The Three Boutique Hotel

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

Classic South Africa

Family Classic + 3 more + 3 more

A classic South African holiday, with a few lesser-visited surprises.

17 days

from £3,655 pp

Unexplored South Africa

Wildlife & Nature Luxury + 2 more + 3 more

Leave the tourist trail behind and experience a different South Africa.

14 days

from £9,350 pp

Bergs, Battlefields & Bush

Safari Adventure + 2 more + 3 more

Exploring the history & wildlife of KwaZulu-Natal.

13 days

from £4,750 pp

Kruger, Canyons & Cape

Safari Wildlife & Nature + 2 more + 3 more

The perfect South African summer holiday.

14 days

from £3,995 pp

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

Quirky excursions

View all excursions in South Africa

Rovos Rail to Pretoria

Leaving Cape Town at 11 am, you enjoy lunch on board passing through the particularly beautiful Hex River Valley, before arriving at Matjiesfontein. Matjiesfontein is situated on the edge of the Klein Karoo, just north of the Winelands of the Western Cape. Founded in 1884 and originally a staging post on the Imperial British railway, it soon became known as a health spa – the dry air was reckoned to be the perfect cure for chest complaints. The remoteness of Matjiesfontein is part of its appeal and perhaps also why the 21st and indeed the 20th century appear to have passed her by. A National Monument, it has been preserved exactly as it was in Victorian times. Your tour will take in a ride around the small town in a historic bus, a visit to the museum and a drink at the Lord Milner Hotel. You have dinner on board before heading to bed. The following day you arrive in Kimberley after lunch. Kimberley is one of the more remote towns right in the heart of South Africa but has played an absolutely crucial role in the nation’s history, for it was here that diamonds were discovered and men like Cecil Rhodes made their fortunes; doubtless the presence of such massive mineral wealth also helped shaped Rhodes’ belief that the area should be governed by the British Empire. The Big Hole is Kimberley’s most striking feature, a vast hole 463 metres wide and originally excavated down to 240 metres by hand, yielding 2,700 kilograms of diamonds in its life as a mine. A visitor centre has grown around the mine and offers a great introduction into this remarkable period of South African history. You rejoin the train after your tour for your final dinner on board. After another good night’s sleep, you’ll be hooked up to the steam engine that draws you the final kilometres into Capital Park, Rovos’s glorious restored Art Deco station in Pretoria, arriving at noon.

Robben Island

At various times over its history, Robben Island has been a leper colony and an animal quarantine station, but it is as a prison that it has entered history. Located seven kilometres off Cape Town, in waters where the great white shark is known to hunt, it was singularly suited to this purpose. Nelson Mandela famously spent 18 of his 27 years imprisonment. Getting to Robben Island today involves a boat ride of about 20 minutes, landing at the same quay as the prisoners used to. A tour of the island is undertaken in an old prison bus, conducted by a former inmate, so you'll get a real insiders view. Of course the focus of the trip is the prison itself, seeing how the prisoners lived, where they worked (including the infamous quarry) with the highlight being Mandela’s cell. But there is more to the island than this, and as you drive around, through the old prison guard’s village and past the airstrip, you may well see penguins, bontebok, eland, springbok and steenbok, whilst on the boat trip you’ll almost certainly see seals. The views back towards Cape Town show it in its classic light, framed by the ocean and Table Mountain. A visit to Robben Island is not only a great opportunity to learn more about the struggle against apartheid, but is also about the local wildlife, the wonderful views and a chance to explore somewhere that is still quite remote, despite its proximity to Cape Town.

Historic Cape Town

First settled by Europeans in the 17th century, as a provisioning station for vessels travelling between Europe and the East Indies, there are monuments to all the stages of Cape Town’s history to visit. The original settlers were Dutch, and the Castle of Good Hope stands on the site of their original fortification for defending the nascent community. A star-fort, it was built on the coastline, but thanks to land reclamation it now lies in the heart of the city! The indigenous population were not very numerous and the early settlers were unable to subdue them or persuade them to work as labourers, so they imported slaves from the East Indies. These formed the roots of the Cape Malay community whose spiritual home is the Bo-Kaap quarter, with its distinctive houses, each painted a different vivid colour which originally identified the occupation of the owner. The Cape Malay are also Muslims, so you may hear the muezzin’s call as you tour the area. Other than Robben Island, the District Six museum is a good introduction into the history of apartheid. Originally a run-down area populated by the coloured community and a magnet for musicians, poets and artists, it was declared a white area by the apartheid government in 1965, and the buildings razed to the ground, their occupants relocated to the Cape Flats townships. Such was the international outcry at this, that the site was never developed, and today the ghostly outline of the streets and buildings can be seen in the grass that covers the area. The museum tells this story through photographs and the experiences and stories of those displaced residents: moving and educational tales.

Ratanga Junction Theme Park

Ratanga Junction is a theme park offering rides that vary from the scream-out loud, 4G, 100 km/h thrills of the Cobra to the Crocodile Swamps, a gentle water ride for the younger and more sedate visitor. A simulator offers six different rides, taking you to different corners of the world and even into space, and for the most adventurous there is a slingshot, where strapped into a harness, you’ll be released from the top of a gantry, descending into a 90 km/h freefall before swinging back up again. There are a range of restaurants and shops in the park, which is set around a large river, making for a pleasant setting. Although theme parks are not a traditional thing for visitors to South Africa to do, it makes for a fun day out, particularly if you are travelling with children.

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.