Garden Route

As its name implies the heavily promoted Garden Route is an area that is richly endowed by nature, spectacular in many ways, graced with golden beaches, indigenous forests, lakes, lagoons and meandering rivers. The rugged coastline, marked by a succession of bays, beaches, cliffs, coves and capes, links one beautiful resort to another.

Bordered in the north by a series of impressive mountain ranges, the interior is reached via a number of scenic passes. The semi-desert Karoo lies on the other side of the mountains and can be reached via several of the most spectacular passes in the country.

The warm Indian Ocean and an abundance of inland water surfaces offer endless opportunities for bathing, boating, water-skiing, surfing, windsurfing, angling, diving and birdwatching. Golf, bowls, tennis and hiking are other popular forms of recreation in this area.

Although the Garden Route is unquestionably beautiful, it is also quite heavily developed. Accommodation is plentiful and varied, from upmarket hotels to chalets, cottages, flats, caravan parks, and a myriad of informal bed and breakfast establishments. Coach tours provide an excellent means of exploring the area.

The area stretching along the Southern Cape coast from Slang River near Heidelberg, eastwards to the Tsitsikamma Forest and Storms River has a variety of exquisite flora and fauna, ranging from magnificent fynbos and protea species to dense tropical forests in the east. This is commonly referred to as the Garden Route.

The combination of a delightful climate and spectacular scenic attractions has contributed greatly to the international acclaim that the Garden Route enjoys.

The eastern plateau region (including Johannesburg) has a dry, sunny climate in winter with maximum temperatures around 20ºC and crisp nights with temperatures dropping to around 5ºC. Between October and April there are late-afternoon showers often accompanied by spectacular thunder and lightning, but it rarely gets unpleasantly hot. Heavy hailstorms cause quite a lot of damage each year. It can, however, get very hot in the Karoo (the semi-desert heart of all three Cape provinces) and the far north (the Kalahari). The Western Cape has dry sunny summers with maximum temperatures around 26ºC. It is often windy, however, and the southeasterly 'Cape Doctor' can reach gale force. Winters can get cold, with average minimum temperatures of around 5ºC, and maximum temperatures of around 17'C, with occasional snow on the higher peaks.
The coast north from the Cape becomes progressively drier and hotter. Along the
south coast the weather is temperate, but the east coast becomes increasingly tropical the further north you go. The Transkei region and KwaZulu/Natal can be hot and unpleasantly humid in summer, although the highlands are still pleasant; this is also a summer rainfall area. The Mpumalanga and Northern Province lowveld get very hot in summer, when there are spectacular storms. In winter the days are sunny and warm.