The Garden Route
There's an endless list of activities available to enjoy during a stay here, from hiking and whale watching to long beach walks.
The Garden Route is bursting with plant life and brimming with wildlife. There are countless nature reserves to wander through, with shady forest trails to waterfalls and coastal paths from hidden beaches to stunning cliff top viewpoints. If you’re a lover of the Great Outdoors, you’ll be smitten with the Garden Route in no time. Travelling along the Garden Route is a beautiful journey with waterfalls, lagoons, forests, beaches with dolphins playing in the breaking waves, and mountains unfolding before your eyes at every turn of the road.
The Forests
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We consider our indigenous forests to be a precious national treasure.
A wondrous combination of world-class beaches, iridescent lagoons and indigenous forests
Walking through the indigenous forest, you’ll feel its uniqueness: this area has a spirit of its own that whispers to you, that beckons with secrets spread by the elephants and leopards, Knysna loeries and Narina Trogons that live and thrive in its dark and dappled shade.
The forests of Knysna, with their giant yellowwood trees, abundance of birdlife, and elusive elephants, hold a magical appeal for travellers. Enchanting walkers, cyclists, 4×4 enthusiasts, birders, and families, many visitors travel to the Garden Route to experience their ethereal beauty.
The forests today are home to some magnificent sites including 850-year-old yellowwoods.
There are also several elephants living secretly in the depths of the Knysna forests.
The Knysna elephants are thus the most southerly free roaming elephants on the African continent and they have managed to survive and, to a small extent, recover from the most heinous of persecutions.They share the forest with other secretive creatures like caracal, leopard, genet cat, porcupine, honey-badger and bush-pig, Baboons and monkeys, and the shy but fierce bushbuck.
The Beaches
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The stunning beaches along the Garden Route are some of the finest in the world and are also one of the major draw cards for visitors. The warm waters of the Indian Ocean and kilometres of pristine sands invite sunbathers and swimmers to soak up the sun and enjoy the shimmering waters. Whether it's an incredible surf session or stunning seaside scenery that you crave, look no further than the Garden Route.