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Every kind of stay

Not sure where to start? Pick the kind of trip you're taking and we'll show you the stays that fit.

Adults-only

36 child-free stays in 16 towns, seven each in Franschhoek and Cape Town. In Franschhoek I would look first at Plumwood, an adults-only boutique hotel with two outdoor pools; in Cape Town, South Beach sits in Camps Bay.

15 destinations →

Beach Cottage

Charming self-catering cottages on South Africa's Garden Route.

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Beachfront

57 hotels on the sand in 13 towns, and the ocean decides the trip: Durban and Umhlanga face the warm Indian Ocean behind KZN Sharks Board nets, while St Helena Bay, where our five average 9.5/10, faces the cold Atlantic.

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Boutique

101 small hotels in 33 towns. In Franschhoek, where our seven average 9.3/10, I would sleep in the village rather than on a farm: the Wine Tram leaves from Main Road and Cabrière Street, so the car stays parked after the tastings.

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Budget

Seven simple guesthouses and farm stays rather than chain hotels: two in Moruleng, 3 km from the Pilanesberg's Bakgatla Gate, two in St Helena Bay on the West Coast, two farms near Tulbagh and Wolseley and a country lodge near Oudtshoorn.

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Bush & tented camp

Canvas tents and bush camps close to the wildlife.

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City centre

19 stays in 9 towns, not all of them downtown. In Cape Town I would sleep in the City Bowl itself: Taj Cape Town stands on Wale Street at the corner of the St George's Mall pedestrian street, and SunSquare City Bowl is on Buitengracht Street, beside the Bo-Kaap.

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Eco-lodge

Low-impact lodges set deep in nature.

3 destinations →

Family-friendly

354 family stays in 53 towns. For a first safari with children I would pick Bakubung Bush Lodge in the Pilanesberg, whose rangers run a kids-only drive for ages 4 to 12; for the coast, Hermanus, where the 12 km Cliff Path is a whale walk from June to November.

41 destinations →

Game reserve (Big Five)

None of these five stays is inside a reserve: they are town hotels. The one that works as a Kruger base is in Mbombela (Nelspruit), about 50 km from Numbi Gate via White River and the R538; for a lodge inside Big Five country, I would look at the Pilanesberg.

4 destinations →

Golf resort

Stay on the estate, not a drive from the first tee: at Fancourt in George, The Links, one of three Gary Player-designed courses, is a members' club that releases limited tee times only to Fancourt Hotel and Manor House guests.

40 destinations →

Guesthouse & B&B

55 guesthouses and B&Bs in 16 towns. Eleven are in Moruleng, the Bakgatla village 3 km from the Pilanesberg's Bakgatla Gate, the base I would choose for early game drives; on the West Coast, the nine in St Helena Bay average 9.5/10.

15 destinations →

Heritage

46 Cape Dutch manors, Victorian houses and old inns in 21 towns, nine of them in Stellenbosch, where I would start with Oude Werf: an inn since 1802 on the site of the town's first church, whose old foundations lie under the restaurant.

19 destinations →

Honeymoon & romantic

Romantic stays in 54 South African towns; I would pair the Franschhoek wine valley, where our 24 hotels average 9.2/10, with Ballito, whose Indian Ocean is warm enough to swim in, unlike Cape Town's Atlantic.

47 destinations →

Luxury lodge

74 high-end stays in 26 towns, mostly city and Winelands hotels such as the Mount Nelson in Cape Town. For a true bush lodge I would book Ivory Tree Game Lodge, on a private concession inside the malaria-free Pilanesberg, near Bakgatla Gate.

23 destinations →

Mountain view

71 stays facing peaks in 19 towns, 23 of them in Cape Town, where they average 9.3/10. Watch Table Mountain from the room before buying cableway tickets: the cars stop when the wind picks up on top, 60 to 90 days a year.

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Ocean view

52 sea-view stays in 12 coastal towns. Seven are in Hermanus, where I would want the view most: from June to November southern right whales calve in Walker Bay close to shore. In Ballito, our six average 9.0/10.

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Pet-friendly

29 stays that take pets, almost all farms and cottages: ten around Tulbagh and Wolseley, nine near Oudtshoorn, seven on the West Coast at St Helena Bay. Plan the route around SANParks: no pets are allowed in any national park.

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Pool

468 stays with a pool in 52 towns; in Cape Town I would insist on one, because the summer south-easter pulls cold water up onto Camps Bay and Clifton, and the 25 Cape Town pool hotels here average 9.3/10.

44 destinations →

Safari lodge

Nine lodges, none inside Kruger. I would start with the three in the Pilanesberg: Big Five country, malaria-free and two hours from Johannesburg. The two in Phalaborwa sit in the town at Kruger's Phalaborwa Gate, in a malaria area.

6 destinations →

Self-catering

100 apartments, aparthotels and cottages with a kitchen in 35 towns; in Pretoria I would take one of the four in Menlyn Maine, a walk from the Menlyn Park shopping centre, and in Cape Town our five average 9.4/10.

33 destinations →

Spa & wellness

442 stays with a spa across 53 towns: Durban and Umhlanga lead KwaZulu-Natal with 37, while near Cape Town I would book the spa night in Franschhoek, whose 24 spa hotels average 9.2/10, so nobody drives after the tastings.

50 destinations →

Treehouse Lodge

Elevated treehouse suites in the treetop canopy of the bush.

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Vineyard Retreat

Stays on wine estates in the Cape Winelands with tasting experiences.

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Wine estate

39 stays in wine country, though not all sleep you among the vines. In Franschhoek I would pick a working farm such as Leeu Estates, whose cottages stand in its vineyards, or Mont Rochelle, and leave village hotels like Akademie Street to those who want to walk to dinner.

8 destinations →

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