South Africa has a wide range of scenic, wildlife, adventure, culinary and wine routes. Fiona Davids presents some of South Africa's routes, categorised by theme
Adventure routes
Baviaans Wilderness Route
Visitors can enjoy eco-tours and adventure activities in the unspoilt mountainous terrain and world heritage site. Areas visited on this route include Baviaanskloof, Reitbron, Willowmore, Vondeling and Steylerville.
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Boston and Bulwer Route
This route explores the Dargle Valley, waterfalls and dams in Boston and Bulwer. Activities on offer are hiking, fishing, paragliding and hang gliding.
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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.The Eagle Route runs from Fickburg to Harrismith. Some of the towns to explore are Bethlehem, Memel, Ladybrand.
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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.
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Frontier Route
This route offers 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.
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Garden Route Sea Kayaking
The route travels through Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth. Activities include hikes, abseiling, steam train excursions and visits to cultural sites such as the rock shelters of the Khoisan.
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Inanda Heritage Route
Visitors are taken through historic sites of Durban, providing an image of South African history as well as India's past.
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Joburg Adventure Route
Travellers can experience adrenalin-filled experiences through Johannesburg. These include mountain biking, paragliding, parachuting, skydiving and bungee jumping. The places visited include Kya Sands, Fourways, Soweto and Magaliesburg.
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.
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Kamoka Route
Adventures include river-rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking, cycle touring, hunting, canoeing and kayaking, paragliding and 4x4 trails. The route includes Wamhlanga, Siyabuswa, Greater Marble Hall, Groblersdal, Stoffberg, Roossenekal and other small towns and villages.
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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. The route takes visitors to Lankloof Valley, Tsitsikamma area and Van Stadens River.
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Kruger to Canyons Route
This route offers the best game viewing, a number of outdoor trails and varied adventure activities like rock climbing, white water rafting and hot-air ballooning. The area - Kruger National Park, Blyde River Canyon, Phalaborwa, Hoedspruit and surrounds and Graskop - also boasts a rich birdlife.
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Limpopo Golf and Safari Route
The route offers golf as well as wildlife and safari experiences in Polokwane, Waterberg and Mookgophong.
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Segarona Heritage Experience
From Pilanesberg through the Bakgatla territory connecting with Madikwe Nature reserve. Derdepoort and Zeerust, this route offers birdlife, the Marico River for scuba diving and camping.
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Southern Overberg Fynbos Route
This route offers Shark-cave diving, antique stores, vineyards, horse riding, boat cruises, hiking and bird watching. The route visits Agulhas Plain, Stanford, Gansbaai, Baardskeerdersbos, Pearly Beach, Elim and Wolvengat.
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Stellenbosch 360
Visitors can select cultural experiences, designed to showcase talent and natural resources. Adventure activities like abseiling, hiking, mountain-biking are on offer. Visitors can cook traditional food in private dwellings. Many cellars offer wine-tasting tours and sales.
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Sunshine Coast Route
Stretching from Port Elizabeth to East London and offering beach trips for surfing, golf courses, historic trails and green landscapes.
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The Quiver Tree Route
Visitors can relax in hot springs, river raft, 4x4 trips, hiking and bird watching. The route visits Upington, Augrabies, Kenhardt, Kanoneiland, Marchand and Keimoes.
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The Richtersveld Route
This route includes hiking, 4x4 trails, bird-watching, mountain biking and donkey-cart rides in Port Nolloth, Eksteenfontein, Kuboes, Sanddrif and Alexander Bay.
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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.
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Culinary routes
Joburg Cuisine Route
A culinary route through the north and south of Johannesburg, it focuses on South African cuisine.
Joburg Market Route
The route explores organic food markets and craft stalls throughout Johannesburg. The areas included are Bryanston, Atholl Oaklands, Parktown North, Melrose Arch, Braamfontein, Newtown and Johannesburg CBD.
Kokerboom Food and Wine Route
There are hot springs, river rafting, 4x4 trips, hiking, bird watching, sampling local wines and delicacies. The route visits Keimoes, Kanoneiland, Kenhardt, Augrabies, Upington and Marchand.
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West Coast Foodie
The route showcases the diverse flavours to be found in the Cape West Coast and surrounding areas. Guests can enjoy a range of seafood options. The destinations in this route are West Coast National Park; Langebaan, Saldanha Bay, Jacobsbaai, Paternoster and Cape Columbine, St Helena, Shelley Point, Velddrif, Hopefield and Thali Thali Game Lodge.
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Culture and heritage routes
Alex Tourism and Heritage Route
The route includes taverns and shebeens, arts and crafts, entertainment and street vendors.
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Amajuba Route
The Amajuba District's attractions include cultural experiences, crafts, historical tours, game viewing, various outdoor activities, fly fishing, flower cultivation.
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Battlefields Route
The route has 82 battlefields, museums, old fortifications and places of remembrance.
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Cape Care Route
Travellers can look at the lives of the locals in Cape Town.
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Dwars River Escape Route
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 in Stellenbosch to Franschhoek.
