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South Africa and Eswatini in 30 days | Our Itinerary
South Africa is the most diverse country we have visited, from virgin beaches with white sand dunes, cliffs that take your breath away, fauna in the savannah, green mountains... This is the 30-day itinerary through South Africa and Eswatini that we did and we wouldn't change a thing.
We know that it is not usual to be able to take such a long vacation, but we wanted to leave our route among the rest of our guides for travel to south africa because you have the opportunity to dedicatecarI spent a month in the country. That said, we still had some incredible places left to see outside of our itinerary due to lack of time.
Do not stop reading our Guide to travel to South Africa with all the practical information necessary to organize a great trip
- ROUTE THROUGH SOUTH AFRICA AND ESWATINI IN 30 DAYS
- Preparations for traveling to South Africa 21 days
- Day 1 – Arrival in Johannesburg
- Day 2 – Panorama Route
- Day 3 to 8 – Visit Kruger National Park
- Days 9 and 10 – Visit Eswatini
- Days 11 and 12 – Dive in Sodwana Bay and Tour iSimangaliso
- Days 13-16 – Hiking in Drakensberg
- Days 17 and 18 – Hours of driving and Safari in Addo Elephant Park
- Days 19-24 – Tour the Garden Route
- Days 25 and 26 – Visit Cape Town
- Day 27 – Touring the Cape Peninsula
- Days 28 and 29 – Winery tour and wine tasting
- Day 30 – Return home
BY SOUTH AFRICA And Eswatini in 30 days
We leave you a Map with the best of South Africa in 30 days and summary of the route we did.
- Day 1: Arrive in Johannesburg, head towards Blyde Canyon.
- Day 2: Panorama route.Sleep in the Kruger camp.
- Day 3-8: Visit the Kruger National Park from north to south. Sleeping in the camps
- Day 9 and 10: DISCOVER Esuatini and visit Hlane Park. Sleep in Mlilwane
- Day 11: Visit, dive and sleep in Sodwana Bay
- Day 12: iSimangaliso, Saint Lucia. Sleeping in Durban
- Day 13-16: Hiking in Drakensberg
- Day 17: Journey to Addo and sleep in the camp
- Day 18: Visiting Addo Elephant National Park. Sleeping in the camp
- Day 19-23: Garden Route. Sleep in different points of the coast
- Day 24: Finish Garden Route. Sleep in Cape Town
- Day 25 and 26: Visit Cape Town. Sleep in Cape Town
- Day 27: Walk the Cape Peninsula.Sleeping in Cape Town.
- Day 28 and 29: Route of wines. Sleep in Franschhoek
- Day 30: Flight to Johannesburg and back home
Before starting with the detailed itinerary we leave you Articles that will be very useful for you to read while organizing your trip to South Africa.
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Day 1 – Arrival in Johannesburg
We arrived in Johannesburg after a stopover of several hours in Abu Dhabi where we took the opportunity to visit its incredible mosque. And since we arrived early in the morning We headed straight for the Panorama route.Keep in mind that driving at night is not recommended, so it's best to arrive in the afternoon. stay in Johannesburg.
Day 2 – Panorama Route
We got up early to explore The best of the Panorama Route, One carThe country's most iconic waterfalls, including Blyde Canyon, Berlin Falls, Lisbon Falls, Bourke's Luck Potholes, and Three Rondavels.
Access is paid in most places, and they are not included in the Wild Card, but It is worth knowing some of them.
In the afternoon we bought provisions at a Checkers supermarket. (the best in South Africa) and we begin the best days of our route through South Africa and Eswatini in 30 days entering the Kruger National Park through Phabeni Gate and initially driving north.
Day 3 to 8 – Visit Kruger National Park
El Kruger It is the best National Park in South Africa and one of the best in all of Africa. We visited it for five days from north to south staying in the camps of ⪼ Shingwedzi, Letaba, Satara and Lower Sabie With our tent, an option lowcost which seemed ideal to us. We tell you more about how travel to South Africa in a tent.
Visit Kruger for free
Booking Guide accommodations in the Kruger
All about the Wild Card
One of the best things about Kruger is that you can travel it with your own vehicle rental. The roads and carThe park's boundaries are well-maintained, so hiring a private game drive isn't essential. However, we recommend taking one to experience the thrill and spot some elusive animals, especially at dawn when the big cats are most active.
The afternoon of the 8th was spent reaching Eswatini and cross the border so we could explore Hlane the next morning.
Useful information: To be able to enter the country with the rental car you need to request a special border crossing permit from the rental company. In this article I explain How to cross the Eswatini border step.
Days 9 and 10 – Visit Eswatini
The first day in Eswatini we spent exploring Hlane National Park, the most famous place in the whole country. Hlane is much smaller and has less wildlife than Kruger, but it is a perfect place to see the elusive black and white rhinos. Having an animal like that so close is truly amazing.
