Where most longer trips end
South Africa
5 places members cross for
Where most trips out of Victoria Falls connect: Johannesburg is a short flight away and the way into Kruger, while Cape Town and the Garden Route sit at the end of the line for a road trip.
Usually a flight — Victoria Falls to Johannesburg is roughly two hours, and Kruger and Cape Town are reached from there. Driving in through Botswana is possible, but it makes for long days.
- Gateway
- Johannesburg
- Reach
- A flight away, and the usual end of a longer trip
- Money
- Rand
- Best months
- May to September for Kruger and the bush; Cape Town is best from about November to March
What members cross for
- WildlifeOvernight
Kruger National Park
Mpumalanga
The big five on roads you can drive yourself
South Africa's flagship park: around 20,000 square kilometres of bush with the big five, rest camps of every size and a road network you can drive on your own.
Book the rest camps early for the dry winter months, when the bush is thin and the animals gather at the water.
- CityFly-in
Cape Town & Table Mountain
Cape Town
A city under a mountain
Table Mountain standing over the city, Atlantic beaches, and the Winelands and Cape Point all within an easy day's drive of the centre.
Take the cableway on the first clear morning of your stay — the tablecloth cloud rolls in fast and can sit for days.
- CultureOvernight
Johannesburg & Soweto
Johannesburg
The gateway city, and its history
The country's main airport, with the Apartheid Museum and the streets of Soweto a short drive from the centre — worth a night on the way in or out of a bush leg.
Give Johannesburg a day rather than treating it as an airport; the museums and the food markets are the point.
- CoastOvernight
The Garden Route
Knysna & Tsitsikamma
Forest, lagoon and a long coastline
The drive between Cape Town and the Eastern Cape: indigenous forest, the Tsitsikamma coast, lagoon towns and the Bloukrans bungee over the gorge.
Drive it one way over three or four days rather than looping back — the towns on the way are the trip.
- WildlifeDay trip
Pilanesberg & Madikwe
North West
Big five country without the malaria tablets
A volcanic ring of hills about two hours from Johannesburg, with the big five and no malaria risk, and Madikwe alongside it for a malaria-free private reserve.
Ask about malaria cover before you pack the tablets — this is the park members pick when they would rather not take them.
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Distances through South Africa
The stops members string together out of Victoria Falls, in order, with the distance between each one. Tap a pin for what that leg involves.
Leg by leg through South Africa
- 1
Victoria Falls
Zimbabwe · the start
Route start — the falls and the bridge
- 2
Johannesburg & Soweto
Gauteng
≈ 950 km · usually flown
- 3
Kruger National Park
Mpumalanga
≈ 460 km · about 7 h driving
- 4
The Garden Route
Knysna & Tsitsikamma
≈ 1300 km · usually flown
- 5
Cape Town
Western Cape
≈ 510 km · about 7 h 45 min driving
South Africa from Victoria Falls: ≈ 3220 km · about 15 h of driving
Estimates only — measured as the crow flies with a road allowance, at an average speed that includes border posts and fuel stops. Confirm current roads, water levels and flying times in the forum before you commit.