We could have happily spent months in beautiful Cape Town, but of course we also wanted to explore more of South Africa. We decided to tour western South Africa by rental car, choosing the popular Garden Route along the southern coast as well as quieter routes through valleys surrounded by low mountains and along the west coast. We also ventured into the Eastern Cape, including Addo National Park, known for its large elephant herds, and into the Northern Cape to the small town of Calvinia, surrounded by a stark desert landscape. This post includes destination tips for driving around the Cape region of South Africa, plus information about renting a car in South Africa.
What exactly is the Cape region?
The Cape region is often thought of as the area around Cape Town, but in fact this vast area covers more than half of South Africa’s land area and is now divided into the provinces of the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. Originally, the Cape Colony was a large colonial territory ruled first by the Dutch and later by the British. In 1910, it became the Cape Province of the Union of South Africa.
All three of the present-day Cape provinces are vast, and exploring them thoroughly could take weeks, if not months. The best known and most popular is the Western Cape, home to both Cape Town and the country’s most famous wine regions. The popular Garden Route along the southern coast also lies partly in the Western Cape, while the other half belongs to the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Cape’s largest city is Gqeberha on the southern coast, still widely known by its former name, Port Elizabeth. The Eastern Cape is known for its spectacular coastal scenery as well as nature reserves such as Addo National Park.
The quietest and least-known of the provinces is the Northern Cape, much of which consists of the stark semi-desert known as the Karoo. Even this province has some incredibly impressive natural attractions, and it particularly appeals to adventurous travellers looking for off-the-beaten-path destinations.
Through the Cape wine regions to the Garden Route
We rented a car in Cape Town and first headed west. Because of our interest in beer, we had arranged a couple of brewery visits in the Cape wine regions, so we ended up among beautiful vineyards even though we did not actually visit any wineries. Wine and beer are made side by side in the Cape wine regions. We visited the excellent Soul Barrel Brewing microbrewery, housed in the idyllic setting of a former wine estate in its old wine cellars. We also visited Karoo Craft Brewers, located on the premises of Simonsvlei Wines.
From the wine region, we continued inland along quiet roads to the small town of Barrydale, from where we headed towards the coast and the popular Garden Route, a scenic route of about 300 kilometres following South Africa’s southern coastline. The Garden Route is generally considered to cover the stretch of coast between Mossel Bay in the Western Cape and Storms River in the Eastern Cape, although there seem to be several definitions. In any case, this “garden route” is known for its spectacular coastal scenery, beautiful beaches and the magnificent Tsitsikamma National Park.
We started exploring the Garden Route with a visit to the popular Diaz Beach in Mossel Bay, then continued to the charming Herolds Bay Beach. We stayed in George, or rather in a residential area just outside the city, where we rented a charming place to stay. As it happened, we were staying right next to Outeniqua Brewery, so naturally we went to see how the brewery and distillery operate. As usual, there will be posts about this and our other brewery visits in South Africa on the Craft Beer Nomads blog.
On our second day on the Garden Route, we started in Wilderness, right next to George, where there are several beautiful sandy beaches and plenty of holiday homes and hotels. We also stopped in the popular holiday destination of Plettenberg Bay before taking a longer walking break in beautiful Nature’s Valley, which has a lagoon at the mouth of the Grootrivier River as well as a seafront. Nature’s Valley is also the endpoint of the Otter Trail hiking route through Tsitsikamma National Park. This four-day hike through spectacular coastal scenery would undoubtedly be an amazing experience!
Gqeberha, or Port Elizabeth, and Addo National Park
Gqeberha, the largest city in the Eastern Cape, is still better known by its former name, Port Elizabeth, or simply PE. Known by the nickname “Friendly City”, Gqeberha is a hub on the southern coast, known for its beaches as well as attractions such as its museums. For many people, ourselves included, Port Elizabeth is simply a place to pass through, but those who stay for a couple of days often enjoy the city’s cultural offerings, shopping opportunities and boat trips. We skipped the city centre, however, and stayed just north of it near Bluewater Beach.
The main reason for driving all the way to Gqeberha was not the city itself but nearby Addo National Park, or Addo Elephant National Park. As the name suggests, Addo is particularly known for its elephants, of which there are huge numbers in the park. Seeing elephants is practically guaranteed in Addo, and in addition to these wonderful giants, there is plenty of other wildlife to see. We went on a self-drive safari in the park and got to watch elephant herds at very close range. There will be a separate post about Addo and our visit later, but here are a couple of preview photos.