The park is divided into two areas, one where there are lions and you can only enter with a Game Drive that costs R480 per personAnd another where you can go in your own car, although the road conditions aren't very good and 4x4 is recommended. We'll explain...carThe separation is due to the fact that, in order to preserve the rhinos, they have had to be separated from the biggest predators.
Apart from Hlane there are many other places to visit in Eswatini. We dedicated a full day to Hlane and another to visiting the Mantega cultural village, a recreation of ancient Swazi villages and the Milwane Shrine, where we spent the night in its beautiful camp and we tried the experience of a bicycle safari.
For further information Read our Guide of Esuatini in 2 days
Days 11 and 12 – Dive in Sodwana Bay and Tour iSimangaliso
We continue our route through South Africa and Eswatini in 30 days heading to Sodwana Bay, an area of the iSimangaliso National Park of wild beaches and a diving mecca in the region. If you are lucky you can dive with tiger sharks, we were not lucky, but we loved exploring the area.
The next day we headed to the most popular area of iSimangaliso, its wetlands. Where We took a route with the car to Cape Vidal, another of the most popular activities is a small Hippo cruise up closeWe didn't do it due to time constraints, but we've heard great things about it.
Days 13-16 – Hiking in Drakensberg
El Drakensberg National Park It is a unique place that forms a natural border with the country of Lesotho.carThe Drakensberg mountains rise above 3000 meters and are a perfect place for mountain lovers. Even though it was a long drive and almost 8 hours to get there, we did not regret at all adding it to our 30-day route through South Africa and Eswatini.
We did three excursions through the northern Drakensberg area staying at an intermediate point between them, the hotel The Border Post, which we highly recommend.
More information about the routes we did in the Guide of Hiking in Drakensberg
Days 17 and 18 – Hours of driving and Safari in Addo Elephant Park
On the 17th we got up early to do one last excursion through the Drakensberg before starting to do another bunch of kilometers around Lesotho to get to Addo, Elephant National ParkAs you can imagine, it is easy to see huge families of elephants gathered around the waterholes in the National Park.
As in Kruger, it is best to spend the night in the game reserve so that you can enjoy safaris during the best hours of the day, sunrise and sunset. For more information, please see our guide to How to visit Addo on your own.
Days 19-24 – Tour the Garden Route
We spent several days in Take your time along the 750km Garden Route and enjoy everything it has to offer That's a lot!
We started in Port Elisabeth and headed towards Cape Town, passing through places like Tsitsikamma, ideal for hiking and adventure sports, Plettensberg Bay, where we saw and swam with sea lions, and the Kipgat Caves and the DeHoop Nature Reserve, two places that really surprised us.
To organize your itinerary awarded by the Garden Route you can read ⪼ What to see and do on the Garden Route, South Africa.
Days 25 and 26 – Visit Cape Town
Cape Town is a very cosmopolitan city with a variety of things to do. Although what we liked most were its surroundings, it is also interesting to visit its historic center, such as the Malay quarter Bo-Kaap, a small but curious neighborhood with very colorful houses. If you like modern markets, don't forget to visit and eat at the Old Biscuit Mill or, if it's the weekend, the Oranjezicht City Farm Market.
Although of course the most iconic thing about Cape Town is climbing to Table Mountain by cable car (or on foot if you really like the mountains) to enjoy one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and views of the entire city.
What we liked the most was watch the sunset at Camps Bay and Lion's Head, a short hiking trail with spectacular views of Cape Town and Table Mountain. You have all the information at The 12 Best Things to See and Do in Cape Town.
Day 27 – Touring the Cape Peninsula
The 30-day South African road trip continues along the best carThe country's coastal road, the M6 or Chapman's Peak, to reach the Cape of Good Hope.
We also visited Boulders Beach, a protected area where a community of African penguins resides, South Africa has it all! And some more brown ones like the Muizenberg beach, famous for its multi-coloured painted wooden changing rooms.
The complete route With all the stops at viewpoints, beaches and towns you have it in Cape Peninsula in 1 day.
Days 28 and 29 – Winery tour and wine tasting
The last few days of our trip through South Africa we decided to dedicatecarWe'll get lost among vineyards, beautiful wineries and wine tastings in the villages of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek.
In the region of the Winelands, just an hour from Cape Town there are more than 500 wineries. The best part? The tastings of wine paired with chocolates or cheeses at super affordable prices.
I recommend you read… South Africa's wine route, our favourite wineries, to start choosing with what wines and delicious food will you bid farewell to your time in South Africa?
Apart from the wineries, the villages are charming and full of history. They were founded by the first European settlers, which gives them a very peculiar style.
Day 30 – Return home
The end of our route through South Africa and Eswatini arrived, so we returned the rental car at Cape Town Airport and took an internal flight to Johannesburg.
I hope this itinerary through South Africa and Eswatini in 30 days helps you organize your next trip. To read more about each place you can read our South Africa guides and see the Featured stories from Instagram. Thanks for reading us!
For those who still do not know how many days they will travel to South Africa, we also have an itinerary for South Africa in 10 days y Route through South Africa in 15 days.
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