Tourism routes are set up and marketed by South Africa’s tourism bodies to enhance the visitor experience and spread tourism across a destination. Daniella Di Gaspero presents some of South Africa’s routes, categorised by province.
Click on each route name to see the routes in that province.
Amathola Mountain Escape Route
Rich in history and culture, the route is known for a variety of fauna and flora, primal indigenous forests, clear-water mountain streams and waterfalls.
Baviaans Wilderness Route
Visitors can enjoy eco-tours and adventure activities in the unspoilt mountainous terrain and world heritage site.
Frontier Country Route
Game viewing, skydiving and hang-gliding, fly fishing, abseiling, river-rafting and mountaineering, all with rich heritage. The area is known as the heartland of the Eastern Cape.
Greater Addo Route
Activities range from game safaris, horse and hiking trails, 4x4 and off road adventure, to fishing and canoeing.
Inyathi Buffalo
This route boasts a variety of attractions, and offers 10 estuaries, conservancies, heritage sites, rocky shores and 14 beaches.
Jikeleza Route
This Route takes travellers on a trip through the beautiful rural Eastern Cape.
Kouga Route
Perfect for adventure enthusiasts and nature lovers, it includes surfing, bungee-jumping and offers sights of the biggest wilderness area in South Africa.
Sunshine Coast Route
Stretching from Port Elizabeth to East London and offering beach trips for surfing, golf courses, historic trails and green landscapes.
The Friendly No. 6 Route
A scenic journey through the farming hub of the Eastern Cape into the Free State.
Tsitsikamma Adventure Route
The route includes trips to natural forests, sightings at the coastline and adventure activities. The activities include bungee jumping, diving, snorkelling, mountain biking and hiking.
Wild Coast Route
This route offers views of fauna, flora and the Indian Ocean while hiking, camping or participating in aquatic experiences.
Clarens Highlands Route
Surrounded by mountains, the town is known for its many art and craft shops and sandstone buildings.
Free State Cheetah Route
This route takes visitors through the cultural and political heart of the Free State. The route features historic, cultural and natural attractions.
Free State Eagle Route
There are picturesque landscapes and activities include cherry picking, seeing dinosaur fossils and rock paintings, art and craft shopping, skiing on the slopes in winter, horse riding and 4x4 trips.
Free State Flamingo Route
The Lejweleputswa district is an important agricultural and gold-producing area. Activities include exploring a gold-mine, game-viewing and visiting key historic sites and the Phakisa Freeway Race Track..
Free State Lion Route
This route offers golf, interaction with lion and tiger cubs, fishing on the Vals River or Bloemhoek Dam, boating, horse riding, gliding and hiking
Free State Springbok Route
This route has a wealth of cultural and historic attractions including battle sites, San rock engravings, game farms and diamond mines.
Horizon Route
Guests get the opportunity to see diamond mining, agriculture and crafters, and taste local cuisine. This route offers visitors fishing, hunting or mountain biking activities.
Riemland Route
This route explores the small towns in the north and eastern Free State. The route runs from town to town.
Sandstone Route
Visitors can see the Titanic Rock, a ship-like sandstone formation, and explore mountainous grasslands, the Maloti Mountains and Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
Alexandra Heritage Route
The route includes taverns and shebeens, arts and crafts, entertainment and street vendors.
Gauteng Signature Collection
This route takes visitors on a trip to experience the apartheid era and many areas synonymous with Nelson Mandela.
Indian Heritage Route
This route focuses on historic and Indian cultural venues in Johannesburg.
Joburg Adventure Route
Travellers can experience adrenalin-filled experiences through Johannesburg. These include mountain biking, paragliding, parachuting, skydiving and bungee jumping.
Joburg Art Gallery
This route visits Johannesburg’s finest art galleries that show off the best of local and international talent.
Joburg Cuisine Route
A culinary route through the north and south of Johannesburg, it focuses on the offerings synonymous with South African cuisine.
Joburg Market Route
The Joburg Market Route explores organic food markets and craft stalls big and small throughout Johannesburg.
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Joburg Nature Route
This route explores some of the best wildlife sights and venues in Johannesburg.
A perfect piece of paradise
Discover the history behind Ramsgate’s agriculture, culture and cuisine. The first known settler, retired sea-captain Paul Buck, was a talented painter, poet and violin maker, which has set the tone for the village, which has attracted many like-minded souls over the years.
