The 2025 Grand Tour Deluxe SA

Duration of tour – 19 days (18 nights) and 17 days motorcycle rental

Rating: Easy Asphalt only

Our Grand Tour De Luxe starts in the Western Cape and ends in Pretoria, Gauteng!   During the 19-day tour you explore six of the country’s nine provinces. Tour highlights include exploring the Garden Route & Route 62, indulging the safari opulence when visiting private game lodges, in search of the Big 5, relaxing along the eastern Cape wild coast before traversing the rugged eastern Cape hinterland.  From here you briefly visit the Drakensberg region before arriving in the Kwa-Zulu Natal midlands.  A brief visit to E’swatini, a small enclave bordered by South Africa and Mozambique, is followed by a Kruger Park safari and authentic Swazi cultural experience before the final scenic highlights along the Panorama route presents us with a fitting farewell to SA.

Cape Town is a city that delights with its range of sights, sounds, and experiences. After exploring Cape Town by bus or on foot and visiting Table Mountain, we collect our motorcycles and ride the well-known Cape Peninsula route which includes the Cape of Good Hope and Chapman’s Peak. From Cape Town we head to southern tip of Africa at Agulhas. We follow the R44 along Clarens Drive and Betty’s Bay and visit the penguin colony at Stony Point  near Betty’s Bay.  We briefly visit South Africa’s whale watchers’ Mecca – Hermanus. Continuing along the Cape’s southern coast, we explore the mountains and forests of the Garden Route before disappearing into the vastness of the Klein Karoo. The Klein Karoo is about Oudtshoorn, ostrich capital of the world, and the Cango Caves. We ride part of Route 62, stop briefly at Ronnie’s Sex Shop and head to Knysna on the Indian Ocean. Our two night stop in Knysna calls for a visit to the Featherbed Reserve and sun-downers on the John Benn ferry. We continue east along the Tsitsikamma coastline and stop at Bloukrans Bridge bungee, the highest commercial bungee jump in the universe!  From the Storms River National Park, we head to Port Elizabeth followed by a two-night beach-break along the eastern Cape Wild Coast.  The ruggedness of Morgan Bay coastal village offers visitors a look into everyday life in the remote rural areas when joining a local on a township tour.

We leave the coast behind and head into the Transkei “homeland region”, home to the Xhosa people.  After a brief stop in Elliot we cross over into Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) – the official Kingdom of the Zulu Nation. We ride along the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains with its awe-inspiring basalt cliffs.  Dubbed the Drakensberg (Dragon Mountains) by the early Dutch pioneers and uKhahlamba (Barrier of Spears) by the Zulus, it is a South African World Heritage Site. From Underberg we descend the escarpment and head to the KZN battlefields region for our 2-night stay at the Nambiti Big 5 game reserve. This Big 5 reserve promise to spoil us with a variety of safari activities and opulence. We briefly pass through the battlefield’s region where during the late 1800’s numerous battles took place during the Anglo Zulu wars.  Our next destination is E’swatini, formerly known as Swaziland.  The scenic landscapes and rich Swazi cultural makes for a pleasant visit to this tiny monarchy.  Once back in SA we overnight on the banks of the Crocodile river overlooking the Kruger National Park.  We enjoy our last safari in the iconic Kruger National Park in search of the Big 5. From southern Kruger we head north to Sabie from where we explore the popular Panorama Route.  The scenic stops along the way includes Blyde River Canyon, Bourke’s Luck potholes and Wonder View.  Our journey comes to an end after spending our last night at the foothills of the impressive Long Tom pass.  From here we steer the magnificent machines back to Pretoria where we say our goodbyes and head back home.

