Why I Love the Garden Route

Garden Route Glory

I’ve driven the Garden Route more times than I can remember, both while running tours and in my own time. In fact, when I’m on holiday in South Africa, I’ll sometimes drive it simply because I enjoy it.

One of the things I love most about the Garden Route is that every day is different.

You can start the morning walking along a beach in Plettenberg Bay and later be surrounded by indigenous forest in Tsitsikamma. The following day might involve driving through Knysna, stopping at the Heads, walking beside a lagoon or heading into Wilderness.

The scenery constantly changes.

Another highlight of the Garden Route is the chance to experience a proper South African safari at Botlierskop Private Game Reserve, just outside Mossel Bay. The reserve is home to wildlife including rhino, giraffe, zebra, buffalo and several species of antelope, with guided game drives through more than 4,000 hectares of beautiful countryside. It works perfectly as part of a Garden Route itinerary without requiring a long detour.

Mossel Bay itself is also well worth exploring, with excellent beaches, dramatic coastal scenery and the historic Point area. It adds something completely different to the forests and lagoons further east along the Garden Route.

There are long beaches, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers and dramatic stretches of coastline. Even the drive between places is part of the experience. You can come around a corner and suddenly have a completely different landscape in front of you.

Plettenberg Bay is one of my favourite places. The beaches are enormous and there is plenty of space to walk without feeling crowded. Robberg Nature Reserve is nearby, and the whole coastline around Plett is spectacular.

Then there is Tsitsikamma.

The landscape changes again as you enter thick indigenous forest with the mountains on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. Storms River Mouth is one of the highlights, with its rocky coastline, forest trails and suspension bridges.

And then there’s Knysna.

After a full day exploring, Knysna is a great place to come back to. I particularly enjoy the Waterfront in the evening. There are plenty of good restaurants, and the standard of food in Knysna is excellent. It’s the sort of town where you can finish the day with a good meal and then start again the following morning in a completely different direction.

That variety is probably the main reason I never get bored of the Garden Route.

I can drive the same roads dozens of times and still enjoy them. The weather changes, the ocean changes and the landscape changes with the seasons.

Then there is Cape Agulhas — the southernmost point of the African continent. Standing there, with an entire continent behind you and nothing but ocean stretching south towards Antarctica, is an extraordinary experience. This is also the official meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, marked by the famous monument at the tip of Africa. Nearby stands the historic Cape Agulhas Lighthouse, surrounded by a wild, rugged coastline that feels completely different from Cape Town or the Garden Route. It is remote, windswept and unmistakably African. Few journeys give you the chance to stand at the very end of a continent.