Honeymoon to South Africa

r.mac_2

Hello - looking fro some guidance:rolleyes:

I am getting married in December and we want to go to South Africa on Honeymoon. We would like to go to Capetown, travel the garden route (probably by car hire) and do some wine tasting, see the whales in Hermanus (hopefully if they are still there at that time of year) and go on safari. If we could squeeze it in (time and cost), we would love to then have a few days on a beach somewhere on the coast like mozambique or kenya.

As its our honeymoon we would like a little bit of luxury - but this doesn't have to be for the full trip. Also, we aren't bothered about flights upgrades - we would rather put that towards the spending money pot!!! Budget wise we are flaxible - obviously the less the better. We have £5,000 to include spending money. Wedding is on 8th Dec and we don't have to be back from christmas or new year

Anyway - my questions are;

am I better to book everything individually myself or use a travel agent?

If I do it - is it a good idea to mention we are honeymooning?

can anyone recommend specific hotels they have used - best place for safari, best quiet beach places that don't cost the earth etc?

any tips for websites to look at. I ahve a pile of brochures to look at possible itinery's and hotels etc - prices seem to vary enormously.

re safari, are we best to go somewhere that includes costs of food and game drives up front?

sorry - so many questions in one post.:o Basically any guidance is apreciated. :rotfl: Thanks

richardw

https://www.klm.com fly from Edinburgh EDI to Cape Town CPT via Amsterdam AMS, which is an alternative to going via Heathrow.

Sam_Bee

If you're going in December, i would recommend you get your backside moving quickly! A lot of flights & accommodation along the Garden Route will be filling up, especially if your December date includes Xmas & NY. And this is your trip of a honeymoon!

My suggestion is to get a reputed specialist company (Rainbow Tours won the Observer / Guardian Tour Operator of the year for the past 3 years running http://www.rainbowtours.co.uk - try them) to put together an itinerary, holding flights if possible. Go in and see them (or someone similar) if possible to talk through the options if you prefer that.

You can then see if you can book it cheaper and quicker independently if you wish. If not....

P.S I always get accused of working for any company I recommend, so i'd like to emphasise, I don't work for them

r.mac_2

thats a great start will get onto it right away - thanks guys

keep it coming

Party_Animal

We did this over the millennium. We flew to Cape Town and drove to Durban via Garden route and Transvaal, then flew back to Cape Town and did the wineries at Paarl and Stellenbosh etc. Its a great trip but I think you've missed the whales. We stayed in a really nice hotel in Port Edward. I'll look up the name for you. Knysna is a good stop too.

r.mac_2

Party_Animal wrote: »

We did this over the millennium. We flew to Cape Town and drove to Durban via Garden route and Transvaal, then flew back to Cape Town and did the wineries at Paarl and Stellenbosh etc. Its a great trip but I think you've missed the whales. We stayed in a really nice hotel in Port Edward. I'll look up the name for you. Knysna is a good stop too.

Oooh the details of your hotel would be great - thanks.

Having looked all afternoon I think our best plan may be to fly into port elizabeth, do safari things, travel down towards cape town (taking our time), then spend a little time in Cape town and surrounding area before flying home.

Think you are right we will ahve missed the whales - but never mind its an excuse to return another time

KLM seem reasonable so want to press on quickly before prices rise any more.

Any more tips or must do sights/places/experiences??

piggy73

Hi

The pound goes a long way when in S.A so you will get excellent accommodation in S.A compared to what you would pay in the UK & eating out is very reasonable.

I actually got married in S.A - We liked the idea of being able to get married wherever we wanted (a cottage in a forest) and didn't want a big fuss.

For our flights (regional KLM departure)we booked through expedia. If you include one nights accommodation in your booking it usually works out cheaper than just booking the flight.

Accommodation prices for Christmas/New Year at some places in the Garden route (e.g Knysna) tend to be incredibly inflated - so that is something to be aware of.

If you like the idea of s/c in the middle of a forest check out the Blue Moon Cottage http://www.lazyleopard.co.za/

This place in Calitzdorp was also great (fantastic food)& a visa machine :-) The very small town has several wineries with free wine/port tasting. http://www.roseofthekaroo.co.za/

For car hire - Avis always seem to have an international visitors special. See
https://www.avis.co.za

For accommodation http://www.sa-venues.com/ and
http://www.gardenroute.com/ The latter also has a useful forum.

If you are booking accommodation yourself then a lot of businesses ask for a 50% deposit & not everyone has visa facilities so you could incur bank charges. However we have travelled around S.A & had no trouble booking accommodation as we travelled - you just have to ensure your dates don't hit the S.A school holidays.

Have a great trip

PJ

r.mac_2

piggie thanks so much for those links - they look great. Always great to have some personal recommendations as well.

really appreciate it x

Party_Animal

The elephant Park at Addo near PE is worth a trip too.

Crabman

Celebrate in style
If you're celebrating a special occasion like your honeymoon always let the staff know. A good tip is to take your marriage certificate with you so you can prove it. You never know, you may get lucky!

- Martin's Article: How to Get a Flight Upgrade

Why not try for a flight upgrade! :T :beer:

meluca

Myself, Hubby(SA) and kids went to capetown in Feb, we flew with virgin - they were excellent, stayed at the Park Inn Greenmarket Square - staff were friendly and polite, nothing was too much trouble, food was great, hotel was comfortable and very clean, there was a c*ck up with the transfer from airport to hotel ( not enough room on minibus for us all) but the rep was great and arranged a private transfer for us.This was all booked via a travel agent but when we go back i will probably try and arrange it all myself.The Protea President Hotel is a nice hotel and very reasonable too.

Things to Do -:

Table Mountain
Robben Island
Butterfly World
World of Birds
Museums/Planetarium
Cape Point
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
Boulders Beach (penguins)
Diamond Cutting Workshop
Township Tour
Helicopter Flight

Most of the above things can be arranged for half/full day tours aswell as tours to the wine route, peninsula and cape of good hope and cape town safaris, we did a couple of tours and used https://www.daytours.co.za
Best beach has got to be camps bay and the open air pool at sea point is worth a visit to.
Congrats with the wedding, good luck with planning your honeymoon and enjoy south africa.:D