Garden Route Accommodation - Accommodation Garden Route

Garden Route clickable map:

The Garden Route is a popular and scenic stretch of the southern coast of South Africa. It stretches from Hermanus in the Western Cape to Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. It includes towns such as Mossel Bay, George, Knysna and Plettenberg bay.

It has a Mediterranean maritime climate, with moderately hot summers, and mild to chilly winters. It is one of the richest rainfall areas in South Africa, most of which occurs in the winter months, brought by the humid sea-winds from the Indian Ocean.

The Route is sandwiched between the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains and the Indian Ocean. The Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma indigenous forests are a unique mixture of Cape Fynbos and temperate forest and offer hiking trails and eco-tourism activities. Nearly 300 species of birdlife are to be found in a variety of habitats ranging from fynbos to forest to wetlands.

Ten nature reserves embrace the varied ecosystems of the area as well as unique marine reserves, home to soft coral reefs, dolphins, seals and a host of other marine life. Various bays along the Garden Route are nurseries to the endangered Southern Right Whale which come there to calve in the winter and spring (July to December).
Although the most popular exploration of the Garden Route is by car, it is also site of Africa's last remaining passenger steam train, the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe.