Little did we know that our 2 week South Africa itinerary would change our lives in the way that it did. South Africa has it all—so much so that it inspired us to quit our full-time jobs and travel the world. Yes, this southernmost country in Africa truly has a magical pull, creating a wanderlust within you that’s impossible to ignore.
Imagine a country where the blend of two oceans meet (the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean), with one of the world’s most breathtaking mountains perched at the edge of Cape Town. Drive a few miles from this extraordinary city, and you’ll find yourself on the southern coast of the Western Cape in Hermanus, where Southern Right Whales gather for part of the year with their newborn calves.
Venture further, and you’ll wind through scenic roads into the picturesque winelands, deep in the valleys where miles of luscious vineyards produce some of the worlds finest wines. Take a short flight over the savanna, and you’ll land at Kruger National Park, where you’ll witness endangered species you once thought you’d only see on National Geographic. Spot elephants, lions, and even a leopard if you’re lucky!
Below, we dive into the 2 week South Africa itinerary that we followed while, share hilarious travel stories, and reveal hidden gems we want you to discover, LOVE, and cherish for years to come—just like we do over a cold pint!
2 week South Africa Itinerary Overview
– Cape Town: 3 nights
– Hermanus: 2 nights
– Franschhoek: 2 nights
– Kruger National Park: 4 nights
– Cape Town: 2 nights
✈️ If you have less time, you can do a day-trip to Hermanus and Franschhoek from Cape Town!
Day 1-4: Cape Town
📍 Where we stayed: The Commodore – we recommend for the start of your journey to stay near the V&A Waterfront.
🌟 Things to do: Table Mountain, Robben Island, Cape of Good Hope, Chapmans Peak, Boulders Beach
🍽️ Favourite restaurants: Karibu, Baia and Kloof Street House
Cape Town is the perfect city to start your 2 week South Africa itinerary. It has everything—mountains, ocean, nature, and jaw-dropping scenery—all in one place. We stayed at The Commodore hotel near the V&A Waterfront and loved it. It felt luxurious yet reasonably priced, within walking distance to key attractions, and safe to explore day and night.
Since we hired a car in South Africa, The Commodore provided underground parking for free with 24/7 security.
Cape Town has an abundance of activities you can do – over the 3 days, we took a cable car up to table mountain, a ferry over to historic Robben Island, wandered around the V&A waterfront, visited district 6 and drove to boulders beach to see endangered penguins in their natural habitat – along the way, stopping at the most scenic views we’ve ever experienced at the Cape of Good Hope.
Read our full 3 days in Cape Town here for a detailed breakdown of these must-see places and hidden gems.
🚍 How to Get There
From London Heathrow, we took a direct flight to Cape Town, picked up our hire car and drove to the city. If you prefer to use transportation services, you can book a taxi from Cape Town Airport to the City.
🏨 Looking for more hotel options in Cape Town? See top-rated stays here.
Day 5-6: Hermanus
📍 Where we stayed: Hermanus Boutique Guest House
🌟 Things to do: Spot Southern-Right Whales, walk the beautiful coastal path and spot Whales from land!
🍽️ Favourite restaurants: Cafe 1904, Ficks, Char’d Grill & Wine Bar
Hermanus is a charming seaside town southeast of Cape Town, best known for its incredible whale-watching opportunities (both from land and sea). Southern Right Whales migrate to these waters between June and November, leaving their Antarctic feeding grounds to breed and care for their young in the calm, shallow waters of Walker Bay. We spotted countless whales on our boat trip—a truly unforgettable experience!
Beaches include Voëlklip Beach and the broad Grotto Beach, overlooking Walker Bay. We visited The Old Harbour Museum in the small town of Hermanus, a site encompassing the old harbour, a fishermen’s village and the Whale House Museum. You will even see the suspended skeleton of a whale in here!
We also walked the breathtaking 12-kilometre cliff path, lovingly maintained by the local government. We started our coastal hike from Ficks, a fantastic seaside restaurant where, if you’re lucky, you can spot whales swimming by while enjoying your meal! Along the route, you will likely spot many dassies, cute little mammals that look like a larger version of a guinea pig!
Pro Tip! Book a sea-facing room at Hermanus Boutique Guest House for a chance to spot whales right from your balcony each morning. Breakfast here is also top-notch!
🚍 How to Get There: We drove 2-hours from Cape Town to Hermanus – on the way, we stopped at Sir Lowry’s Pass – don’t miss these views! If you prefer, you can book a private transfer straight to Hermanus instead of hiring a car.
Day 7-8: Franschhoek
📍 Where we stayed: Protea Hotel by Marriott
🌟 Things to do: Wine Tram, Explore the Valley
🍽️ Favourite restaurants: The Hussar Grill, TukTuk Microbrewery & Bistro
Franschhoek is a dreamy little valley town renowned for its world-class wineries, outstanding food and French charm. Franschhoek is Dutch for “French corner”, a legacy of the French Huguenot settlers who made their home here after fleeing France due to King Louis XIV banning Protestantism in the late 17th century. They brought their wine making skills and architecture to the valley, sowing the seeds to create the town that it is today.
The best way to experience it is by The Franschhoek Wine Tram, a highlight of our 2 week South Africa itinerary.
Day 1
On day 1, we explored Franschhoek, the town was peaceful, it felt arty with a vintage flare to it. Many French-style bistros and bakeries lined the valley, we explored local art and handmade jewellery shops and visited the Huguenot monument.
We had lunch at TukTuk Microbrewery, enjoyed local craft beer and soaked up the rays from the beautiful sunshine.
