The Garden Route is a popular and scenic stretch of the south-west coast of South Africa. It stretches from Heidelberg in the Western Cape to the Storms River which is crossed along the N2 coastal highway over the Paul Sauer Bridge in the extreme eastern reach of the neighboring Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdant and ecologically diverse vegetation encountered here and the numerous lagoons and lakes dotted along the coast. It includes towns such as Mossel Bay, Knysna, Oudtshoorn, Plettenberg Bay and Nature's Valley; with George, the Garden Route's largest city and main administrative center.
It has an oceanic climate, with mild to warm summers, and mild to cool winters. It has the mildest climate in South Africa and the second mildest climate in the world, after Hawaii, according to the Guinness Book of Records. Temperatures rarely fall below 10°C in winter and rarely climb beyond 28°C in summer. Rain occurs year-round, with a slight peak in the spring months, brought by the humid sea-winds from the Indian Ocean rising and releasing their precipitation along the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma Mountains just inland of the coast.
The Route is sandwiched between the aforementioned mountains and the Indian Ocean. The Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma indigenous forests are a unique mixture of Cape Fynbos and Temperate Forest and offer hiking trails and eco-tourism activities. Nearly 300 species of bird life are to be found in a variety of habitats ranging from fynbos to forest to wetlands.
Ten nature reserves embrace the varied ecosystems of the area as well as unique marine reserves, home to soft coral reefs, dolphins, seals and a host of other marine life. Various bays along the Garden Route are nurseries to the endangered Southern Right Whale which come there to calve.
Discover the Garden Route
A popular and scenic stretch of the south-west coast of South Africa
Plettenberg Bay
Plettenberg Bay, nicknamed Plet or Plett, is in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As of the census of 2001, there were 29149 population. It was originally named Bahia Formosa (beautiful...
Tsitsikamma
The word tsitsikamma is a Khoisan phrase meaning place of abundant water.
TSITSIKAMMA MOUNTAINS
The Tsitsikamma mountains are a mountain range located in the Garden Route region of the southern...
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay (Afrikaans: Mosselbaai) is a town with 150,000 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It lies on the southern coast of South Africa, east of the Cape of Good Hope and...
Baviaanskloof
Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve is a protected area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The Baviaanskloof - (old Afrikaans for “Valley of Baboons”) - lies between the Baviaanskloof...
Albertinia
Albertinia is a settlement in Eden District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
The village is situated 50 km west of Mossel Bay. It was laid out in 1900 on the farm...
Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas (/əˈɡʌləs/; Portuguese: Cabo das Agulhas [ˈkaβu ðɐz ɐˈɣuʎɐʃ], "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa.
It is the geographic southern tip...
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a coastal town on the Garden Route in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated on the N2 national road, between George and Knysna. The town offers beaches and...
Buffalo Bay
Buffelsbaai (also Buffels Bay and Buffalo Bay) is a small seaside town 20 kilometers from Knysna in the Eden District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
The cargo ship Kiani...
Wilderness
Wilderness (Afrikaans: Wildernis) is a seaside town on the Garden Route of the southern Cape in South Africa.
It is situated a short distance east from the city of George, on the N2 down the...
Swellendam
Situated in the Western Cape province, Swellendam has been used as a gateway between Cape Town and the South African interior and the Garden Route since the 1500's.
The historical town is the...
Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth or Gqeberha is one of South Africa's major port cities in the Eastern Province. Rich in history and diverse in landscape, it is a must for any avid tourist. From stunning beaches...
Stellenbosch
Welcome to wine country or what we refer to in South Africa as the "Boland" (Afrikaans for High Land). The quant university town is steeped in Cape Dutch heritage, French Hugenot and Cape Malay...
Waterberg Limpopo
The Waterberg Mountain is situated in the northern Limpopo Province of South Africa. The closest towns to this natural wonder is Thabazimbi, Lephalale, Modimolle and Bela-Bela.
Known as...
Yzerfontein
Yzerfontein is a picturesque little harbour town on the west coast of South Africa, around 90km north of Cape Town. The Afrikaans name literally translates as “Iron Fountain”. The town has...
Paternoster
Paternoster is one of the quintessential West Coast fishing villages in South Africa. Approximately 140km from Capet Town between Saldanha Bay and St Helena Bay at Cape Columbine it has attracted...
West Coast National Park
Just an hour and half's drive from Cape Town is one of South Africa's most beautiful and unique national parks - West Coast National Park. The blue waters of the Langebaan Lagoon forms the...
Cape Columbine
Thabazimbi
Looking for a base from where you can explore the Waterberg area, Limpopo Province? Thabazimbi is your answer. The name literally means mountain of iron and was named for the massive iron ore...