Our Grand Tour De Luxe covers some of the best routes in South Africa, all in just 19 days. The thrill is immediate, but you’re left with a lifetime of memories to share

Distance to be covered: Total 3850 km and 340 km per day approximately

Itinerary :

• Day 1 – Arrive at Cape Town International Airport and head to the hotel for a two night stay
• Day 2 – After the motorcycle check out we head south along the popular Cape Peninsula tour and visit the Cape of Good Hope, enjoy the views from Table Mountain and ride Chapman’s Peak drive (150km)
• Day 3 – We bid city life farewell and continue our journey along the shores of False Bay. We visit the penguins at Stony Point, enjoy coffee in Hermanus and head to Cape Agulhas to visit the southernmost tip of Africa (320km)
• Day 4 – From Agulhas we head inland and explore the Klein Karoo region along the popular Route 62. Our highlights include riding the Tradouws pass, visiting Ronnie’s Sex Shop and enjoying an ostrich steak in the evening (340km)
• Day 5 – After breakfast we visit the Cango Caves followed by a leisurely visit to the Highgate ostrich show farm.  From here we ride the sweeping Outeniqua pass and follow the coast all the way to Knysna (220km)
• Day 6 – After a few days in the saddle, we enjoy a day at leisure in Knysna. We explore the Featherbed private nature reserve from where visitors enjoy panoramic views over the estuary and and town with the distant Outeniqua mountains as backdrop (0km)
• Day 7 – We continue east and ride to Port Elizabeth, now called Gqeberha. En-route we visit the Storms River mouth in the Tsitsikamma National Park, detour via Nature’s Valley and view the Bloukrans bungee jump site (300km)
• Day 8 – We follow the R72 along the Cape east coast as it meanders along farmlands, coastal villages and eventually the city of East London.  After lunch we enter what is known as the Transkei, home to the Xhosa people. The region is known as the wild coast (380km)
• Day 9 – Our two night stay in Morgan Bay will reload the energy levels, and allow for beach time as well as an informal visit to a local Xhosa village (0km)
• Day 10 – Once on the roads we head inland, this time to Elliot in the far north east of the province and explore the remote Transkei. This vast region is home to the 2nd largest ethnic tribe in SA, the Xhosa people (250km)
• Day 11 – Our riding today covers vast uninhabited areas where rural subsistence farmers and formal farmers exists in harmony. Late afternoon we arrive at the foothills of the majestic Drakensberg mountains where we sleep under the watchful eye of the Ukhahlamba (390km)
• Day 12 & 13 – From the foothills of the Drakensberg we head to the Kwa-Zulu Midlands region for a two night safari stay.  Nambiti Private Reserve is a Big 5 reserve and will host us for two days of leisure and safari activities (290km)
• Day 14 – After a lazy start to the day we cross the border into E’swatini, home of the Swazi people. This tiny country of 17 000 sq km hosts us for one night and spoils us with relaxed riding through the forest terrain near our lodge (330km)
• Day 15 – Our Swazi stay includes some cultural activities before we head back into SA heading to the Crocodile river. The river is the southern border of the acclaimed Kruger National Park and our lodge for the night overlooks both the park and the river (200km)
• Day 16 – Its an early start to our day when we embark on our morning Kruger safari drive. After a relaxed morning in Kruger Park and short afternoon bike ride, we arrive at the foot of the scenic Long Tom Pass (150km)
• Day 17 – Our 2 night Sabie stay is spent exploring the Panorama Route. The highlights include Blyde River viewpoint overlooking the Blyde dam and Three Rondawels, Bourke’s Luck potholes and God’s Window (200km)
• Day 18 – From the foothills of the Long Tom Pass we ascend the escarpment and slowly make our way back to Gauteng.  We ride via the idyllic Dullstroom and finally join the Maputo corridor motorway (N4) which takes us to Pretoria (320km)
• Day 19 – The last formality for our tour is say our goodbye’s and join the transfer service to the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg – Bon Voyage!

Important information about the above rates:

• The rate quoted above is a net rate based on a minimum of six participants. Swartberg Biking reserves the right to cancel any tour if we have not received bookings for the minimum number of participants.
• The above rates are subject to change if any unforeseeable price increase or currency exchange rate occurs.
• The rates quoted above include the use of a support vehicle on the above package.

Swartberg Biking Motorcycle Tours is a registered tour operator affiliated with the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (www.satsa.co.za) and insured with Safari and Tourism Insurance Brokers (www.satib.co.za).

Swartberg Biking is a proud partner in the 2025 Rhino Ride awareness campaign, supporting conservation efforts across Southern Africa.