More Quarters

Bergs, Battlefields & Bush

Safari Adventure + 2 more + 3 more

Exploring the history & wildlife of KwaZulu-Natal.

13 days

from £4,750 pp

including flights

The Best of South Africa

Romantic Classic + 3 more + 3 more

Cape Town, wine & wildlife: South Africa's highlights over 11 days.

11 days

from £3,225 pp

including flights

A South African Fortnight

Classic Safari + 1 more + 2 more

A two-week classic adventure through the best of South Africa.

14 days

from £3,595 pp

including flights

Family Classic + 3 more + 3 more

City, Safari & Beach

South Africa, Mauritius

South Africa’s culture, safari and beaches rounding off with an indulgent island escape.

15 days

from £5,010 pp

including flights

South Africa Safari Explorer

South Africa's wildlife at its best.

14 days

Safari Wildlife & Nature

from £5,850 pp

including flights

South Africa Family Holiday

Family Safari + 1 more + 2 more

The ultimate family adventure through South Africa's highlights.

15 days

from £3,495 pp

including flights

Quirky excursions

View all excursions in South Africa

Shark Cage Diving

The waters off the Cape coast are one of the few places in the world that offer the exhilarating, adrenalin-fuelled experience of cage-diving with great white sharks. This takes place just off Dyer Island in Walker Bay, where huge numbers of seals attract these amazing predators to an area of water known as “Shark Alley”. Cage diving is possible on scuba gear and on snorkelling, so no previous diving experience is required. Sharks never attack the cages but do come very close, brushing the cage. They will also peer in, allowing you eye contact with these majestic creatures. The good cage diving outfits will seek to teach you about sharks, and are involved in monitoring and conservation projects, not just of the sharks but of a wide range of other marine wildlife. It’s an amazing experience and one you are unlikely to ever forget.

Day trip to The Winelands

Centred on the towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, in beautiful valleys between steep, craggy ridges, the Winelands is blessed with not just amazing scenery, but also the ideal climate for vines and their delicious end product. A day exploring the Winelands may well involve tasting the wines and learning about the production processes at three or four different estates: this way you get to see a range of ideas and settings, from the ultra-modern, boutique set-up somewhere like La Motte, to the traditional architecture and classic wines of Warwick; from the educational and commercially successful operation at Fairview, to the wonderful setting geared towards strolls amidst the vines and picnics under the trees at Boschendal. The beauty of nearly all the estates from the large, visitor-focussed places to the tiny garagistes, is that they’ll readily show you around and talk you through their wines, even if you drop in unannounced. As well as the wine and the scenery, the towns in this region offer cafes, art galleries, craft shops and museums; not to mention the amazing restaurants, as the Winelands quite rightly claims the crown of gourmet capital of South Africa. Altogether, you’ll return from your day in the Winelands wiser, more relaxed, slightly broader round the waist and carrying a couple of bottles of a magical vintage you’ve managed to unearth.

Uthando Philanthropic Cultural Tour

Everyone knows about the poverty and inequality represented by the townships in South Africa, and about the recent history of the country: apartheid and the emergence of the Rainbow Nation. Township tours have developed as a way of exploring these issues, but all too often get it very wrong and are simply tours to see how the poorest people live. Uthando is a charity that has got it very right, having been set up by a former lawyer and travel industry professional, James Fernie, to ensure that visitors can see, directly, how the cost of their tour directly benefits projects in these deprived areas. Uthando has a wide range of projects it gets involved in, from a market garden to provide fresh fruit and vegetables for families as well as an income from selling the surplus, to musical and theatre projects offering kids the chance to develop skills everyday life doesn’t equip them with, to orphanages, nursing homes and AIDS refuges to help the most unfortunate members of the community. With a wide range of projects, each tour is slightly different: James does not want visits to the projects to become routine: the activities that take place here are everyday ones, not something laid on for the tourists, and minimising the intrusion caused by tours helps reinforce this: but it also allows you to see exactly how your contributions are giving hope and opportunity to these people. It is a humbling and challenging day, but ultimately hugely uplifting.

Cape Town Sightseeing Bus

There are 17 stops on the Cape Town city tour offered by the hop-on, hop-off bus, and they cover all the main attractions. Starting at the V&A Waterfront, it wends through the city bowl stopping at St George’s Cathedral, the District Six Museum and the Cape Malay quarter of Bo-Kaap, before passing by the Table Mountain Cableway and then crossing the Kloof Nek pass and dropping into Camps Bay. It then starts to return along the coastline, through Sea Point past the brand new football stadium and back to the V&A Waterfront. You can get tickets valid one day, or two days as well as enhanced packages that include tickets for the Table Mountain Cableway and the Two Oceans Aquarium. The upper deck of the bus is open-topped allowing you to make the most of the sunny weather. Commentary is provided and includes a special commentary channel for children. This is a great way to see the city, and is considerably cheaper than a hire car or a taxi!

Food tour

So much about a country and a culture is expressed through its cuisine. In South Africa, much of the cuisine is a home-style cooking and to get a taste you really need to search hard. A guided tour will explore the history of this country and city, walking through the back streets to find these local tastes. Walk the streets of Cape Town and experience its history, its people and its culinary delights. Stop to taste a mixture of traditional food, South African street food and to visit some artisanal foodie and coffee shops. During your walk you’ll have the opportunity to taste some of the following items: African Soul food: pap, samp & beans, vetkoek Falooda - a traditional Muslim Rose Milkshake; a gourmet bunny chow to get a little taste of Indian Cuisine and bobotie pies - a modern take on the traditional Bobotie dish which both the Cape Malay group and white Afrikaner group refer to as their traditional dish.