5-Day Garden Route and Little Karoo Tour with Prince Albert

• After being collected from the airport in George, transfer to your accommodation overlooking the lakes on the Garden Route. The Garden Route is a mix of modern golf courses, ancient forests, secluded artists' communities, retirement estates, modern malls, craft centres, mountain hideaways, and beach holidays. A large number of interesting and creative people are drawn to this magnificent stretch of coastline, and many of them now call it home.
• The main highway through the Garden Route, a highlight on most visitors' itineraries, is the N2 stretch running from Heidelberg in the Southern Cape to Storms River Village on the Eastern Cape border.
• While the scenery is enough to make you stop and stare, it is the hidden gems found along the roadside that are the real allure of the Garden Route.
• Visit the special village of Wilderness, its lakes, and the thick tropical forest on the Indian Ocean.
• If wind conditions permit, you may perhaps go tandem paragliding. You can also canoe the river or do a short hike to the waterfall.
• Choose from a variety of exceptional restaurants serving brilliant cuisine in the area, all within walking distance of one another in the village.

Overnight in Wilderness.

• The day begins with exploring the Garden Route and discovering why it is called the Garden Route. The Garden Route National Park, which connects the ancient forests and wild coastline of Tsitsikamma National Park with Wilderness National Park via a chain of lakes and preserved sections of fynbos, is a fascinating and enchanting mix of ecosystems. This park is also famous for its secluded little bays and its year-round holiday atmosphere, and it is conveniently accessible from Cape Town.
• While exploring all the nooks and crannies of the Garden Route, do not forget to cast an eye out to sea, where you may see Southern Right and Humpback whales, Bottlenose and common dolphins, and even Killer Whales known to frolic close to the shore, especially near Plettenberg Bay. Whatever your pleasure, you will find what you are looking for on the Garden Route, even if it is simply to lose yourself in one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa, if not the world.
• Experience the lakes, forests, and beaches of the area.

Overnight in Wilderness.

• Travel to Oudtshoorn.
• Visit an ostrich farm, enjoy lunch, and then continue through the Meiringspoort Pass to Prince Albert, where you will spend the next 2 nights. Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world, also forms part of the Garden Route, and for those interested in history, both early inhabitants and elephants have crossed the Outeniqua Mountains from Oudtshoorn to the coast for many centuries. In 1845, Queen Victoria agreed that a tiny village in the Karoo should be named after her consort, His Royal Highness Prince Albert. The lovely Karoo village of Prince Albert has a history dating back to 1762. It is no wonder, then, that ghosts are believed to haunt its old buildings, streets, and pavements. When you join the Prince Albert Ghost Walk, expect an encounter of the spooky kind.

Overnight at Dennehof.

• Explore Prince Albert and the surroundings of the Little Karoo. Prince Albert is ringed by vineyards and fruit and olive farms. Local history exhibits in the Fransie Pienaar Museum include fossils and a working moonshine distillery. The nearby 19th-century Swartberg Pass runs through Swartberg Nature Reserve and offers dramatic mountain views. The reserve is dotted with caves featuring San rock art.
• Visit the local dairy where cheese is made, and enjoy an olive oil tasting for a change. On Saturday mornings, the market is on.
• Explore the Karoo Looms Weavery.
• Catch a movie or watch a show at the Showroom Theatre.
• Wine tastings are on offer at the local cellars.
• Stargaze at night with a powerful telescope, while an expert joins you to point out the stars and planets.

Overnight in Prince Albert.

• Depart Prince Albert and travel back to George Airport via the Swartberg Pass. Thomas Bain worked on the Swartberg Pass with 200 convicts and large amounts of gunpowder. He eventually finished ahead of time and under budget. His real accomplishment, however, lies in the fact that even today, more than a century after it was built, the Swartberg Pass has stood the test of time. The imposing Swartberg Mountains have always formed the natural divide between the plains of the Great Karoo and the lush valleys of the Little Karoo. There was a time when these crags were impossible to breach, and people had to take circuitous routes to reach their destinations.