Bloukrans Bridge Viewpoint (Garden Route)
South Africascenic

Garden Route

Forests, lagoons and the Outeniqua mountains between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth

Distance
512 mi
824 km
Driving
10 hr 48 min
excl. stops
Suggested
6 days
balanced split
Stops
7
curated

Distance and driving time are measured along the mapped route through the 7 stops listed below. Officially signed versions of famous routes often quote a longer figure, since they include promoted detours this line doesn't take.

Bloukrans Bridge Viewpoint (Garden Route) · Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Day by day

Distances are measured along the actual road geometry, not straight-line. Drive times exclude stops, traffic and ferry waits.

What the drive is like

Most of it is one road: the N2 carries 81% of the distance.

It never gets very high, around 445 m at most near Somerset West, but it's rarely flat: something like 2,604 m of climbing over the whole drive, much of it short and steep.

The bigger places on the way are Somerset West, Botrivier, Stanford and Riviersonderend, handy for fuel and food between the stops.

The N1/N4 Cape Town to Kruger is 0 km off the route if you have time for a detour.

  • N281%
  • R436%
  • R3266%

How high it goes

~445 m near Somerset WestCape TownGqeberha (Port Elizabeth) · 819 km
Height above sea level along the driving route, measured at about 50 points. Total climb roughly 2,604 m.

Passes and famous roads

From the 500-plus roads drivers collect in the Plan Your Road Trips app.

Famous road · 0 km off the route

N1/N4 Cape Town to Kruger

Mountain pass · 13 km off the route

Outeniqua Pass

Before you go

Best time to drive it

October to April

Open all year, with a mild climate. Summer (December to February) is warmest and busiest; whale-watching season runs roughly June to November.

Driving rules

Emission zones, mandatory equipment and licence requirements change country by country, and in 2026 several of them changed mid-year.

Every stop on the Garden Route

  1. Cape Town

    Start

  2. Hermanus

    +118 km from the last stop

  3. Mossel Bay

    +313 km from the last stop

  4. Knysna

    +106 km from the last stop

  5. Plettenberg Bay

    +33 km from the last stop

  6. Tsitsikamma

    +65 km from the last stop

  7. Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)

    +184 km from the last stop

Worth a detour

Curated places within 25 km of the road.

Show 6 more

  • Chapman's Peak Viewpoint

    scenic viewpoint

    A series of pull-offs on one of the world's most scenic coastal drives, hugging the cliffs between Hout Bay and Noordhoek near Cape Town.

  • Bloukrans Bridge Viewpoint (Garden Route)

    scenic viewpoint

    Africa's highest bridge spanning 216 metres above the Bloukrans River gorge on South Africa's Garden Route, also home to the world's highest bungee jump.

  • Robben Island

    landmark

    Former political prison island off Cape Town where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years, now a UNESCO museum.

  • N1/N4 Cape Town to Kruger

    famous road

    South Africa's grand traverse from the Cape Winelands across the Karoo to Kruger National Park and its Big Five wildlife.

  • Chapman's Peak Drive

    coastal drive

    A breathtaking 9-kilometer toll road carved into the near-vertical face of Chapman's Peak between Hout Bay and Noordhoek.

  • Garden Route

    coastal drive

    A 300-kilometer stretch along South Africa's southeastern coast through forests, lagoons, and charming seaside towns.

Common questions about the Garden Route

How long does the Garden Route take?

The driving itself is about 10 hr 48 min across 512 miles (824 km). Most people spread it over 6 days: the day-by-day breakdown on this page splits it into balanced stretches rather than equal ones, so no single day is all driving.

How many miles is the Garden Route?

512 miles, or 824 km, measured along the actual road rather than straight-line between towns.

When is the best time to drive the Garden Route?

October to April. Open all year, with a mild climate. Summer (December to February) is warmest and busiest; whale-watching season runs roughly June to November.

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