Classic South Africa 2020

Day 1

Fly overnight to Johannesburg.

Day 2

Meet your tour manager and transfer to the Lesedi Cultural Village. You'll spend two nights here in traditional surroundings – but in rooms with modern conveniences – in the heart of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. On the way, you'll visit Liliesleaf Farm, a 28-acre farmstead that served as the underground headquarters of the African National Congress. Once in Lesedi, relax and enjoy your first meal under the African sky.

Day 3

Today you'll visit Johannesburg’s Apartheid Museum, which provides the moving historical background to today’s democratic South Africa. This evening, enjoy the hospitality of your Lesedi hosts – Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Basotho and Ndebele tribespeople – who will introduce their cultures, show you their homes and demonstrate traditional music and dancing.

Day 4

After an early breakfast, bid farewell to Lesedi and travel from Gauteng province into Mpumalanga, the awe-inspiring Land of the Rising Sun bordered by the vast Kruger National Park. Our journey to Mpumalanga takes us via the Panorama Route, one of Africa’s most scenic drives, and the mountain passes overlooking Blyde River Canyon – the world’s third largest. Take in the stunning view from God's Window (weather permitting) and see the towering grass-covered peaks of the Three Rondavels and the colourful, water-worn rock formations of Bourke's Luck Potholes before arriving at your hotel, just 25 minutes away from Kruger National Park.

Day 5

Today you’ll head into famous Kruger National Park, Africa’s oldest wildlife conservation area. Enjoy the full game-drive experience from your open-topped vehicle. With luck (and depending on the route you take) you might encounter impala, wildebeest, giraffe and zebra, and the Big Five of lions, rhinos, elephants, leopards and buffalo. Whichever species crosses your path, the memories will linger on. After your game drive, you’ll leave the Park and drive to your nearby accommodation.

Day 6

Begin another unforgettable day with a guided bush walk and bush breakfast. Then relax and enjoy the lodge’s facilities, before embarking on a final game drive at sunset in the nearby Madelane Private Game Reserve. You'll return to your lodge for a traditional Boma dinner (weather permitting).

Day 7

Today you’ll cross the border into the tiny Kingdom of Swaziland. A British Protectorate until 1968, and still mixing a colonial feel with its traditional heritage, the Kingdom offer a warm welcome to visitors. You’ll stop at curio shops and cultural centres, before returning to South Africa and heading to KwaZulu-Natal and your next hotel.

Day 8

A fascinating day sees you join a specialist battlefields guide who will introduce you to the tumultuous history of the Zulu Wars, and to the battlefields of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift – the latter immortalised (not necessarily wholly accurately) in the 1964 movie, Zulu. After a fascinating day that includes lunch, you'll continue to your hotel in Newcastle.

Day 9

You'll have an early start this morning as we return to Johannesburg airport and fly south to Port Elizabeth, the Friendly City.

Day 10

This morning you’ll begin your journey along the famously scenic Garden Route to Knysna. Set on the bank of a beautiful lagoon, against a backdrop of wooded hills, Knynsa is a town of Victorian and Georgian houses that brims with character and style. An included tour, here, includes a ferry crossing to the Featherbed Nature Reserve across the lagoon, which is home to some 200 species of fish as well as a particularly rare species of seahorse. Enjoy a nature drive to Western Head for spectacular views and lunch in the shade of milkwood trees, then continue to your hotel in Mossel Bay.

Day 11

Today sees you visit the world-renowned Cango Caves and sunny Oudtshoorn, in the heart of the Little Karoo plain. Oudtshoorn has been christened the Ostrich Capital of the World, and the world’s strangest, largest (and often most valuable) bird has been farmed here for 130 years, first for its plumage and more recently for its high-protein, low-cholesterol meat, samples of which will be offered at lunchtime. Later, enjoy another relaxing evening exploring Mossel Bay's pretty, welcoming waterfront.

Day 12

Today’s drive, though long, is hugely rewarding. Head west along the Garden Route to the sleepy, historic harbour town of Mossel Bay, then on to the Atlantic coast town of Hermanus. Hermanus is a famed whale-watching centre from July to November, and with luck you'll see the mighty mammals from the shoreline before making a stop at Stony Point Penguin Colony. From there we'll continue into the verdant Cape Winelands region, for an overnight stay in your hotel overlooking the Stellenbosch Mountains.

Day 13

Enjoy today’s tour of the rolling vineyard-covered hills and valleys dotted with villages built in Cape Dutch, Edwardian and Art-Deco styles. After exploring Stellenbosch, you’ll call at Franschhoek, first settled in 1688 and now regarded as the culinary capital of the Western Cape, and scenic Paarl at the foot of a vast granite outcrop. During the day, there will be a wine tasting, a cellar tour, and the opportunity to purchase some excellent wines. Afterwards you'll continue to Cape Town, for a three-night stay in one of the world’s most beautifully located cities.

Day 14

On your last touring day, you’ll travel along the Atlantic coast and (weather permitting) take the Chapman’s Peak Drive, one of the world’s most thrilling coastal roads, into the Cape Point Peninsula. See treacherous Cape Point, in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, and stop for lunch in Simon’s Town, overlooking False Bay. You’ll also visit the magnificent Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain. This evening, explore the shops, theatres, bars and restaurants of Cape Town's Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the city’s most popular attraction.

Day 15

Today you're free to rest, relax and enjoy the city. Why not join a walking tour past the Dutch colonial houses of the Bo-Kaap district, stroll along the tree-lined paths of The Company's Garden, catch a catamaran to the prison at Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison, ( early booking highly recommended!) or make an unforgettable ascent of Table Mountain, taking in the 360° panorama from a rotating cable car as it climbs to the 1,000-metre high summit?

Day 16

Make the most of your last morning in Cape Town. In the afternoon you'll transfer to the airport to check in for your overnight flight home via Johannesburg.

Day 17

Arrive back in the UK at the end of a wonderful South African experience.