12 Day Garden Route & Route 62 Motorcycle Tour South Africa

South Africa has a way of getting under a rider’s skin. It might be the first time you crest a mountain pass and the valley opens up below you, or when the road narrows along a cliff edge above the Atlantic and there’s nothing between you and the ocean but wind. Either way, you don’t forget it.

The 12-Day Garden Route & Route 62 Motorcycle Tour from GS Africa was built for riders who want to feel all of that — not just a taste of it. Across twelve days, you’ll thread through the Cape Peninsula, dip to the southernmost tip of Africa, cut inland through the Little Karoo, chase the Garden Route to its wild eastern edge, and then loop back through wine country with the kind of riding in between that makes this country famous.

Two thousand one hundred and thirty-four kilometres. One extraordinary country. This is what South Africa looks like from the saddle.

What Is the 12-Day Garden Route & Route 62 Tour?

The 12-Day Garden Route & Route 62 Tour is a fully guided, all-inclusive motorcycle tour through South Africa’s Western and Eastern Cape regions. It covers approximately 2,134 km (1,326 miles) across twelve days and nights, rated 2 out of 5 for ride difficulty — mostly paved roads with some dirt sections. Groups are capped at 12 riders, with a full support vehicle, luggage transport, and a driver/sweeper included throughout.

Wildlife experiences at Addo Elephant National Park and a private safari reserve are built into the itinerary — not as optional extras, but as core moments in the journey.

Why This Tour Works So Well

Most South African motorcycle tours pick a lane: coastal routes, wine country, the Karoo, or the Eastern Cape. This one doesn’t have to choose, and that’s exactly what makes it worth 12 days of your life.

You start in Cape Town — one of the world’s great riding cities — and the route immediately earns its keep. Chapman’s Peak Drive on day one is the kind of road that makes international riders wonder why they waited so long to come here. From there, every day adds a new texture: ocean cliffs, penguin colonies, South Africa’s southernmost point, forest corridors, lagoon towns, elephant country, wide open Karoo, and vineyards stretching to mountain slopes.

The logistics are sorted so you don’t have to think about them. Accommodation, luggage, fuel stops, planning — it’s all handled. The only decision you need to make each morning is whether you want to ride in front or hang back and let the landscape come to you.

At a Glance

• 12 days / 12 nights (excluding departure day)
• 2,134 km / 1,326 miles total distance
• Ride grade: 2/5 — suitable for experienced road riders
• Maximum 12 riders per group
• Support vehicle, driver/sweeper, and luggage transport included
• Pillion-friendly: passengers can ride or travel in the support vehicle
• Includes Addo Elephant National Park and private game reserve safari
• Recommended seasons: Spring, Summer, and Autumn

The Route: Day by Day Highlights

Cape Town & Chapman’s Peak

The tour launches from Cape Town and gets to business quickly. Chapman’s Peak Drive — carved into the cliffs between Hout Bay and Noordhoek — is the kind of road that stops conversations. There are 114 curves in roughly 9 kilometres, with the Atlantic dropping away to your left. If you need a moment to pull over and stare, take it. Everyone does.

Cape Point, Boulders Beach & Hermanus

The Cape Peninsula delivers back-to-back highlights early. Cape Point Nature Reserve sits at the dramatic meeting of two oceans at the tip of the Peninsula, while Boulders Beach gives you one of the only places on earth where you can share a shoreline with a colony of African penguins. From there, the route heads east to the coastal town of Hermanus — one of the best land-based whale-watching spots on the planet, and a fine place to end a day’s ride.

Cape Agulhas & Arniston

This is the moment on the tour that tends to stick with people. Cape Agulhas is the official southernmost tip of Africa — not Cape Point, despite what many assume — and standing there with your bike in the background is a genuinely memorable way to mark the moment. Arniston, a short ride further along the coast, offers some of the most dramatic raw coastline in the Western Cape, with whitewashed fishing cottages that look like they’ve barely changed in a century.

The Garden Route: Knysna & Tsitsikamma

When the route reaches the Garden Route, the mood shifts entirely. The air is thicker, greener, and the passes cut through forests and mountains rather than open farmland. Knysna is the heart of it — a town built around a lagoon, with one of the most recognisable harbour heads in South Africa. A lagoon cruise here is one of those experiences that’s hard to explain until you’ve done it.

Tsitsikamma adds another layer: ancient forest, dramatic sea cliffs, and the famous Storms River Mouth. For riders who want to add a bungee jump over the Bloukrans Bridge — the highest commercial bungee in the world — this is the section where that happens.

Addo Elephant National Park & Private Safari

This is where the tour separates itself from a purely riding-focused itinerary. Addo Elephant National Park is home to one of the densest elephant populations on earth, and exploring it in a safari vehicle gives the trip a completely different energy. It’s a reminder that South Africa isn’t just about roads — the wildlife is part of the country’s character too. An additional private game reserve experience rounds out this section before the route turns back west.

Route 62 & the Little Karoo

If the Garden Route is South Africa’s green corridor, Route 62 is its soul. This is inland riding at its finest: wide open road, Karoo light that photographers obsess over, the Swartberg Mountains forming a dramatic backdrop, and the ostrich farms and wine estates of Oudtshoorn adding character you won’t find anywhere else. Route 62 is widely regarded as one of the most rewarding inland motorcycle routes in Southern Africa, and riding it with good weather and a small group is hard to beat.

Cape Winelands

The return to Cape Town winds through wine country — Franschhoek, Stellenbosch, Paarl — where mountain passes and vineyard lanes make for some unexpectedly good riding. Arriving back into the city with the Winelands in your recent memory is a satisfying way to close the loop.

Who Is This Tour Built For?

This tour is well matched for:

• International riders making a once-in-a-decade trip to South Africa who want one itinerary that does justice to the country’s best riding regions
• Couples and pillions who want the option of a support vehicle rather than the back of a bike every day
• BMW GS and Harley-Davidson touring riders who prefer structured journeys with premium planning and high-comfort accommodation
• Riders who value non-riding moments — the wildlife, the wine estates, the coastal scenery — as much as the kilometres covered
• Anyone who’s done the Cape Peninsula before and wants to push further and deeper into South Africa’s south

This is not a tour for riders who want to cover maximum distance with minimum stops. The rhythm is deliberate. There’s time to explore, time to eat well, and time to sit with the scenery rather than race past it.

How This Tour Fits Into the GS Africa Range

If 12 days isn’t quite right, GS Africa has options on either side.

The 9-Day Garden Route 62 Tour covers a tighter version of the same region — ideal if you’re working with limited leave or want a first proper taste of South African riding before committing to a longer trip.

For riders who want to push further north and cross a border, the 15-Day Cape Town to Namibia Guided Motorcycle Tour takes you into the Namib Desert and along some of the most remote roads on the continent.

The most ambitious option in the range is the 19-Day Johannesburg to Cape Town Guided Tour — a proper big-country traverse that ends with a triumphant arrival in the Mother City.

Riders who prefer to move at their own pace can browse self-guided motorcycle tours — including the popular 7-Day Garden Route Tour and the 12-Day Self-Guided Garden Route 62 Tour. Those who want the peace of mind that comes with full support and hosted guiding can explore the complete guided motorcycle tours collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Ride South Africa’s Most Complete Route?

The roads are there. The route is ready. The question is whether you’re going to keep looking at it on a screen or actually go ride it.

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