PLANNING A HOLIDAY TO SOUTH AFRICA: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

South Africa is one of those rare destinations where you can experience a vibrant city, spectacular scenery, superb food and wine and some of Africa's most exciting wildlife in the same holiday. I've been twice and still feel that I've barely scratched the surface.

That variety is a big part of its appeal – but it also means that once you start thinking seriously about a trip, questions inevitably crop up.

Which safari area should you choose? Is self-driving safe? Would you be better off on an escorted tour or travelling privately? How much can you comfortably fit into two weeks? And when is the best time to go?

Here are the questions I’m most often asked about planning a holiday to South Africa – and my answers.

What does a first trip to South Africa usually look like?

One of the things I love about South Africa is just how much variety you can pack into one trip. But that doesn't mean you should try to see the entire country first time around.

For most people, I'd start with one of two broad approaches.

Cape Town, the Winelands, Garden Route and safari

This is the classic road-trip option and, for a first visit, it's a very hard combination to beat. A few days in Cape Town, time eating and drinking extremely well in the Winelands, then along the Garden Route before finishing with a safari in the Eastern Cape.

It works particularly well if you enjoy driving and like the freedom to stop along the way rather than simply being transported from A to B. And because the itinerary flows naturally from west to east, you can see an enormous amount without spending your holiday criss-crossing the country.

Cape Town, the Winelands and Greater Kruger

If safari is a major reason for going, I'd be tempted to sacrifice the Garden Route and put the time – and budget – into a really good safari in one of the private reserves in Greater Kruger instead.

You'll fly rather than drive between the Cape and safari, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It gives you a very different holiday: fabulous city, food and wine followed by a serious wildlife experience.

With more time, Victoria Falls combines very easily with this version of the trip.

And those certainly aren't the only possibilities. The Drakensberg is glorious if you love big landscapes and walking, while a journey on Rovos Rail or the Blue Train can add a wonderfully indulgent few days.

My advice? Don't treat your first South Africa trip as a box-ticking exercise. You won't see everything. That's not a planning failure – it's a very good excuse to go back.

Which safari area should I choose?

Mention safari in South Africa and most people immediately think of Kruger. If wildlife is a major reason for your trip and the budget allows, I'd probably be looking there too – specifically at the private reserves in Greater Kruger.

The wildlife viewing is superb, there are some exceptional lodges, and vehicles in the private reserves can usually go off-road for important sightings. That can make an enormous difference when, for example, the leopard you've been tracking decides not to pose conveniently beside the road.

There are, however, good reasons to look elsewhere.

Eastern Cape

If you're already travelling along the Garden Route, an Eastern Cape reserve makes complete sense. You can drive there, it's malaria-free and it avoids adding another flight purely for the safari.

Quality varies between reserves, so this is somewhere I'd choose carefully rather than simply booking whichever lodge looks nicest online. But get the reserve right and it can be a terrific end to a Cape Town and Garden Route holiday.

Welgevonden

Welgevonden is one of the alternatives I'd consider if you want a high-quality, malaria-free safari without heading to Greater Kruger. It's Big Five country, around three hours by road from Johannesburg, and feels much more remote than that relatively easy journey might suggest.

Pilanesberg

I wouldn't dismiss Pilanesberg either. It's malaria-free, easily accessible from Johannesburg and generally offers better value than the top private reserves. It's particularly worth looking at for families, where the combination of price, easy logistics and no malaria risk can be very attractive. It may not have quite the cachet of Sabi Sands, but your bank balance may be rather happier.

Greater Kruger

If safari is the star of the show, though, Greater Kruger would usually be my first choice. Many lodges are reached by light aircraft from Johannesburg, landing at small airstrips in or close to the reserves. It adds to the cost, but there's something rather wonderful about stepping off a little aircraft and finding yourself almost immediately in safari country.

The catch? Greater Kruger is a malaria-risk area and the best private lodges don't come cheaply.

So I wouldn't ask “Which is the best safari area?” I'd ask, “Which is the best safari area for this particular trip?” That's a much more useful question.

Is it safe to self-drive in South Africa?

This is one I get asked a lot, and my answer is yes, in the right places and with a bit of common sense.