A pristine paradise
This scenic tour is home to the South Coast’s nudist beach at Mpenjati, tucked away in the nature reserve. This area is also popular among families as they can play putt putt, visit butterfly domes or ride horses on the beach.
Amajube Route
This route highlights centuries of bloody conflict within the Amajuba district and visits landmarks and battlefields that shaped South Africa’s destiny. The Amajuba District's attractions include cultural experiences, crafts, historical tours, game viewing, various outdoor activities, fly fishing, flower cultivation.
An untamed paradise
Port Edward has strong historic significance and Portuguese roots as the place where the legendary ship, the Sao Joao, ran aground nearly a century ago. Visitors can uncover the history of Port Edward while enjoying fishing, the famous Splash Rock, coffee plantations, golf, sand-cliffs and hiking and biking trails.
Beer Route
This route provides a showcase for a number of breweries in the province and the beers they produce.
Boston and Bulwer Route
This route explores the Dargle Valley, waterfalls and dams. Activities on offer are hiking, fishing, paragliding and hang gliding.
Drakensberg Experience
The route is centred on the Drakensberg World Heritage Site, which includes Giant’s Castle and the Central and Northern Drakensberg.
Durban Inanda Route
Visitors are taken through historic sites of Durban, providing an image of South African history as well as India's past.
Elephant Coast
Home to the Big Five, the iSimangaliso Wetlands Park is known for its sighting of whales and turtles.
Freedom Route
The route promotes the freedom-related struggles of the province's icons such as Mahatma Gandhi, John Langalibalele Dube, Alan Paton, Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela and others.
Midlands Meander
This route is situated between Pietermaritzburg and the Drakensberg mountains and offers outdoor activities such as fishing and adventure sports, historic landmarks, wildlife conservation as well as local arts and crafts.
Paradise Day and Night
This route explores the holiday centre of the South Coast with its exciting nightlife, action-packed beach festivals and Africa Bike Week.
Paradise on pause
The jewels of Southbroom, Umkobi Beach, Marina Beach and San Lameer offer tidal pools, great swimming and surfing conditions. The Southbroom Golf Club boasts views of the ocean and is close to the San Lameer Golf Course, which is home to the SA Women’s Champs.
Paradise unexpected
This route attracts beach-lovers to Oslo, Shelly Beach, St Michael’s and Uvongo, and attracts the adventurers to Ugu Sports and Leisure Centre and Protea Banks for exciting shark-cage diving.
Paradise unexplored
This stretch of coastline is filled with unique and unexpected treasures. Visitors can enjoy Blue Flag beaches, rock fishing, a ski-boat launch as well as shops and restaurants.
Rainbow Route
Focused on culture, wildlife and history, this route follows the Voortrekkers’ footsteps and explores the rites and rituals of the Zulu nation.
Route 66
This route follows one of the oldest trading routes through Zululand.
Where paradise begins
Journey along KwaZulu Natal’s southern coastline and meander past coastal villages, exploring popular beach resorts and family entertainment spots. This route is popular among fishermen and surfers and offers one of the top ten shark dive sites in the world.
Zululand Birding Route
The Zululand Birding Route has over 605 bird species in a range of destinations, including the Green Barbet, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Pink-throated Twinspot, Neergard’s Sunbird and Palmnut Vulture.
African Ivory Route
The route's origins come from the ivory hunters and gold traders. The route is important in ecotourism and 4x4 adventure. The area boasts the Big Five, bird viewing and hiking trails.
Heritage Route
The rural villages offer a unique cultural experience where visitors can enjoy traditional dancing, food, crafts and village life.
Limpopo Golf and Safari Route
The route offers golf as well as wildlife and safari experiences.
The Valley of the Olifants Route
The route offers beautiful scenery and wildlife.
Panorama Route
A scenic route along the Mpumalanga Escarpment, includes a trip to the local botanical gardens, golf, a visit to the motor museum, 4x4 trips and abseiling, God's Window, Lisbon Falls, Berlin Falls, The Pinnacle, Bourke's Luck Potholes and The Blyde River Canyon.
Taung Heritage Route
The route offers visitors the opportunity to journey to the area that was once occupied by early humans. The route features the Taung skull fossil site.
