Best of One-Week South Africa Tour
What to expect on this itinerary
If luxury, a buzzing city vibe, and a taste of the wild on the most prestigious private beaches are what you are looking for, then welcome to South Africa. This exclusive, luxury safari will have you begin your journey in the bustling City of Gold, whose energy you will enjoy by day and iconic skyline you will marvel at by night. Stay at a private gaming reserve for two days in Mpumalanga, whose unmatched Big Five viewing experience and the breathtaking geography of the region will be a memorable highlight. The UNESCO world heritage site of Robben Island, Cape Point, the vast winelands, and the iconic Table Mountain will be a perfect way to culminate your amazing African safari.
Customizable Itinerary
Johannesburg – Arrival and Guided Tour of the City
You will arrive at OR Tambo International airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, where you will be transferred to your exclusive hotel. You will then be picked up and taken to Rosebank where you will have an informative tour of the City of Gold. You will get to experience the bustle of central Johannesburg with stops at the Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill, and the Nelson Mandela Bridge. You will then be taken to Soweto, which is a town that is well known for its rich political and historical significance. Here, you will have the opportunity to walk down the iconic Vilakazi Street, which once housed Nobel prize winners, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. You will also enjoy the best of South African cuisine while being entertained by the cultural dancers who can also teach you a few steps before you are taken back to your hotel room to wind down and enjoy the city view by night.
What's Included:
Pilanesberg – Spend a Day in the City of the Sun
Nelspruit – Spot the Big Five on a Private Game Drive
Hazyview – Views through God’s Window and a Boat Ride on the Canyon
Cape Town – Private Tour of the Mother City and Table Mountain
Cape Town - Boulders Beach and a Trip to Cape Point
Robben Island - Island Tour and the Winelands.
Trip Highlights
- Marvel at the bustle of the city as your private guide takes you on a drive through central Johannesburg
- Start your journey in the shoes of the late Nelson Mandela by taking the long walk to freedom and a walk-through of his house
- Explore the corridors of the Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill
- Indulge in a walk over the Nelson Mandela Bridge to appreciate the unique sounds of the city
- Take a detour to the City of the Sun and lose yourself in the Maze of the Lost City
- Escape to the Mpumalanga and Sabi regions where you can marvel at the sight of the Big Five on a private game drive
- Glide to the top of Table Mountain on the cable cart and view the length and breadth of the mother city while discovering some unique flora and fauna
- Experience Boulders Beach and discover the braying call of the African penguins
- Bask in the natural grandeur of Sea Point where you can stand at the edge of the world while dipping your feet in the water where two great oceans meet
- Sip on the best wines at the Stellenbosch Winelands and let your taste buds explode as you learn the art of wine with a wine, cheese, and chocolate tasting
Starting Price
$3,900 per person (excluding international flights)
What's Included
- Accommodations
- In-country transportation
- Some or all activities and tours
- Expert trip planning
- 24x7 support during your trip
Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.
Verified Traveler Reviews
Based on 739 reviews
The following is what we wrote to the travel agency directly:
I am writing this in lieu of the survey and hope that we cover the questions. First of all, THANK YOU!!! Our agent was wonderful and accomodating in reference to the scheduling and the itinerary. She was charming and friendly and was quick to respond to my questions and requests.
Upon arrival, the woman from our tour company was nice, accomodating.
The Faircity Hotel was just what we ordered, easy and near to a couple of things. Our guide from the tour company was nice and informative. I highly recommend the Cradle of Humankind and wish we had spent a little longer there but we arrived too late. We went to the Sterkfontein Caves and would not recommend it for people of our age although it was interesting. (We're not really cave people anyway) The Apartheid Museum was good but not outstanding. We had done a lot of reading before the trip.
Next, we got our car and drove to Hazyview. Oh, we added a GPS in the rental. We had brought our own but you should recommwend to people that they make sure that their GPS has South Africa in it. I had checked it at home trying to find Johannesburg and our GPS found it so I assumed they had S Africa, but somebody later told me that there is a Jburg in the US that GPS pick up! The driving wasn't bad at all, in fact, very good and easy even for us Americans. The Tanamera Lodge was out of this world--beautiful and well managed. We drove up to Bourne's Pothole, etc, etc, which shouldn't be missed.We stopped for lunch in Graskop on the way, a cute little touristy town.
Our next leg was a long trip from there to Swaziland. Uneventful and easy to get thru the borders. Since we stopped at other craft places on the way, we didn't make it in time to see the candles or glass. The Mountain Inn accomodation was OK. We had dinner there amongst throngs of tourists but the food was good.
Then on to St Lucia Amazulu Lodge. We had been given a note at the Mountain Inn that the front office closes at 6 and we could call when we got there. Problem is--no phone!! Luckily, some other tourists were there and let us in and told us where to park the car--and therre was a night watchman who found the key for us (non-English speaking) We walked around St Lucia which is a nice town and walked out to the estuary.
We next drove to Hluhluwe the Zulu Nyala Safari Game Lodge--very good experience. The rental car was picked up the next day.
Our transfer to Durban went smoothly as did the transfer from the CT airport. We stayed at the Underberg Guesthouse, which we would recommend highly. Fortunately, our in country contact had discovered that I had booked one day short there and scrambled for us and found another guesthouse for the last night--Wergelen--terrific!!!!!!!!
