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Welcome to The Garden Route

The Garden Route? Yes, we understand that the name suggests the presence of beautiful, man-made gardens, and yes, there are fine, man-made gardens on the Cape’s southern coast – the area we call the Garden Route. But we have to admit – very few of them are open to the public.

So why do we call the area between Stilbaai and Tsitsikamma ‘The Garden Route’?

It’s simple – it’s because this is Africa’s Garden.

Visit the Old Post Office Tree Square

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This continent of vast deserts and wide open plains boasts only one, small, unique region where the rain falls throughout the year: the Garden Route. A region where the climate is warm and the days are sunny and usually wind-free (incredibly, the Garden Route receives most of its rain during the night!).

The Garden Route is an important part of the Cape Floral Kingdom - the smallest of the world’s six floral kingdoms and the only floral kingdom that is completely confined within the borders of a single country. Here, in a narrow coastal strip that’s never more than about 100 km wide, you’ll find more than 6500 species of indigenous plants – many of which (like the gladiolus and pelargonium) have provided the basis for vast, international horticultural industries.

And finally: this region boasts South Africa’s biggest montane forest complex, and it is a region of spectacular mountains, placid lakes and endless sandy-white beaches.

Put all these ingredients together and you have the picture – this is Nature’s Garden.

So a visit to the Southern Cape isn’t a visit to a number of man-made gardens: it is a visit to the natural paradise that is Africa’s Eden.

Or, more popularly: the Garden Route.