Kalahari Red Dune Route
Visitors can experience the Kalahari through dune-boarding, camel riding and 4x4 trailing for the adventurous. For nature lovers, the route offers game drives, guided walks and birding expeditions.
Karoo Highlands Route
This route offers attractions such as the Sutherland Astronomy observatory, Carnarvon's Karoo Array radio telescope, Karoo architecture and corbelled houses, Anglo-Boer War sites, rock art, ancient Palaeo surfaces, farm stays and medicinal plants.
Kimberley Diamond Route
This route follows the early diamond rush that began with Erasmus Jacobs in 1866 when he discovered the Eureka, a 21-carat diamond, while on a walk.
Kokerboom Food and Wine
Travellers can visit the Augrabies Falls, relax in hot springs, river raft, go on 4x4 trips, hike, bird watch, sample local delicacies and wines, touch the unique Kokerboom (quiver tree) and even take a leisurely donkey cart ride through town.
Namaqua Adventure Route
This route focuses on the adventurer, combining extremely challenging 4x4 dirt road challenges and adrenalin-filled activities.
The Quiver Tree Route
This route contrasts between stark arid land and lush green vineyards. Visitors can relax in hot springs, river raft, go on 4x4 trips, hike, bird watch and sample local delicacies and wines.
The Richtersveld Route
This route explores the mountainous desert area of Richtersveld. Activities include hiking, 4x4 trails, bird-watching, mountain biking and donkey-cart rides.
Caledon Blue Crane
This route showcases the three Blue Crane species in South Africa, the Blue Crane, the Grey Crowned Crane and the Wattled Crane.
Cape Care Route
Get a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of the locals in Cape Town. This Afrikatourism route offers visitors a different experience of the city, focusing on sustainable development issues.
Cape Nature
This route focuses on each of the reserves that fall under Cape Nature, with its main focus on how the communities surrounding these reserves benefit from the reserves.
Chapman's Peak Drive
This is an unmatched scenic route with beautiful wildlife experiences along a 9km winding route, one of the most jaw-dropping roads in the world.
Constantia Valley Wine Route
Just 20 minutes from Cape Town along the Constantiaberg Mountains, this route offers a unique wine tasting and learning experience.
Crayfish Route
A journey along the Western Coast of South Africa, this route highlights local culture, scenery and culinary delights of the area.
Diamond Coast Route
The previously forbidden and virtually unknown diamond mining areas of the north west coast of South Africa's Northern Cape can be experienced on this route.
Durbanville Valley Wine Route
A unique wine-tasting experience, this route ranges from boutique estates to large-scale farms in the Durbanville area.
Dwars River Escape
The route has a wealth of spectacular scenery, cultural features, sites of historic significance (churches and buildings) and activities including wine and fruit farm visits.
Franschhoek Wine Valley Route
The route focuses on the unmatched historical aspect of wine making in the country, going back 300 years.
Hardeveld Route
This route focuses on the many culturally rich villages in the Hardeveld region. Experience the old timeless villages of the region and what they have to offer.
Helderberg Wine Route
Enjoy top-class wine tasting in this scenic route of 20 wine farms in the Helderberg area.
Kamieskroon Route
On this route, visitors can explore the many small towns that are rich in the culture and heritage.
Klein Karoo Wine Route
The Klein Karoo is one of South Africa’s most diverse wine regions and this route offers a food and wine experience that stretches from Montagu to Langkloof.
Route 62 Brandy Route
Discover the history and tradition of South African brandy by visiting the many cellars along Route 62.
Route 62 Wine Route
Discover the history and tradition of South African brandy by visiting the many cellars along Route 62.
Southermost Route
This area boasts the floral wonders of the Cape Floral Kingdom and historic sites including the Khoi-Khoi Caves, old fishing villages and shipwrecks.
Stellenbosch 360 Route
The route takes travellers off the usual tourist track, away from the winelands and into the colourful communities, while learning how the area began large-scale strawberry farming.
Stellenbosch American Express Wine Route
The route takes in over 200 wine producers and can be accessed all year round.
The Cape Whale Route
One of the most famed land-based whale-watching experiences in the world, the Cape Whale Route offers an unmatched scenic wildlife route on the southern tip of Africa.
The Garden Route
Offering beaches, mountains, forests, rivers, bungee jumping, wine tasting, whale watching, bird watching, wildlife interactions, golf courses and craft centres, this route is not to be missed.
