10 MUST-SEE PLACES IN SOUTH AFRICA

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This list of the best places to see in South Africa It will help you prepare a trip through one of the most surprising and most diverse countries in Africa. Although we are sure that this country will surprise you, we anticipate that you will discover natural landscapes that will leave you speechless, you will see closely large cats and all kinds of animals in freedom in its magnificent national parks, you will enjoy a great multicultural environment in Cape Town or Johannesburg and you will cry until you say enough to see whales jump from the very coast.
All these unique experiences will make South Africa forever etched in your heart and just think of returning one day.

Although any time is good to travel to South Africa, having a pleasant time all year and with little rainfall, we would recommend traveling in autumn (between October and November) a time when there are good conditions to observe wildlife and it is also the time when whales can be seen in many areas of the country.
That said and although it seems that it is not relevant in the trip, we advise you to start your route through the country through Cape Town and finish it in Johannesburg, something that will allow you to go from less to more, the Kruger being the icing on this cake.
Taking into account that it is a large country and many trips must be made by car and tourist public transport is not abundant, the best option is to rent a car to make the majority of journeys through the country and some long section such as Port Elizabeth to Durban, do it by plane.

Something that you also ask us a lot about is the issue of security in South Africa. Although during our trip we do not feel insecure at any time, we recommend you to know the areas you want to visit, use common sense and take precautions such as trying not to drive at night or go with the latches closed.
These little things will make you travel much quieter and the best, enjoy this amazing country in the safest way.

Based on the experience of our trip to South Africa in 25 days we have made a selection of what we believe are, the 10 essential places to visit in South Africa. We start!

1. The Kruger National Park

The Kruger National Park is the largest wildlife reserve in the country and one of the most essential places to see in South Africa. One of the goals of many travelers when doing a safari is to see the first "big five", a group of difficult-to-locate animals of which the lion, the leopard, the rhinoceros, the elephant and the buffalo are part and the Kruger is one of the parks in the world where you have more reach to achieve this goal, having a Good number of each of them.
Although for us, what makes a Kruger safari different, and unlike other places like Kenya or Tanzania, is that you can explore it and find these animals with your own car, without needing the help of a guide or renting a 4 × Four.
During our 9 days touring the park we completed up to five "big five" and a little "big five", which is made up of the young of the big 5. In addition to these animals we saw numerous cheetahs, impalas, jackals, giraffes, hippos, hyenas and birds of all kinds, which made this one of the most incredible experiences we have been lucky to live on our trips.

And although we have just said that we saw numerous animals, one of the best tips for traveling to South Africa and being able to spot them is to have a lot of patience, especially to see the big cats. Imagine that in some cases we wait up to 3 hours to see them clearly.
Another important aspect to decide for the Kruger was the quality of its camps scattered throughout the park, which offer all the comforts at incredibly tight prices, ranging from approximately 20 euros to 100 euros that a bungalow with private bathroom can cost , kitchen and views. In addition, each camp organizes guided tours at different times of the day, including night game drives, for about 20 euros per person, with which you can rest from the car or try to see animals that you have not yet seen.

Without a doubt, we can assure you that the Kruger was the icing on our trip to South Africa for free and that is why we always recommend leaving it for the end of the trip as we mentioned before.

Kruger National Park

2. Cape Town

Cape Town is the most beautiful city in the country and another of the places to visit in South Africa more interesting. The most surprising aspect of the city is the spectacular natural environment that surrounds it in which Table Mountain stands out, considered one of the new seven wonders of the world from where you can have the best views of the city and the coast, full of wild beaches of White sand.
In addition to Table Mountain, there are many places to see in Cape Town such as the colorful Bo-Kaap neighborhood, boarding Lion's Head, booking the ferry to get to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, marveling at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden or enjoy the atmosphere in the premises of Long Street.

A safe option to save time and not miss anything is to book the tourist bus that stops at all the important points of the city or take this offer that also includes the funicular ticket to Table Mountain.

One of the aspects that did not attract the attention of the city were the great contrasts between the privileged minority of white race and the majority of black race that we saw in a very clear way when visiting areas such as the Waterfront and the residential areas that surround it They show you this harsh reality.

Something to keep in mind in Cape Town is that despite being considered the safest city in South Africa, precautions must be taken, so going out at night away from more tourist areas such as Long Street, it is not advisable and much less if You don't know where you are going

During our 4 nights in Cape Town we stayed at the Circa Luxury Apartment Hotel, located in the center that, in addition to an excellent quality / price ratio, has parking and a good restaurant.