The Winelands and Garden Route are particularly easy areas to explore by car. South Africans drive on the left, the main roads are generally good and having your own car gives you the freedom to stop somewhere because it looks interesting rather than because it's on today's itinerary.

But I wouldn't simply follow Google Maps down any road it suggests. Stick to sensible routes, take local advice and avoid driving after dark where possible. Technology is wonderful, but this isn't the place to discover where an “interesting alternative route” takes you. This is a country where knowing where you're going matters.

Nor would I necessarily hire a car the moment you land. You don't need one to enjoy Cape Town. I'd generally use transfers, taxis/Ubers and excursions there, then collect the car when you're ready to head into the Winelands or along the Garden Route.

And if the thought of driving abroad fills you with dread, don't do it. This is your holiday, not an endurance test. Private transfers and guides are easily arranged.

Escorted tour or private trip?

I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions about South Africa: you don't have to choose between driving yourself everywhere and joining an escorted group tour.

South Africa works brilliantly as a private tailor-made trip. And no, that doesn't mean having somebody hovering at your elbow for two weeks.

You might have a private transfer from the airport, explore Cape Town independently with a couple of guided days, self-drive through the Winelands and Garden Route, then hand the car back before safari. Or you can have the whole thing arranged privately with drivers and guides and never touch a steering wheel.

An escorted tour absolutely has its place. If you enjoy travelling with a group, like having a tour manager with you throughout and don't want to make decisions about what happens each day, it can be an excellent choice.

But don't choose an escorted tour simply because you think it's the only safe or practical way to see South Africa. It isn't. For most of my clients who prefer not to travel in a group, I'd look first at putting together a private trip around them.

How much can I realistically fit in?

Here's where I'd be quite firm: don't try to do South Africa at breakneck speed.

If you've got around 10 days, I'd concentrate on Cape Town, the Winelands and one other major element – perhaps safari. Trying to shoehorn Cape Town, the entire Garden Route and several nights on safari into that time would leave me feeling exhausted just looking at the itinerary.

With two weeks, you've got much more scope. Cape Town + Winelands + Garden Route + Eastern Cape safari works very nicely. So does Cape Town + Winelands + Greater Kruger, with enough time to do both parts justice.

With three weeks, things get really interesting. You can slow the pace, add somewhere such as the Drakensberg, spend longer on safari, or bring Victoria Falls into the equation without the whole thing feeling like a race.

My rule of thumb is simple: every additional place has to earn its place in the itinerary. Another hotel isn't automatically another experience – sometimes it's just another suitcase to pack.

When is the best time to visit South Africa?

This is where I'm going to be irritating and say it depends – but I promise there's a useful answer behind it.

South Africa doesn't have one universal “best season”. Cape Town and the Western Cape have their warm, dry weather during the South African summer, roughly November to March. Greater Kruger is at its driest from roughly May to September, when thinner vegetation and animals congregating around water can make wildlife easier to spot.

So if someone asked me for the perfect month for absolutely everything, I'd tell them it doesn't exist.

For a first trip combining Cape Town with safari, I'd look seriously at the shoulder seasons rather than obsessing about hitting the theoretical optimum for either one. If Cape Town, the Winelands and Garden Route are the main event, I'd lean towards the South African summer. If safari is overwhelmingly the priority, I'd be looking more closely at the dry winter period.

And remember that “best” doesn't necessarily mean “only”. Green-season safari can be beautiful, Cape Town doesn't close for winter and travelling outside peak season can have advantages of its own.

Tell me what you most want from the trip, and then we can decide when you should go. Much more useful than trying to find a mythical fortnight when the weather gods promise to behave everywhere.

Is South Africa safe?

We might as well address the elephant in the room.

South Africa has a high crime rate. Pretending otherwise isn't helpful. But nor is reading crime statistics and assuming they describe what you're likely to experience on a well-planned holiday.

I've visited Cape Town twice and I've walked around the city on my own, even in the evenings. I've never felt uncomfortable doing so – but equally, I haven't taken unnecessary risks.

And that's really the distinction I'd make.