Day 2
There is no better way to explore the winelands of Franschhoek than on the wine tram! For the perfect start to your day, arrive at either The Franschhoek or Groot Drakenstein Terminal (dependent on which tour / line you choose), and grab a coffee at Beignet – named after the classic French pastry!
There are different colour tram lines to travel along, all of which go to different Winelands – we chose the orange line because we were keen to visit Boschendal, Noble Hill and Babylonstoren vineyard. The other popular lines are navy and pink, which visit well-known, award-winning wineries.
At the start of our journey, we were offered a glass of wine whilst taking in the vast landscape and fields of vines and colourful flowers. The scenery is truly breathtaking, and it is worth doing the tram for that alone. By the end of the five different vineyards we visited, we had tasted 25 different glasses of wine! We can say it was worth the money, and by the end, like us, you will be happily swaying home to your hotel.
Pro Tip: Book a table at your chosen winery for lunch, to get the best views of the gardens. We recommend Boschendal or Babylonstoren since the food options are incredible at both these places – Babylonstoren in particular is renowned for their garden, hotel, wine shop, farm store, restaurants and other Winelands attractions – it took us the longest time to explore this winery. We recommend not visiting all destinations on your route, but picking out 1-4 of your favourites after doing some research!
🚍 How to Get There: We drove 1.5 hours from Hermanus to Frankschhoek. If you prefer, you can book a private transfer or taxi straight to Hermanus instead of hiring a car. Day trips from Cape Town to the Franschhoek Wine Tram are also available.
Day 9-12: Kruger National Park
📍 Where we stayed: Baluleni Safari Lodge
It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for the entire trip – time to spot the Big 5 in Kruger National Park! We took a flight from Cape Town to Hoedspruit in a small plane, enjoying the stunning aerial views of the savanna along the way. When we landed, we couldn’t believe how small the airport was, the heat was intense; luckily we had booked a transfer via our lodge.
We recommend researching a lodge to spend the next 4-days in, we chose Baluleni Safari Lodge and would highly recommend them! The biggest attraction for us was being an unfenced lodge, meaning you were truly surrounded by nature and higher potential of spotting animals in the wild! Offering views of the Olifants river, Baluleni Safari Lodge is located in Grietjie Nature Reserve and has a restaurant, a shared lounge, bar, garden, year-round outdoor pool and offers two game drives per day (early morning and evening). Our guide, Skye, was passionate about his fieldwork, he knew all about the animals, birds and reptiles we had spotted. The lodges work together in the local area to inform each other if they spot Lions, Leopards or other hard to find species, this gives everyone a better chance of spotting these beautiful animals in the wild!
We want to emphasise this is nothing like being in a zoo, or a gated safari ride – you are quite literally in the wild, with untamed animals. Some days, we didn’t find anything, but most days, we caught sight of the most spectacular scenes. We spotted many elephants roaming in groups, zebras and giraffes, lions, cubs and even a leopard eating an impala in a tree!
One night, we were sitting around the fire with the other hotel guests and our field guides, and we could smell an African Elephant Bull nearby – the bull was on musth, so the smell was strong and our guides knew right-away it was nearby. Before we knew it, a herd of elephants had entered camp! That night was an unforgettable adventure, especially for Nick who came face-to-face with the bull! We had to hide in the kitchen until it was at a safe distance and scramble back to our lodges. We could hear elephants, lions and other animals in the distance at night – it was one of the most remarkable experiences we have ever had – and a tale we continue to tell to people we meet on our adventures!
Days 12-14: Cape Town
End your magical trip in Cape Town, ready to depart to your next destination. We created a full-guide on Cape Town here to help figure your last few days in this magnificent country.
Seals lounging in Cape Town!
Staying Safe
We go into further detail in our guide here on safety when visiting South Africa. Whilst we never felt in danger, many government websites, including the UK, state that South Africa has a high-crime rate, and for that reason, we wanted to ensure this was included in our itinerary.
Some rules we followed that kept us safe:
- Avoid having your phone or valuables on show when walking around town, or when driving in your car.
- Keep your car door and windows locked at all times. Sometimes, you will have locals approach your car window begging, especially at traffic lights, we highly recommend to avoid engaging in activity – whilst this is ultimately your choice, it is advised in most local government websites, since it can lead to theft and serious crime.
- Avoid wearing flashy jewellery when walking around town and keep your phone zipped in your bag. Buy anti-theft locks and money belt.
- Avoid walking at night – Uber is very cheap in South Africa, and we used this regularly when going to dinner in the evening that wasn’t close to our hotel.
For solo travellers (particularly females): I highly recommend joining group tours when visiting South Africa, or using safe, reputable public transport. Being together as a couple made the experience much safer for us, and I would not recommend travelling for long periods of time in South Africa alone, unless you know the area very well, or are travelling with friends. Please seek guidance on government websites such as ‘Solo and independent travel’ and ‘Advice for women travelling abroad’ before travelling.
Currency
The local currency in South Africa is Rand (ZAR). As of 2025, $1 / £1 = 24.00 ZAR, but this may change regularly, so do check! Based on UK currency, we found South Africa to be very cheap for food, activities, car rental and accommodation. It was relatively easy to get more cash out at cashpoints when needed, and most places accepted Visa/Mastercard.
Our Final Thoughts
This 2 week South Africa itinerary gave us irreplaceable, vivid, memories that we will never forget! With its diverse landscapes, incredible nature, and delicious food options, this itinerary will ensure you see the best of this beautiful country.
What are you most looking forward to seeing in this incredible country? Let us know in the comments! ✈️
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