Cape Town

3. Hoop Nature Reserve

The Hoop Nature Reserve, located about 3 hours drive from Cape Town, was one of the great and pleasant surprises of our trip. The landscape of large white sand dunes that bathe this part of the coast is reason enough to include it among the essential places to see in South Africa and also, if you travel in autumn, you can enjoy from the shore of the jumps of the whales that are very comfortable in this part of the ocean, not having much boat traffic.

We recommend arriving at the reserve soon if you intend to do some of its magnificent hiking trails that you can program with the brochure that you get at the entrance, in which the different options, marked on a map, with the times that take .
In addition, the reserve has a magnificent restaurant to try some of the typical local dishes and a large variety of fauna, among which the rare mountain zebra stands out.

Hoop Nature Reserve, one of the places to visit in South Africa

Recommended travel cards
Remember that in order not to pay commissions and always have the current change we recommend you use the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.

4. Wetland Park of iSimangaliso

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park declared a World Heritage Site and with the largest population of hippos in the entire continent, is another of the places to visit in South Africa. Located around the tourist town of Saint Lucia, this park also impresses with the largest estuary in Africa and a great diversity of fauna and flora thanks to its five ecosystems.
To see hippos and crocodiles up close, the best option is to take a small boat ride on the estuary, which starts from the town of St. Lucia.
Keep in mind that to make these excursions it is advisable to book them in advance through your hotel, since they usually sell out very quickly, especially those that depart to watch the sunset.
We stayed at the Lake St Lucia Lodge, from which we had a great memory thanks to the friendliness of its owner and the possibility of seeing hippos going through the hotel during the night.

About 3 kilometers from the park you also have a reserve where you can see other types of animals such as rhinos, zebras, elephants or facoceros and if you are very lucky to lions and leopards. Although we saw two rhinos, we believe that if you visit the Kruger you can disappoint A little this part of the park due to the shortage of large mammals.
At the end of this route is Cape Vidal where you can enjoy huge white sand beaches washed by the Indian Ocean.

ISimangaliso Wetland Park

5. Garden Route, one of the best places to see in South Africa

The Garden Route is a journey of more than 300 kilometers that you can do by car from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. During the tour you will pass by endless white sand beaches, natural parks with large forests, small fishing villages and especially landscapes that will leave you with your mouth open.
Among the most popular stops is the Cape of Needles, considered the southernmost point of Africa, where you can see even the remains of a ship stranded. Another point that we loved on this route was Nature's Valley, an infinite beach that separates the ocean with a beautiful lake.
Here is also our third favorite stop and one of the places to see in South Africa more beautiful, which is the Tsitsikamma National Park, where you can make a route through a forest and end it crossing some spectacular bridges suspended over the sea and where we recommend you to keep looking at the sea since whales, dolphins or seals can surprise you in any moment.

Other places to see on the Garden Route that we consider more expendable are Mossel Bay, Plettenberg Bay, Wilderness, Knysna Heads and Jeffreys Bay, which although it is advisable to stop, we do not think it is necessary to invest too much time.

If you are a wine enthusiast you can also deviate a little through the interior and visit some of the most important vineyards in the country and with worldwide fame such as Ceres, Wellington or Worcester that have become another of the places to see in South Africa essential in this area of the country.

We want to highlight that one of the most famous places on the Garden Route is Gansbaai, where you can dive with white sharks in freedom. We rule out having this experience by not finding any company that will practice this activity in a responsible way since they feed the sharks so that they approach the cages, something that alters their natural behavior and we do not want to promote it.

Garden Route

6. Cape Peninsula

Without a doubt, this one-day circular route from Cape Town to get to know the Cape Peninsula is one of the best things to do in South Africa. During this route by car along a scenic road that borders the coast, you can stop at different viewpoints to enjoy the scenery until you reach the famous Cape of Good Hope.
The first stop on the route is Camps Bay Beach, a spectacular white sand beach and large rocks where you can see the famous 12 Apostles, some rock formations that belong to Table Mountain.
The roadtrip continues to stop at several viewpoints of places like Chapman's Peak, Noordhoeck, Kometjie, Scarborough until you reach the Cape of Good Hope where in addition to taking the famous photo on the sign, we recommend you climb to the lighthouse to have the best views of the cliffs and all the way out.

Another mandatory stopping point is Boulders Beach, a small beach where there is a colony of African penguins that we are sure of, you'll love.
To finish the route we recommend you to stop at Muizenberg Beach, one of our places to visit in South Africa Favorites, where you can take a nice walk on the beach and see its famous colorful houses that have become one of the most photographed places in this area of the country.

