The Best South Africa Itinerary- 10 Days

If you love to travel in order to see amazing sights, beautiful scenery, and eat delicious food, then you will love South Africa! One of my best friends has always raved about South Africa but then she got engaged there so I thought she was just biased. I experienced South Africa for myself this summer and it was truly worth the trip! In case you are planning a trip to South Africa and use could use some tips on where to go and what to see in South Africa, here is our South Africa itinerary and we thought it turned out just right!

My husband is a high school teacher and there was a Boys School Conference in Cape Town, South Africa and he was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend. When I said how lucky he was, he said he felt he should take advantage of the trip over and explore a bit while he was there. I agreed and decided to join him for the trip. As much as I would love to have brought the children with us, the airfare to South Africa is rather hefty so we left them with family. It was nice to have some special time for us but I wished they could see so many of the things we saw! Maybe someday, we will go back and bring them with us!

10 Days In South Africa [Itinerary]

This South Africa Itinerary begins in Cape Town and takes in the sights for that area and then we went up to Kruger National Park to have the “safari” experience that you just can’t leave Africa without! We felt we had the perfect amount of time in each place to really explore but not feel at all bored. You could possibly cut out a day or two but I wouldn’t suggest it. I will do more detailed post after this South Africa Itinerary post so you will know everything we saw and did in South Africa and where you can cut if you need to do so.

Day 1- Travel

It is a long trip and the night I arrived in Cape Town, we just found our hotel and relaxed.

Day 2- Explore Cape Town

There is much to see and do in Cape Town. We started at the Waterfront and explored the gift shops (which have amazing souvenirs like etched ostrich egg lamps, beautiful pottery, wall hangings, and carvings!) Then we took the Trip to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned before the fall of apartheid. It really makes you think and oogle that an apartheid could have been in place so recently (during my lifetime!)  You could probably fit in a visit to the The Cape Town Stadium built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup as well.  My husband did this the day before I arrived so we just relaxed that evening and walked around our hotel area.

Day 3- Drive To Cape Point

We rented a car and enjoyed a gorgeous drive through Camp Bay along the coast down to Boulders Beach where we saw penguins!!  We continued on to Cape Point for some breath taking easy hiking trails.  It was a day filled with wildlife spottings, ocean and mountain views that were simply stellar, and excellent food.

Day 4- Table Mountain Hike

Wowzer.  This was a fantastic hike. It took about 2 hours to reach the flat table portion of the mountain and I would say the hiking was pretty challenging both in being steep and a bit scary but so worth it.  Amazing views!  Also, you get an up close experience with the fauna of South Africa along the trails and see plenty of protea, also called sugarbushes. There are only six recognized floral kingdoms of the world and the Cape is its own little region just to give you an idea of how unique the plants are.  After the hike, you may be pretty bushed but you still have time to pile in the car for a relaxing ride over to the Constantia wine route.  After recharinging there, visit Kristenbaush botanical gardens for more amazing sights.

Day 5- Stellenbaush

This is the day I would cut out if I absolutely had to shorten my trip but otherwise it was a really nice addition to the trip.  The Stellenbaush wine route makes for a lovely drive, a stop at a quaint town, and so many beautiful vineyards with wine tastings and amazing places to have gourmet meals that match the wine and views.  We also had a lovely hike in the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve.

Day 6- Travel

This day was mostly taken up with a flight to Johannesburg and a drive out to the Kruger Park area. We had dinner and hit the sack.

Day 7- Kruger Park Safari

A day in Kruger Park passes quickly as you are so busy spotting amazing wildlife up close in the wild for an experience that is truly remarkable. You must be in your Kruger Rest Camp by 5:30 for lock down. We stopped at Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp the first night and did an evening safari.

Day 8- Kruger Park

Yes, you will be glad to have another day to spot the animals that eluded you so far in a different part of the park (it is as big as New Jersey after all). We stayed at Malelane Rest Camp the second night.

Day 9- Kruger Park and Travel

We spent the morning catching some last amazing safari sights and then drove back to Johannesburg for our night time flight out. (You could explore Johannesburg a little instead.)

Day 10- Travel

Another long flight back to the states-but so worth it! So many memories and amazing photos which I will be sharing with you soon!

This just gives you a brief overview of things to do in South Africa but I will give you the full details on what we saw and where we ate in my coming posts.  So have you ever been to South Africa? What do you thing of this South Africa Itinerary for 10 days? Any suggestions based on your travels? What things to do in South Africa are most appealing to you?

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