I wouldn't wander around an unfamiliar neighbourhood late at night just because I happened to be on holiday. I take advice about where it's sensible to walk, use reputable transport when that's the better option, don't conspicuously flash valuables around and pay attention to my surroundings.

Much of a typical South Africa itinerary takes place in well-established tourist areas, safari reserves, hotels and lodges. Transfers and guides can be arranged where they make sense.

Would I avoid South Africa because of safety concerns? No. I've been twice and I'd happily go back. Would I travel around it with exactly the same mindset as I might use somewhere with very little street crime? Also no.

A little awareness goes a long way.

Do I need to worry about malaria?

Not necessarily – and this is one of South Africa's great advantages as a safari destination.

Greater Kruger and parts of northeastern South Africa are malaria-risk areas. But the Eastern Cape, Welgevonden and Pilanesberg are malaria-free, as of course are Cape Town, the Winelands and Garden Route.

That gives you genuine choice.

I wouldn't personally rule out Greater Kruger purely because of malaria if it were otherwise the right safari for the trip. But for some people – particularly families with young children or anyone who simply doesn't want malaria risk to be part of the equation – having excellent malaria-free alternatives can make the decision much easier.

This is one subject on which I won't tell you what you should do medically. Risk areas and advice can change, and individual circumstances matter. Check the latest official travel-health advice and speak to an appropriate healthcare professional before you travel.

How much does a South Africa holiday cost?

South Africa can offer terrific value – but don't confuse that with South Africa being a cheap holiday.

For a two-week trip combining Cape Town, the Winelands, Garden Route and safari, I'd suggest allowing from around £4,000 per person, including flights from the UK. From there, it's remarkably easy to spend considerably more, depending on where you stay and how you choose to travel.

Safari is usually the part that makes the biggest difference to the overall price. To give you an idea, a room for two at a good-value lodge in the Sabi Sands can cost around £1,100 per night – although that normally includes your meals, drinks and twice-daily game drives. Move into the more luxurious lodges and you can very easily pay two or three times that. Safari has a rather strange way of making £1,100 a night look like the sensible option.

Elsewhere, your money can go surprisingly far. There are some lovely boutique hotels in Cape Town and the Winelands without the eye-watering price tags you'll find in many other major cities, eating out is generally very good value, and self-driving the Garden Route keeps costs down while giving you plenty of freedom.

So this is a destination where I'd rather decide where it's worth splashing out than simply choose the same standard throughout. Spend the money on a really good safari if wildlife matters to you, perhaps treat yourself in the Winelands, and don't assume every hotel needs to have five stars beside its name.

That's one of the things I like about South Africa: you can make it feel very special without having to travel at the same level – or spend at the same level – every single night.

Do I really need someone to organise all this for me?

No. You absolutely can organise a South Africa holiday yourself.

There's certainly no shortage of information. Google will give you hundreds of hotels and lodges to choose from, YouTube can send you down a rabbit hole of other people's South Africa trips, and AI will happily produce an itinerary for you in seconds.

The problem is that information and advice aren't quite the same thing.

Google doesn't know that you love wildlife but will be thoroughly fed up after four consecutive 5.30am game drives. YouTube doesn't know that you'd happily spend more on a fabulous safari lodge but couldn't care less whether your Cape Town hotel has five stars. And AI can suggest an itinerary, but it doesn't really know how you like to travel, what compromises you're prepared to make or which parts of the trip you'll still be talking about years later.

That's where I think a good travel specialist earns their keep.

I tend to start destination first, hotel second. Before I start suggesting particular properties or itineraries, I want to understand what you're looking for from the trip: what excites you, what doesn't, how you like to travel, the pace you enjoy and where your budget is best spent.

Because the individual pieces of a South Africa holiday aren't particularly difficult to book. Knowing which pieces are right for you – and how to put them together – is the bit that takes some thought.

And once you get there, all that thinking should be behind you.

Ready to start planning your South Africa holiday?

If South Africa is starting to feel like a trip you'd really like to make happen, simply get in touch. Have a conversation with me. Tell me what has drawn you to it, what sort of holidays you've enjoyed in the past and what you're hoping to get from this one.

Then we can work out which version of South Africa is right for you – and turn all those possibilities into a trip that actually works.