish to buy the ingredients after the tour to prepare your own meals.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 6 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 6 full days before the experience’s start time.
Any changes made less than 6 full days before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
For a 50% refund, you must cancel 2–6 full days before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 2 full days before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 2 full days before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

134 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 134 reviews

Great value for money with an amazing accommodating host.

Anthony_B, Mar 2024

We had such a good time on our 3 day safari. Our guide Nev was so knowledgable and informative and delivered the tour very professionally, he was very patient with the group and added so much value to the whole experience. The tour bus was a bit to small and quite uncomfortable, but Nev gave us such a good commentary and played very relaxing music when he wasn’t talking which really helped. The activities were really good fun and Nev was so flexible with timings.

Amazing weekend getaway!

Lindsay_W, Oct 2023

I did the 3-day Garden Route tour with Hotspots2C. Our guide, Ulrich (otherwise known as Ullie or GG) was exceptional. Beyond the stunning landscapes that make this drive, and trip, so magical, he was knowledgeable and it was very evident that this was something he was good at and passionate about. The elephant reserve was certainly the highlight of the trip, but I loved how everyone in our group had their own favourite activities and moments. Would certainly recommend Hotspots2C and the 3-day Garden Route for anyone looking for a weekend trip from Cape Town.

Great adventure

Misty_B, Sep 2023

Great experience! Mr Nev the guide was knowledgeable, friendly and very accommodating. All the stops were well worth seeing/doing. I loved that it was a small tour group so felt more of a personal/private guide. Definitely worth it !!

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Thanks so much Misty_B for your kind 5-star review. What a fantastic experience you've described here and thanks for highlighting Mr. Nev - your guide's - incredibly knowledgeable and friendly nature. It's music to our ears to know that you also think all the stops we visit on this tour is well worth experiencing. And that you preferred the small tour group feel - adding to a more personal guided experience. We're also super grateful that you chose to tour with us, especially as a portion of your tour fees goes towards community projects supported by our non-profit, 2cChange. To witness the positive impact of your travels with us - please take a moment to visit our website's 2cChange page for the latest updates and more information on our dedication to responsible travel. We hope to have you adventuring with us again soon... not just to see more & do more, but feel good while making even a bigger difference as your travel on our #tour2cchange trips. Keep on exploring, thanks again - from Team Hotspots2c

An opportunity to explore outside of Cape Town

Cecilia_J, Feb 2023

This is a great, relatively safe way to explore the Garden Route. Loved the bungee jump and kayaking especially! We enjoyed hanging out with our fellow travelers and our guide, TK. The 3-day trip has a lot of driving, so bring something to read or listen to and maybe a small pillow.

The trip is fun, but...

Niamh_G, Jan 2023

The trip is fun, but rushed, you’re leaving one activity to rush to the next. The bus for our tour was at full capacity and the road travelled was bumpy, therefore quite uncomfortable. Note there is alot of bus time on this trip. The safari was good but we didn’t see the giraffe and rhino.

Beautiful experience

abdullahalsyari, Jan 2023

It was a perfect experience for those who don't have a long time in Cape Town and we went to many places I like it. And the guide Paul was very helpful and gave us information about what we visited. I will recommend this tour

Action packed, breath taking and humbling tour! A must do!

Tanielley, Aug 2022

An amazing, action packed and humbling experience. If you’re short on time, this garden route tour is beautiful. Our tour guide JP has a passion for the outdoors and went above and beyond to make sure there were good vibes. Every stop was unique and JP shared amazing insights throughout the drive making the hours between entertaining. The accommodation was great considering it is budget friendly. The food throughout was delicious! The hospitality throughout is brilliant. The scenery Throughout the tour is breathtaking. I met some great people on my tour who encouraged me and others to face my fear and skydive. I can’t rate this tour more. Even though we were a more chilled group of people. Everyone had such a brilliant experience. Oh and JP’s playlist was epic! Cheers buddy!

Such an amazing experience!

Max_K, Nov 2021

This whole trip has been such an amazing experience! The safari and the bungee jumping were the highlights for me due to the how surreal those experiences felt to me. The accomodations were great! Especially Uthando backpackers where the whole atmosphere is great! Great food and to close out the day great music around a campfire. The guide Neville is such an amazing guide! He learned us more about the history of South Africa on a really fun way. His stories are also so great. If you are a coffee fan he knows all the best stops!

Amazing

Maarten_v, Jan 2020

This was a really nice experience. We had the most amazing group of people and a very nice and experienced guide. The accommodations were very good. We booked private rooms at every accommodation, and those were perfect. Although I wouldn’t want to sleep in the shared rooms, because the days are full and you need your rest and sleep at the end of the day and I wouldn’t want to be disturbed by other travellers. There was only one thing that I can think of that I didn’t like so much and that was that we didn’t get very much breakfast.

