On a road trip as long as the Garden Route, where you sleep decides how much driving you do and how much of each place you see. Most visitors split their nights between two or three bases. Here is how the main areas compare, with the hotels on this site matched to each.
Knysna
The lagoon town is the food and craft capital of the route and a natural base for the Heads cruise and the forest. For a splurge, Pezula Nature Retreat sits on the Eastern Head side of the lagoon, with large suites and villas, indoor and outdoor pools, a spa and a golf course. It includes breakfast and parking, and it is about eleven minutes by car from the waterfront and roughly thirty-eight minutes from Plettenberg Bay, so it suits couples and golfers who want a retreat rather than a walkable town base.
Plettenberg Bay
The beach resort of the route has the best sand, the seal trips and Robberg Nature Reserve on its doorstep. The Plettenberg Hotel is the top address, a five-star hotel above Lookout Beach with sea-view suites, two pools, a spa and a seafood restaurant, a couple of minutes' walk from the beach and a few minutes from Robberg. Breakfast is an extra charge, so look at your rate. Choose Plett if you want to be in the water, and book early for December and Easter.
Wilderness
A quiet seaside and lakes village near George, ideal for a first or last night. Fairy Knowe Hotel is an old-style riverside hotel with rondavels and riverside rooms, a pool, a terrace and a tennis court, about a minute's walk from Wilderness National Park and roughly half an hour from George airport. Guest scores are modest on a small number of reviews, so read recent comments, but the setting is lovely and the price is mid-range.
Oudtshoorn
Over the mountains, the ostrich town is the base for the Cango Caves, the farms and the Swartberg Pass. Rosenhof Country House is a boutique stay in a restored homestead from around 1852, with individually decorated rooms, lounges with fireplaces, a pool and a pub. It suits couples and history lovers, and it is on the road toward the caves. Summers here are hot and winter nights are cold, so choose your season with that in mind.
Storms River
The forest village at the eastern end of the route is the base for the national park, the canopy tour and the bungy. Tsitsikamma Village Inn is the good-value choice, with a free full breakfast, a pool, three restaurants and rooms that sleep families, in a village a short drive from the Big Tree and about fifteen kilometres from the Storms River Mouth rest camp. It has no lift and no pets, and the front desk closes at nine, so tell them if you will arrive late.
How to choose
For a first trip of four or five nights, base yourself in Knysna or Plettenberg Bay and make day trips to the others, then add a night in Storms River if you want the adventure activities. For a longer loop, add a night in Oudtshoorn and one in Wilderness. Whatever you choose, book early for the December and Easter holidays, when the best rooms go first, and check each rate for breakfast and parking.