Muizenberg Beach, one of the places to see in South Africa

7. Panorama Route

Leaving the Kruger in the direction of Johannesburg do not miss the opportunity to do the Panorama Route in South Africa. This route by car will take you through landscapes of vertiginous waterfalls, immense forests and canyons with fantastic viewpoints that we are sure, will surprise you.
Having the small town of Graskop as a lodging point, you can start the itinerary going up to the viewpoint of the Blyde river canyon, the third largest in the world from where you can see the famous three Rondavels, some curious rock formations.
The next stop is at Bourkes' Luck Potholes, where there are a set of very curious and photogenic rocks, product of erosion formed by the conjunction of two rivers. A few kilometers from this place are two of the best waterfalls to see in South Africa, Berlin Fall and Lisbon Fall.

To finish the itinerary we recommend you go up to God's Window, where you will have excellent views of all this fantastic surroundings.

In terms of accommodation we recommend the apartments of Havana Nights, located in Graskop and with private parking, with a great value.

Panorama Route

8. Betty's Bay

Betty's Bay is one of the best places in the world to see penguins in freedom and another one of the places to see in South Africa essential. In this bay you will have the opportunity to see hundreds of African penguins protecting themselves from the wind in a rocky area and swimming in the cold waters of the Indian Ocean. Also in Stony Point you can also walk on wooden walkways and see these nice seabirds up close.

Betty's Bay, another of the must-see places in South Africa

9. Hermanus

The best place to see whales in freedom and others of the essential places to visit in South Africa They have a name, Hermanus. This small and tourist town, is the capital of the world in terms of whale watching to see these huge mammals from the many viewpoints of the shore.
Something to keep in mind that whale watching in Hermanus is possible only during the months of July to November, especially October and November, which is the time they migrate from the cold Arctic waters to the warmer climates of the South African coast to mate
To see whales much closer we recommend taking a boat trip that you can book in advance online or at the same hotel you are staying. In this regard we recommend spending the night at Hermanus Backpackers & Budget Accommodation with a great quality / price ratio.

Hermanus

10. Johannesburg

Johannesburg, the largest and most populous city, is our latest recommendation from the list of places to see in South Africa. Keep in mind that it is not the most beautiful and safest city in the world, although it has several interesting points for historical reasons for tourists. To visit them quietly the best option is to book the tourist bus.
One of the most important places in the city is the Apartheid Museum, which tells the story of the racial discrimination that the country suffered during the twentieth century. Another interesting place is Soweto, an extensive urban area where protests against aparheid began and suffered violent repression by the state. In the Orlando West neighborhood of Soweto is the house where the leader of the fight against Apartheid, Nelson Mandela, now turned into a museum, lived for a long time.

Although we finally decided to cancel the day we had planned to spend in the city and add it to the Kruger, since we were totally hooked to the park, we believe that if you have that day, Johannesburg is another of the places to see in South Africa more recommended

Johannesburg

10 + 1. Hlane National Park in Swaziland

A trip to South Africa we believe is not complete if you do not visit the impressive Hlane National Park, located in Swaziland, or Esuatini, whose official name is Kingdom of Swaziland and that despite not belonging to the same country, we have not wanted to stop add in this list of places to see in South Africa.
In this small country, which is surrounded by South Africa, you can pass on the way to the Kruger from Saint Lucia.
It has several reservations, although for us the best is Hlane, where you can see large animals such as lions, elephants, hippos and leopards, although the true star of the park is rhinos, a mammal that in other parks is very difficult to see and that in Hlane you can see with great ease, at least according to our experience.

Here the routes through the park can be done with your car, as in the Kruger, or by hiring a guided tour in the camp. We recommend doing the first walk with a guide, since if it is the first time you visit a park with large mammals it is very interesting to know the safety rules, the distances that you have to keep with them and the behavior of each one. In addition, depending on what moments and conditions, the guide can invite you to get out of the car, this being one of the most incredible experiences we had when we got out of the car next to the guide to see a rhino with a young that was located less than 10 meters from us.

The time we spent at the Hlane we stayed at the Hlane Ndlovu Camp, a fantastic place with a large pond in front, where hippos, rhinos and all kinds of animals that you could see a few meters away that turned it into another of the places to see in South Africa more recommended. Keep in mind that the area of big cats is separated by fences from the rest and that the roads, although they can be done with tourism, are not in such good condition as in the Kruger.