any good? wanted to go at xmas with her indoors…got a mate whos a local and he reckons its ace..

Went a few years ago and it was brilliant. Would happily go back. Cheap accomodation, easy to get around, stunning scenery, lots of wildlife.

one of the best places I’ve ever been. Do it.

I went in Nov and it was nice and warm…. Christmas will be HOT.

f’king awesome

drakensburg mountains; lesotho hiking; cape town culture; wine country; hogsback – f’king great. Loved it.

(drive very defensively – don’t drive between 6pm and 6am – call reliable taxi companies and you’ll be absolutely fine)

I am South African, where you thinking of going in SA.

I did the research for my PhD out there – i absolutely love it.

Spent all my time around Wilderness & Knysna on the Garden Route. Beautiful place and some of the best food i’ve ever eaten – especially if you’re a carnivore 😈

Born there, sadly now residing in England.

Love it tho’…

Anyone know what Johannesburg’s like?

I might be working out there quite a bit in the next year or two & while everyone seems to love Cape Town, I haven’t heard a good thing said about Jo’burg yet. Is there a good reason for this???

yep was thinking and had been told that capetown was the place…wanna dive with sharks look at the wildlife etc.should be a great trip…gonna do it as a surprise for the missus and tell her were off to spain or someat

Lived in Cape Town for a spell back when it was really cheap and fairly safe, but I was fortunate enough to be armed. Beautiful country, and in Cape Town I witnessed no racism. All the people I knew in SA have left since it went pear shaped.

As to Jo’burg, I think that’s still the most dangerous city in the world for gun crime & murders (yes, even compared to any US city!).

Cape Town and the Garden Route is great, up to Port Elizabeth.

Never lived in Joberg, but never wanted to.

What are you into: city life or the wild?

As others have said: Cape Town area is great for food, scenery, wine, sea life. Johannesburg is industrial.

If you want wild animals rather come north to Botswana.

Personal safety comes down mainly to common sense: not being conspicuous, being aware of what’s going on around you, leaving room to manouevre when driving, moving confidently, and so on.

Disclaimer: spent 3 hours in Cape Town 10 years ago collecting a car, have spent weeks at a time in Jo’burg on work-related trips including going “downtown.”

headpotdog: as above, Jo’burg is quite industrial but there are good, safe spots for nights out (presumably you will get to know people you are working with) and it’s a great base for going to other places. Low cost airlines run between the main urban areas.

We’ve been a few times-starting at Cape Town. LOVELY place. Franshoek & Stellenbosch for food and wine, Garden route for the good 2 week trip or north through Namibia and Botwswana for a longer wildlife trip.

No idea about J’burgh.

awesome scenery, but overall, don’t rate at all. spent 3 months travelling round.
love table mountain, climbed it every day for a week, but as a city, capetown sucks.
shark diving out of hermanus, yes, quality, had 4 circling and charging the cage.
travelled and surfed the garden route; Jeffreys has the waves, places are ok/nice, not too special.
Durban is awful, good surf though, drakensburg nice.
however;
drive up to Namibia, totally awesome place and completely bizarre.
if you want wildlife and great people, go to Tanzania.
then pop across to Zanzibar

South Africa is awesome.
Most people go to cape town for good reason, but it’s only small corner of a very big and very beautiful place.
Durban and the East coast has warm water and beautiful beaches.
West coast is cold water but also beautiful. Both coasts will have great seafood ‘Catch of the day’ really is the catch of day.
Kruger national is the most famous game reserve and well worth a visit, but again just one of many. Areas surrounding the Kruger are also breath taking.
Johannesburg can be wild but the people are friendly unless they are robbing you, or worse…Which can also happen anywhere in the country.
Cheap booze, great wine and massive steaks will make sure you don’t waste away.
Rent a car from a big company, Avis gave us a great Toyota corolla that hardly used any fuel, and get off the beaten track. Don’t worry if it’s a white car, they were in fashion long before TOWIE.
If you know someone local all the better, South Africans are very hospitable and like to spoil their guests.
Just remember your sunblock and don’t look and like a tourist.
Make sure you have good insurance, most hospitals are private and won’t help you till you have handed over your credit card.
Johannesburg international airport love it if your baggage is overweight or you have any sporting equipment of any description, expect to pay!
Hope you have a good holiday.

Go straight to Cape Town, it’s one of the few cities in Africa that really works. The governor of Western Cape province, Helen Zille, is an Afrikkaaner woman who is incorruptible and who runs the place correctly, so that not much of the money is being stolen. Consequently the place is well managed and secure and you can have a great time there. It’s the only place where you can walk around with a laptop bag and not worry.

OTOH nobody goes into Johannesburg and the northern suburbs of Sandton and Fourways are just…. smart residential districts. Durban has a completely different vibe; lots of space and greenery and some great curries.

Emirates and Qatar are both pretty cheap for flights.

Awesome place in many respects (we have family in Cape Town) but you REALLY REALLY need to have your wits about you all the time. Theft from cars struck in traffic jams is common so when you’re driving hide everything from view as is lobbing rocks from roadsides on certain routes (R301).

Family out there have reported the occasional attempted car-jackings/robbery when driving at night and they have armed response security paid for for a reason at home (along with a number of very large dogs running free).

If you are driving make sure you:
– know where you’re going before you leave;
– keep your doors locked;
– keep your valuables out of sight / locked in the boot;
– don’t go for an impromptu ‘township tour’ in your hire car (yes some people are that daft);
– have fuel for your journey.

Having said that we’ve had a fantastic time when visiting. Some of our favorites:

– Table Mountain
– Kirstenbosch Gardens (we got engaged there)
– Whale watching (non-invasively from the beach at Hermanus)
– Walking in the Cederberg (it’s leopard and baboon country so caution!)
– Wine estates
– Garden route
– Penguins on Boulders Beach
– Cape Point is nice too.
– Spur restaurants. Everywhere – cheap (by our standards), big lumps of grilled meat. This is not haute cuisine just a cost-effective way of chomping steak!

Cape Town centre I could take or leave but the harbour’s nice enough.

Diamonds are only substantially cheaper than here if you shop with local knowledge. Anywhere vaguely touristy will be near as expensive as home.

We have taken the odd wrong turn out there and strayed into some more risky areas without too much trouble.

Imvho South African towns and cities are not particularly nice. The countryside is where it’s at.

I must add to GD’s post that I have spent many weeks over years of business visits driving around the less salubrious parts of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and never been attacked or threatened. TBH you are at more risk from baboons than humans in parts of SA.

The laws of chance will say that it is probably more risky for residents who must move around all the time.

(Riding the Cape Argus race (32,000 riders on a 110 km circuit of The Cape) I’ve seen the mayhem a baboon can cause by dashing out into the road to grab a discarded gel sachet! And that’s not to mention the mayhem caused when baboons start sucking the dregs of the energy-rich gel and caffeine from the sachets!)

yep was thinking and had been told that capetown was the place…wanna dive with sharks look at the wildlife etc.should be a great trip…gonna do it as a surprise for the missus and tell her were off to spain or someat

Do you mean a cage dive with the great whites, in which case Cape Town is fine. If you mean open water diving then you need to head to the east coast around Durban to swim with the raggies. This is proper diving for experienced divers but well worth it. 4m long and mouth full to bursting with teeth and they just glide right by. Lots of other good diving along that bit of coast, getting pretty much tropical by the time you get to the top. It’s not that far to Kruger either with was absolutley awesome when we went.

cool all good tips…ta,just getting the flights sorted then accomadation…