Response from Host, Jan 2020

Super! Thank you for sharing your feedback about our 3-day Garden Route and Safari. We are delighted to hear about the time you spent on tour with great people and a great guide. We hope you welcome you back on your next adventure. See South Africa differently, Team Hotspots2c

Friendly and exciting tour

Giorgio S, Mar 2019

The tour has been very interesting, and a great experience. The guide Nico was very helping and fiendly. On average the hotels were OK, but the last one was below average (no soap and towels in the room). The adventure visit to the Cango Cave was an impressive and possibly physically very demanding experience: moving into extremely small tunnels was a suprise. In Europe this dangerous visit would have been not allowed for security reasons. We were not informed about the riskiness of being stuck into the "cymney": I would revommend that visitors, before chosing the "adventure tour" are fully informed about its features. In my case, being seventy years old, I would have not risked - but everything was good even I still have pains in my arms due to the fatigue of moving aheand in the tunnels.

Nice and Wonderful Trip

luk_d, Jan 2019

It is a remarkable trip for me. I have a really good time in safari and elepahnt walk section. Our tour guided Nevel is very nice and helpful. This make me have a good impression about Cape town.

Amazing value for the money

Kara Y, Nov 2018

This tour was jam packed with action. It featured the most exhilarating cave tour I've ever been on involving crawling, climbing, sidings through the caves. It was amazing. The elephants were incredible as well. It was great to get up close and personal to them. Overall they curated an amazing list of activities and took us to them without a stop. The accommodations were amazing too. Pro-tip, there's a private room option at almost all the backpackers locations so you don't need to upgrade to the 3* accommodation. The "backpackers" locations also featured amenities like a pool, billiards, a fire pit and it's usually where we ate dinner. Overall amazing tour!

Excellent tour! Every detail was so...

Cati, Sep 2017

Excellent tour! Every detail was so organized and we got to do a lot of activities for only 3 days time. Our guide GG was awesome- he made it fun snd took good care of us. Do the adventure tour at the caves- it's intense but so much fun! My favorite part was the elephant walk. Saw a lot of animals on the safari too. Our hotels were really nice- they were actually more like bed and breakfasts. We opted for the 3 star private accommodation and definitely got our moneys worth. All in all a great long weekend trip!

Arrangement of accomodation was...

Nagaiyasumi, Jul 2017

Arrangement of accomodation was good, inclusive of good spread of breakfast. Experience of the elephants were up close and unforgetable. Game Reserve allowed me saw a variety of animals and sometimes really close up. Nice calm kayaking experience. Highly recommended !

The tour was great and...

Sarada M, Mar 2017

The tour was great and professionally conducted. Our tour guide Uriel was very knowledgeable and extremely helpful. We had booked into bed and breakfast accomodation rather than the backpackers accomodation. I felt what we were charged extra for the accomodation was a bit over the top.. But the tour itself was very well done and well managed.

This tour was comparable to other...

Kayla F, Mar 2017

This tour was comparable to other Garden Route tours offered by different companies. Our guide, Issac, was a great guide, and most importantly a very safe driver. You get to see the best of the route.

The trip was awesome. Our guide was...

Mohit G, Jan 2017

The trip was awesome. Our guide was fantastic. The dorms are really good. All the things we did during the trip were worth the experience. You will definitely regret not doing it. Do not take the heritage tour during the visit to cango caves. Take the adventure tour, it will be difficult but much more enriching. Go for the walk with the elephant. You get to feed the elephants, hug them and take pictures with them. Definitely go for the bungee jumping. It is the highest bungee jumping in the world. Its breathtaking. You will have to pay for the elephant ride and bungee jumping separately, but do not miss it.

Great adventure tour walk with...

Graham_H, Nov 2016

Great adventure tour walk with elephants, crawling around caves, bungy jump, short canoe trip on the river not wildlife or bush viewing -mainly a holiday camp area, game drive, beach and super varied scenery of the Garden route and of cause Zee our guide was great even treated us to some shots. spoiled us and really looked after us highly recommended

All the activities we did were fun...

Roanne G, Dec 2015

All the activities we did were fun and well organised and our tour guide zee was amazing. The places we stayed were both very nice! It was my birthday on tour and see went out of his way to make sure my day was one to remember. Would recommend this tour and this company to all my friends! Thanks!

This tour was a great experience. It...

Kristi B, Jun 2015

This tour was a great experience. It was an incredible introduction to South Africa for my husband and I. The activities are exciting and enjoyable. We really liked that you can customize the trip to suit yourself through the various options available. The lodging accommodations were charming and welcoming with excellent hosts. Our tour guide, Andrew, was the best. He was friendly and knowledgeable and we learned a lot about the Garden Route and South Africa through him. I highly recommend this tour as a must do for any visit to Cape Town.

Response from Host, Dec 2020

Great to see another 5-star review! Thanks for sharing your hotspots2c tour experience with the world. Happy to know you loved the activities, accommodation and spots we selected to visit on this Garden Route tour. We've informed Andrew about this review and he also enjoyed the epic adventure with you guys. Thanks for recommending the trip to your friends who are thinking of visiting Cape Town. The Garden Route is definitely not to be missed! -- All the best, Ferdi & the hotspots2c team