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Free State Cheetah Route
This route takes visitors through the cultural and political heart of the Free State, towns include Mangaung District, Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba-Nchu. The route features historic, cultural and natural attractions.
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Free State Springbok Route
The route connects the Free State with the Northern Cape through the farmlands and nature reserves of the Xheriep District. Towns include Jakobsdal, Kofflefontein, Jagersfontein, Bethulie, Gariep Dam and Philippolis.This route has a wealth of cultural and historic attractions including battle sites, San rock engravings, game farms and diamond mines.
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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. The route travels through Pietermaritzburg, Edendala, Sobantu Township and Howick.
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Gauteng Signature Collection
This route takes visitors on a trip to experience the apartheid era and many areas synonymous with Nelson Mandela. The places visited are Voortrekker Monument, Lilieslief, Consitution Hill and Soweto.
Genesis Route
The route tells the story of the ancient rock formation dating back to 3 billion years ago. The site is earmarked to become the first World Heritage Site for Mpumalanga by 2018.
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Heritage Route
The rural villages offer a unique cultural experience where visitors can enjoy traditional dancing, food, crafts and village life. The villages visited include Baltimore, Marken, Shongoane and Lephalale.
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Hlanganani Route
The route is ideal for visitors to the Kruger National Park who wish to gain a better understanding and insight into rural life in Limpopo.
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Indian Heritage Route
This route focuses on historic and Indian cultural venues in Johannesburg. Areas include Orchards, Braamfontein, Newtown and Marshalltown.
Inyathi Buffalo Route
This route boasts a variety of attractions, and offers 10 estuaries, conservancies, heritage sites, rocky shores and 14 beaches.
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Jikeleza Route
This route takes travellers on a trip through the beautiful rural Eastern Cape. The destinations include Kwelera, Cintsa, Gonubie.
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Joburg Art Gallery Route
This route features some of the finest art galleries. Areas include Parkwood, Melrose Arch, Rosebank, Joubert Park and Braamfontein.
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.
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Kimberley Diamond Route
The route follows the early diamond rush. Visitors walk this route. Towns visited on the route include Barkley West and Kimberley.
Khanyisa Cape Route
Khanyisa Cape Route points tourists to other destinations in the townships, not just the beaten track to struggle route landmarks.
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Mbodla Eco-Heritage Route
This route offers visitors the ability to gain a better understanding and appreciation of Xhosa culture and rural life.
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Midlands Meander
The route travels from Drakensberg to Pietermaritzburg. Outdoor activities such as fishing and adventure sports, historic landmarks, wildlife conservation as well as local arts and crafts.
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Military Heritage Route
The route comprises three properties - the Castle of Good Hope, the South African Naval Museum and the Chavonnes Battery Museum.
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Mothers of Creation Route
Tourists meet local people while directly supporting the community to create a sustainable economic future.
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Nguni Route
The Nguni Route incorporates an area of scenic landscapes combined with historic and cultural attractions. The districts in which the route is situated have some of the poorest rural communities in KwaZulu Natal.
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Port St Johns Open Africa Route
The route highlights the culture of the Pondo people in the rural villages surrounding Port St Johns. Tourists have the ability to learn about the Pondo people, their history, culture and customs.
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Route 66
This route follows one of the oldest trading routes through Zululand. Areas visited include Ladysmith, Colenso, Dundee, Volksrust, Gingindlovu, Eshowe, Melmoth, Ulundi, Nongoma and Pandgola.
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Rixile Culture to Kruger Route
The route is rich in cultural history, game viewing and ancient lands with prehistoric human habitation can be found at the Makapans Caves. Historic sites worth a visit in Giyani include the old library, the old parliament building, tribal prisons.
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Stellenbosch 360
Visitors can select cultural experiences, designed to showcase talent and natural resources. Adventure activities like abseiling, hiking, mountain-biking are on offer. Visitors can cook traditional food in private dwellings. Many cellars offer wine-tasting tours.
For more information, click here.
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.
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The Liberation heritage Route
The route highlights the key people who fought for justice and freedom from oppression, as well as the destinations that featured prominently during the liberation struggle.
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uMngeni Footprint Route
Attractions include the Howick Falls, the Howick Museum, the Mandela Memorial Site, the Zulu Mpophomeni Tourism Experience and the Midmar Dam.
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Valley of a Thousand Hills
This route lets visitors experience Zulu history and culture, retail shopping, wildlife tours, adventure, hiking trails and scenery of the KwaZulu Natal Midlands
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West Coast Rock Art Route
The route features the San (Bushman) rock paintings in shallow caves or rock shelters.
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Scenic Routes
Cape Nature Route
The route focuses on each of the reserves that fall under CapeNature. The main focus is on how communities benefit and play a role in the reserves.
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Chapman's Peak Drive
The route offers a scenic wildlife experience along a 9km road.
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Clarens Highlands Route
Surrounded by mountains, the town is known for its many art and craft shops and sandstone buildings.
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Coastal Route
This route is renowned for its great beaches, malaria-free parks and reserves, diverse wildlife and culture.