CT: Robben Island (good), Greenmarket Sq--fun market and lots of cafes around; District 6 Museum, a little disappointing but we're glad we went, the V and A Waterfront for a nice lunch. Oh, and the Red and Blue buses which are hop on hop off buses touring CT and environs. Oh, our trip to Cape Point which had been arranged by the Underberg was wonderful and beautiful, stopping by several small towns. The penguins were delightful! (There was a major fire on the Cape for a couple of days, which was really sad but interesting watching the helicopters trying to put it out with seawater)
Our car was delivered to Wergelen. And we decided that we had too much stuff for the remainder of the trip so Fiona, the owner of Welgelen helped us find a shipper for our suitcases which should arrive in the PHL airport soon.(!?)
The drive to Stellenbosch and Franshoek was wonderful. The River Manor Boutique Hotel was a great find, easy walk into town, good breakfast, nice staff. We went to Oppie Dorp, good food and not expensive and to Ernie Eels restaurnat, the Big Easy--again good food. We drove thru Franshoek on the way to Hermanus since it had been recommended and the trip is FANTASTIC. (I am glad we had gotten used to driving on the left side by then thru the mountains!) We went to several wineries, including the one owned by Ernie Eels (beautiful views!!) and some others.
\Hermanus was a cute town, touristy, good for one night. Beautiful seaside.
\Oudtshoorn was very interesting as a one time deal. Not a must but good for once. The Mooiplaas GH was a good accomodation. Not much to do in the town.
Driving to Plettenberg Bay was nice. Enrico's Restaurant is about 15 mins out of town and a really nice place, highly recommended for beauty and food. By the water. Also stopped for oysters in Knysna, asking at the tourist office where good oysters were. (Quay Four), an informal place on the water with great oysters. Driving to Port Elizabeth was uneventful. We arrived late at the No 5 Boutique Art Hotel and left very early for our flight, but the hotel was magnificent and we wished we had spent a couple of nights there.
Flight to Joburg and onto Maun were fine. At that point Desert and Deltas Safaris took over and WOW--we were treated royally and it was so interesting and lots of fun and LOADS of pix. I'm glad you chose the combination of venues thru DDS, water, Okinavango Delta, Moremi, Xugana. We saw lots of animals and birds. The weather was great (a little too dry for them) but good (and hot) for us.
Victoria Falls: Transits went well and timely. We booked the sunset cruise thru the tour company that picked us up in Kusane to V Falls. We went to Zambia and Zimbabwe sides of the falls.(walking and taxi) There's a competition between the countries as to which side is better. We loved both. Zimbabwe gave a better overview but Zambia felt intimate and more into the falls. My camera shorted out in the falls in Zimbabwe, our last day :((( but it had put in 6 weeks of great pix.
All in all, a TERRIFIC trip which we would recommend to anyone (who can afford it :( ) We want our adult children to go someday. Our travel agency did a wonderful job of making sure we were well taken care of and getting us to absolutely great places.
Thank you!!!!
Barbara and Loren C
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Great relationship between ourselves and the agent. We had a general idea of what we wanted to do, but having never been to South Africa, we weren't sure what we should be aiming to do in our fortnight let alone how to plan it.
Zicasso came up with an itinerary and some options on top of that and we were able to plan our holiday. The prompt response from our travel agent was very helpful in this process.
We've never done this type of holiday before. We had some great tour guides, and the holiday was hassle free. Entrance to museums, etc were paid for by the guides and all we had to do was turn up and enjoy ourselves.
The safari in Simbavati was outstanding. we did 8 game drives and we always got to see something of interest, and we got so close to the leopards and lions! It was winter, so the nights got a bit chilly.
Cape Town was lovely, and our guide was top notch and gave us so much history about the area. We had a tour of Cape Point and went up the funicular railway. Once the weather was okay we had a fascinating visit to Robben Island (crossing was a bit rough) and got to see Nelson Mandela's cell. Taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain was an experience, and the cloud did disappear so we could have a wonderful view of Cape Town.
We got taken on a trip to the wine region staying in a beautiful hotel in Franschhoek. We stopped off at three wineries on the way! The following day we found the Wine Tram and visited three more wineries!
One the way back to Cape Town airport we briefly stopped at Victor Verster prison, which is the prison famous for Mandela being released from.
The last part of our trip was Victoria Falls. We stayed away from Victoria Falls, down the gorge. We saw a bit more of Zimbabwe and a bit of village life. The Falls were outstanding, but you got very wet from the spray, I'd wish I'd worn flip flops and shorts! We also did a helicopter ride over the Zambesi and the Falls, which was quite incredible! The evening involved a trip up the Zambesi which was more interesting than expected (we saw an elephant swim across to an island).
A great fortnight, exceeded our expectations on so many levels. Thanks to Zicasso and their organisation.
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The entire trip was outstanding starting with the representative meeting us at the Johannesburg airport and guiding us through the airport maze to the final airport escort. In between we had a great four days in Cape Town. The hotel there was one of the nicest hotels we've ever stayed in. Anything we requested was provided in minutes. All the restaurants suggested were superb except just one, where the food was OK and the service was below par. Our guide, was superb. He was informed, flexible, personable and accommodating. He took us to places not on the original itinerary (District 6 and museum and the Christian Bernard heart transplant museum). He climbed Table Mountain with us. Tanda Tula camp was a once in a lifetime experience. The tents were luxurious, the 8 game hunts were always filled with something new and we saw the big 5 including a dancing baby elephant and a buffalo horn-to-horn battle. The camp food was delicious and the game guides and camp employees were more hospitable and attentive to all our needs. It would be hard for us to find fault with anything.
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