Betty’s Bay penguins and spectacular Clarence Drive
We made the return journey towards Cape Town partly through inland valleys and partly along the coast. We stopped at several places to admire the coastal scenery, but the main destination on the way back was Stony Point in Betty’s Bay, known for its African penguin colony. Unlike the famous Boulders Beach near Cape Town, Stony Point does not attract huge numbers of tourists, and the penguins can be observed quite closely outside the paid area as well. The entrance fee would not have been expensive anyway, only a couple of euros, but unfortunately we arrived just as the area was closing (ticket sales end early, at 3:45 pm). It did not really matter, though, as there were huge numbers of penguins on the rocks and around them, and we were able to watch them for a long while almost entirely by ourselves.
From Cape Town, it is definitely worth driving along the shores of False Bay towards Betty’s Bay. The scenery is particularly spectacular between Gordon’s Bay and Rooi-Els, where the scenic Clarence Drive runs. Winding between the mountains and the coast, the road offers breathtaking views and is considered one of the finest scenic drives in the country.
Saldanha and Paternoster on the West Coast
After Betty’s Bay, we returned to Cape Town to do some house-sitting, but let’s also include in this post a second road trip we took later, heading north from Cape Town. We explored the west coast of the Western Cape and also headed into the Northern Cape to see what the stark, empty plateau looks like. Our friends in Cape Town were rather puzzled about why we wanted to go there because, as they put it, there is “absolutely nothing” in the area. But in a way, that is an attraction in itself.
Before exploring the stark Karoo semi-desert, we headed to the coastal scenery of the West Coast Peninsula, a natural attraction particularly known for its extensive and colourful display of wildflowers every spring. Our first destination in the area, where unfortunately there were no longer any carpets of flowers when we visited in January, the middle of summer, was Saldanha. It is known as a port city, but it also has beaches, beachfront hotels and holiday homes.
The best-known destination on the West Coast Peninsula is Paternoster, one of the oldest fishing villages on the west coast and now a popular holiday destination. Paternoster is known for its white “fishermen’s cottages” converted into holiday homes, as well as its food scene. The small village has numerous highly regarded restaurants, many of them specialising in seafood.
Calvinia in the Northern Cape and the return to Cape Town
From Paternoster, we continued northeast towards the small town of Calvinia. We climbed from the coastal plain onto the plateau, and the Western Cape gave way to the Northern Cape at Van Rhyns Pass, which offered great views over the low-lying coastal plain.
Calvinia certainly did not seem like a tourist magnet, and we were the only guests at our guesthouse. Some of the restaurants were also closed, and apparently many locals head to the coast in January to escape the scorching midsummer heat. It really was hot in Calvinia. There are not many actual attractions in town, unless you count the church and small museum, but it was nice to experience everyday life in an ordinary small town. We also went for a run in the nearby Akkerendam Nature Reserve. The plateau scenery was quite impressive, but the best time to visit this reserve is during the spring wildflower season.
From Calvinia, we returned to the Western Cape and headed south along more mountainous inland routes. We stopped in Citrusdal to visit a rural tourism business run by a friend’s acquaintance, and cooled off in a beautiful little pool beneath a small waterfall. A lovely place indeed. We then drove back to Cape Town through the Cape wine region, taking the scenic Bainskloof Pass between Ceres and Wellington along the way. On this particularly spectacular stretch of road, we also saw signs warning of leopards, but unfortunately we did not manage to spot any of the big cats.
Renting a car in South Africa
Renting a car in South Africa is easy and affordable, and we highly recommend it. Throughout the Cape region, the main roads were in very good condition and traffic was generally light outside city centres. Cape Town is the busiest place, and even there the main congestion was limited to the morning and late-afternoon rush hours. If you rent a car at the airport, for example, you can avoid the city-centre traffic altogether. We also used a rental office in the city centre, but even from there it was very easy to get onto the motorway.
A small car such as the VW Polo Vivo, which we had on our longer road trip, can be rented from around 10 euros per day. Additional insurance naturally increases the price, but we only had the cheapest basic package, and the rental companies did not really try to sell us much extra. Fuel prices have also risen in South Africa in 2026, but in January the price was still only about one euro per litre.
Most of South Africa’s national parks allow self-drive safaris, so you can also go on safari with a rental car. Even outside the national parks, you can spot some wildlife along the roads.
Anyone considering renting a car should be aware that traffic in South Africa drives on the left, which may take a little getting used to. The driving culture is fairly relaxed, drivers generally give way well, and we did not encounter aggressive driving.
An affordable small car is perfectly adequate on main roads, smaller paved roads and routes in Addo National Park, for example. For more demanding conditions, rental companies also offer more capable off-road vehicles. For overnight stays at national park camps and longer off-road trips, there are also so-called safari vehicles equipped with rooftop tents.
Instead of renting a car, you can also explore the Garden Route with Bazbus, which operates on a hop-on-hop-off concept. Check out the Kohteena Maailma -blogista blog for experiences of this way of travelling!
Have you been to South Africa, or are you interested in visiting? What about renting a car abroad, is that familiar to you? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments!