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Diamond Coast Route
Charming locations like Alexander Bay, a previously restricted diamond mining area, which can now be visited on organised tours. Visitors can tour shipwrecks along the Cape coastline, hike and take 4x4 trips through the coastal dunes as part of the shipwreck trail.
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Drakensberg Experience Route
The route is centred on the Drakensberg World Heritage Site, which includes Giant’s Castle and the Central and Northern Drakensberg.
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Elephant Coast
Home to the Big Five, the iSimangaliso Wetlands Park is known for its sighting of whales and turtles.
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Escape Route
Stutterheim boasts the second largest indigenous forest in South Africa, the Kologha Forest. The forest has a picturesque picnic spot and is well signposted and offers scenic walks of varying lengths and difficulty.
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Free State Flamingo Route
This route runs through the Lejweleputswa District and features Welkom, Virgina, Ventersburg, Winburg, Bothaville and Brandford. 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.
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Friendly N6
A scenic journey through the farming hub of the Eastern Cape into the Free State.
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Greater Addo Route
Activities range from game safaris, horse and hiking trails, 4x4 and off road adventure, to fishing and canoeing. The route takes visitors through the villages of Addo, Colchester, Canonville, Kirkwood and Paterson, The Addo Elephant National Park, Sunday's River Valley and Moses Mabhida.
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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. Towns visited on this route include Colesberg and Gariepdam.
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Kanna Biodiversity Experience
This forms part of the scenic Route 62 and features mountains and passes. The area features rock formations and a range of activities focused on people biodiversity, history and culture.
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Land of Legend Route
Travelling on this route offers a chance to explore high mountains, graceful valleys, clear waters and beautiful indigenous forests.
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Mid-Karoo Route
The route is surrounded by mountains and is recognised for its herbal plant life, birdlife, Teebus and Koffiebus Koppies and the Orange River Water Scheme
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Namakwa Coastal Route
This route runs through the north-west coast of South Africa, from Groenrivier mouth until Port Nolloth. Starting from Namaqua National Park, it offers beautiful scenes of the Atlantic Ocean and sightings of dolphins and whales and wildlife in the veld. The coastline is open to 4x4s and guided tours.
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Panorama Route
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 are some of the attractions.
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Ribolla Route
A journey of extraordinary myths and legends of great and ancient kingdoms. A variety of hiking, horse and mountain bike trails can be enjoyed.
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The Garden Route
The Garden Route offers a mix of golf courses, ancient forests, artists' communities, retirement estates, modern malls, craft centres, mountain hideaways and beach holidays. There is incredible scenery, marine wildlife sightings – Humpback whales, Bottlenose and common dolphins and Killer whales.
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Wild Coast Route
This route offers views of fauna, flora and the Indian Ocean while hiking, camping or participating in aquatic experiences.
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West Coast Sea Kayaking Route
The route offers attractions such as bird and marine life, camping on deserted beaches and interaction with the local communities in Bloubergstrand.
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Xairu Blu Crane Route
The route offers a variety of attractions, including the Blue cranes. Activities include hiking, mountain biking, horse riding and quad biking over the coastal dunes.
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Zululand Sea Kayaking Route
The route is rich with sea life and birdlife.
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Wildlife routes
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.
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Caledon Blue Crane
The route displays the three Blue Crane species in South Africa - the Blue Crane, Grey Crowned Crane and Wattled Crane.
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Cape Whale Route
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For more information on this route, please click text-underline:none">here.
Joburg Nature Route
This route offers sights of wildlife in Johannesburg. The areas on this route include Roodepoort, Emmarentia, Melville and Parkview.
Piketberg & Porterville Blue Crane Route
The Porterville Blue Crane Route links the various attractions in and around the town of Porterville under the banner of Blue Crane conservation, as the route is one of four Blue Crane routes in the Western Cape.
For more information on this route, click here.
The Midlands Amble
Experiences offered are bird watching, camping and fishing. The area boasts a safari park, picnic sites, museums, nature reserves, canopy tours and the Zoological Gardens.
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Valley of the Olifant Route
The route offers beautiful scenery and wildlife.
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Zululand Birding Route
The route has over 605 bird species in a number of destinations, including. The species include the Green Barbet, Pel's Fishing Owl. Neergard's Sunbird and Palmnut Vulture.
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Wine and alcohol routes
Route 62 Brandy Route
Brandy’s presence in South Africa goes back 330 years. The route lets visitors get an inside look at the brandy culture and industry, enjoy brandy tastings and tours at the distilleries.
For more on this route, clickhere.
Route 62 Wine Route
Visitors discover a feast of culture, hospitality, food, and a variety of wine styles. Wine lovers can visit up to 70 wine farms.
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Stellenbosch American Express Wine Route
Stellenbosch is South Africa’s second oldest town, reflecting three centuries of occupation in its Dutch, Georgian and Victorian architecture. The route offers wine, rich Cape Dutch heritage, wine estates, restaurants and beautiful countryside.
For more on this route, click here.
