Small Group Classic Tour
South Africa Explorer Small Group Classic Tour
Fourteen days from Cape Town to Johannesburg: the Garden Route to Gqeberha, a flight to Johannesburg for Soweto and the Apartheid Museum, then the Kruger National Park and the Panorama Route. Maximum ten guests.
The journey
Cape to Kruger in two weeks
Two nights in Cape Town to arrive and settle, with a free day for the Peninsula or the Winelands. Then the Garden Route: Cape Agulhas, the Tradouw Pass, Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves, Knysna, Monkeyland and Birds of Eden, and two nights in the Tsitsikamma before the drive to Gqeberha and the flight to Johannesburg (not included). Three nights in Sandton give you a full day in Soweto — Kliptown, Vilakazi Street, the Hector Pieterson Memorial — and the Apartheid Museum, with a free day for the Cradle of Humankind or Pretoria.
The last leg is the Lowveld: three nights in Hazyview for an afternoon in the Kruger National Park, a dawn open-vehicle safari with a ranger, a second park afternoon and the Panorama Route. The tour ends at OR Tambo International Airport at about 14h30 on day 14.
The six-day Garden Route Splendour and four-day Kruger Park Explorer tours are modules of this itinerary.
Scheduled small-group departure (minimum 2, maximum 10 guests). Accommodation is as named or a similar standard; the exact hotel is confirmed at booking. Two guests travel in a sedan; three to ten guests travel in a 13-seater vehicle.
YOUR JOURNEY AT A GLANCE
A journey through the experience
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Met at Cape Town International Airport and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is free. — Accommodation: The President Hotel (4-star) or similar
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A free day. Optional, at your own cost: a Table Mountain, Cape Peninsula and Constantia day, or a Winelands day at Fairview and Babylonstoren — or the beach. — Meals: breakfast · Accommodation: The President Hotel or similar
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An early start over Sir Lowry's Pass to Grabouw and Elgin and a farm stall of Overberg produce. Cape Agulhas and its lighthouse, then via Swellendam and the Tradouw Pass to Barrydale and Route 62, roosterkoek over the fire, and Oudtshoorn for dinner at an ostrich farm. — Meals: breakfast, light lunch, dinner · Accommodation: La Plume Boutique Hotel (4-star) or similar · About 550 km
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A guided tour of the Cango Caves, an interactive tractor tour of a working ostrich farm and a tasting of Klein Karoo wines. — Meals: breakfast · Accommodation: La Plume Boutique Hotel or similar · About 90 km
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Over the Outeniqua Pass to George and the Outeniqua Transport Museum, then via Wilderness to Knysna; lunch en route and the Eastern Head for the Knysna Heads (weather permitting). — Meals: breakfast, lunch · Accommodation: Rex Hotel (4-star) or similar · About 170 km
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Plettenberg Bay and Mungo, a family textile mill; Monkeyland primate sanctuary and Birds of Eden, the world's largest single free-flight aviary; on to the Tsitsikamma. — Meals: breakfast · Accommodation: Tsitsikamma Village Inn (3-star, village room) or similar · About 100 km
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Tsitsikamma National Park and Storms River Mouth (weather permitting). Afternoon at leisure; dinner of local dishes. — Meals: breakfast, dinner · Accommodation: Tsitsikamma Village Inn or similar · About 50 km
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East through the Tsitsikamma forest to Gqeberha and Chief Dawid Stuurman Airport for the flight to Johannesburg (flight not included; the mid-afternoon Gqeberha–Johannesburg sector is recommended). Met on arrival and transferred to your hotel; the rest of the day is free. — Meals: breakfast · Accommodation: Southern Sun Sandton (4-star) or similar · About 185 km by road
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A full day in Soweto: FNB Stadium, Diepkloof, Kliptown and the Freedom Charter, Regina Mundi church, Vilakazi Street — home to two Nobel laureates, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu — the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, and the Apartheid Museum. — Meals: breakfast · Accommodation: Southern Sun Sandton or similar · About 100 km
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A free day. Optional, at your own cost: Maropeng and the Cradle of Humankind, a Johannesburg city and Constitutional Hill tour, or Pretoria; or Nelson Mandela Square for shopping. — Meals: breakfast · Accommodation: Southern Sun Sandton or similar
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A long drive to Mpumalanga, then an afternoon of game viewing in the Kruger National Park in the touring vehicle and dinner of regional dishes at the hotel. — Meals: breakfast, dinner · Accommodation: Hippo Hollow Country Estate (3-star) or similar · About 430 km
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Early coffee, then an open-vehicle game drive with a ranger and a packed breakfast. Optional at your own cost: a presentation on the park's anti-poaching dog unit. Lunch at the hotel (own account), then a second afternoon of game viewing in the park. — Meals: breakfast · Accommodation: Hippo Hollow Country Estate or similar · About 250 km
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God's Window, the Three Rondavels and the Blyde River Canyon, Bourke's Luck Potholes and Graskop. Optional open-vehicle game drives at your own cost if you would rather stay in the park. — Meals: breakfast · Accommodation: Hippo Hollow Country Estate or similar · About 260 km
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Breakfast, then the return to OR Tambo International Airport, arriving at about 14h30, where the tour ends. — Meals: breakfast · About 400 km
What’s included
- 18 meals: 13 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 3 dinners (drinks excluded)
- 13 nights' accommodation, including porterage
- Air-conditioned touring vehicle, including toll fees
- Professional English-speaking tour guide
- Entrance fees as listed in the itinerary
- Bottled water
What’s not included
- Flight and departure tax, Gqeberha to Johannesburg (day 8)
- Meals and drinks not listed
- Optional excursions
- Items of a personal nature and gratuities beyond those listed
- Travel insurance
Before you travel
Good to know
- Departs
- Saturday (scheduled 2027 departures January to November — ask us for the dates)
- Group size
- Minimum 2, maximum 10 guests
- Start / end
- Cape Town International Airport to OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg
- Flight
- The Gqeberha–Johannesburg flight and departure tax on day 8 are not included; we can arrange the recommended mid-afternoon sector for you.
- Accommodation
- The President Hotel, Cape Town (2) · La Plume Boutique Hotel, Oudtshoorn (2) · Rex Hotel, Knysna (1) · Tsitsikamma Village Inn (2) · Southern Sun Sandton (3) · Hippo Hollow Country Estate, Hazyview (3) — or similar
- Children
- Ages 8–11 sharing a room with two full-paying adults qualify for a reduced rate
TRAVEL WITH PURPOSE
The Spurwing difference
We create experiences that go beyond the surface — connecting you to people, places and stories that matter. With deep local knowledge and a passion for authentic travel, we help you see South Africa differently.
- Authentic experiences
- Small groups, big impact
- Responsible tourism
- Trusted by travellers