If you want to know how good South Africa is for family holidays, ask Chris Breen, Director of Families Worldwide, because there’s barely a corner of the country he hasn’t tried and tested personally with his own family, before recommending it to yours.
Obviously checking out everything from wildlife in Kruger National Park to endearingly eccentric penguins on Boulders Beach is a bit of a dream job. And few people would complain if their daily toil included hanging out in Cape Town, whale watching at De Hoop Nature Reserve or driving along the legendary Garden Route. But don’t feel too envious, all that hard work was in pursuit of a fantastic new collection of family holidays. So if you’ve ever been tempted by the idea of South Africa, prepare to be persuaded completely by the Families Worldwide take on its adventure.
14 day South Africa Family Adventure & Safari
Capturing the essence of South Africa in just 14 days is one of the many remarkable features of this amazing family adventure. Naturally, because it’s specially designed with kids in mind, there’s plenty of breathing space in between the excitement. And the Families Worldwide balance of wildlife, activities, cultural experiences, heritage and straightforward great fun is perfect, as usual.
Day 1
Child-friendly overnight flight to Cape Town, takes under 12 hours and there’s no jet lag.
Day 2
Families Worldwide meet you at the airport for an easy transfer to your Cape Town hotel, check-in and some chill time before the adventure really begins.
Day 3
Cape Town is South Africa’s oldest city: steeped in history, creative, colourful, cultured and looks spectacular. Today’s guided tour hits all those touchpoints and fits in a cable car ride up iconic Table Mountain as well as a visit to Robben Island.
Day 4
Spend all day exploring the stunning Cape Peninsula with your Families Worldwide guide. This is definitely one for the memory bank from penguin encounters on Boulders Beach to the lush loveliness of Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens, magnificent Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and an evening meal in a traditional African restaurant with entertainment on the side.
Day 5
After short flight east from Cape Town to George and check in at your lodge, you have a free day to discover the city or even check out some of South Africa’s greatest golf courses.
Day 6
Today kicks off with an early rise, but don’t expect any complaints from kids, as you’re off on a morning Meerkat Safari followed up with a lunch cruise on the remarkable Knysna Lagoon. Then it’s on to your handpicked family hotel near Plettenburg Bay and time to get to know the Garden Route.
Day 7
Plettenburg Bay is one of the world’s top spots for whale and dolphin watching and you can’t visit without taking a cruise, so that’s exactly what’s planned for today along with a visit to the famous Robberg seal colony.
Day 8
Today’s another early start for a view-packed drive to Tsitsikamma National Park and a day stuffed with activities like kayaking on Storms River and wild forest ziplining.
Day 9
After the short flight to Durban this morning, then a scenic transfer to your hotel in Mkuze, it’s time to kick-back and catch a breath before two days on safari at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi and Mkuze Game Reserves.
Days 10 to 12
Mkuze Game Reserve is home to over 400 bird species as well as elephant, giraffe, blue wildebeest, hippo, impala, cheetah and leopard, it contains a unique sand forest and is also a World Heritage Site. One of the oldest Big Five game reserves in South Africa, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is equally amazing, absolutely enormous and famously wild.
Over the next couple of days you get to experience both on game drives, night drives, river cruises and even rare walking safaris. Plus there are heaps of activities available for kids from face painting and pizza making for younger ones to wilderness hiking and cultural tours designed with older kids and teens in mind.
Day 13 & 14
Transfer from Mkuze to Durban and your return overnight flight to UK.
Lowdown
14 day family adventure holiday in South Africa
Best suited to kids aged eight and over.
Includes South African domestic flights and transfers.
10 x hotel nights, 1 x night in family lodge.
11 x breakfasts, 1 x lunch and 5 x dinners.
Activities included: Cape Town guided tour; boat trips; treetop canopy walks; canyoning; nature walks; safari game drives; whale watching; wildlife watching.
From £2749 per child, excluding international flights.
Find out more about South Africa Adventure & Safari with Families Worldwide
Garden Route & Cape Town Self Drive Family Holiday
South Africa’s Garden Route stretches for almost 300km along the country’s south-western coast. It’s one of the world’s great road trips and one of the very few to mix wildlife safaris with whale watching, include both the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, then give you penguins, wine tours and sensational natural phenomena just for good measure. This Families Worldwide self-drive holiday is ideal for kids, lets you have independence but keeps things on the right side of planned so you experience the best of the Garden Route, catch every iconic moments and even manage to do Cape Town justice.
Day 1
Family-friendly overnight flight from UK to Port Elizabeth via Johannesburg.
Days 2 & 3
Addo National Park is the third largest in South Africa, crosses five different biomes and provides natural habitats for Africa’s Big Seven: elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo leopard, whale and great white shark. Also known as Addo Elephant Park, it’s an amazingly high point to start your road trip, and a hint of what’s to come.
Days 4 & 5
Driving west on the Garden Route, it’s time to get kids really excited about the prospect of whale and dolphin watching on Plettenburg Bay. That’s if they’ve any room left for awe after spending time ziplining and canopy walking through the forest in Tsitsikamma National Park, visiting a local primate sanctuary and kayaking on Storms River.
Days 6 & 7
Head inland to Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo area of Western Cape for two days exploring everything from the 20 million year old Cango Caves to the history of ostrich farming. Families Worldwide have organised a fun stay on a working farmstead for this leg of the road trip.
Days 8 & 9
The Western Cape’s astonishingly diverse landscape gives the Garden Route its name so don’t be surprised to see vineyards along the way. Of course Families Worldwide can arrange a winery visit, or two, but you might not have time because the next two days are stuffed with iconic experiences. Think standing between two oceans on the Cape of Good Hope, up close encounters with penguins on Boulders Beach and then Cape Town itself.
Days 10 & 11
Catch an overnight flight from Cape Town to the UK and arrive home with no jetlag.
Lowdown
11 day self-drive family holiday along Western Cape’s Garden Route.
Best suited to kids aged five and over.
4 x lodge nights, 2 x guesthouse nights, 2 x hotel nights.
8 x breakfasts, 1 x lunch and 2 x dinners.
Activities included: Safari in Addo National Park and wildlife watching
Families Worldwide can also organise a car and driver for all, or part, of this holiday.
From £1799 per child, excluding international flights.
Find out more about Garden Route Self-Drive Holiday with Families Worldwide