How to Combine Cape Town and a Kruger Safari

How to get from Cape Town to the Kruger

Fly. Driving is almost 2,000 km each way and takes two long days.

Fly into	From Cape Town	Best for
Hoedspruit Eastgate (HDS)	Direct: Airlink, and FlySafair since October 2025. About 2.5 hours.	Hoedspruit, Kapama, Thornybush, Timbavati, Klaserie, Balule and Orpen Gate
Kruger Mpumalanga International (MQP), near Mbombela	Direct: Airlink and FlySafair	Southern Kruger, Hazyview and the Panorama Route from the south
Skukuza (SZK), inside Kruger	Direct: Airlink, about one flight a day	Skukuza and the Sabi Sand
Via Johannesburg (JNB)	Fly to Johannesburg, then about an hour to Hoedspruit	When the direct flight is full, or you fly in from overseas through Johannesburg

FlySafair started its Cape Town to Hoedspruit route on 2 October 2025, three times a week at launch, and CemAir also flies to Hoedspruit. Phalaborwa airport has had no scheduled flights since 2020, so ignore old advice that sends you there. Schedules change by season, so check the airline for your dates.

Cape Town first, or Kruger first?

Either works. If your long-haul flight lands in Johannesburg, start with the safari (a one-hour hop to Hoedspruit) and finish in Cape Town, which is the easier place to unwind before the flight home. If you land in Cape Town, do it the other way round and fly home from Johannesburg. Ask your airline for an open-jaw ticket: in to one city, out of the other.

How many days do you need?

Trip	Cape Town	Hoedspruit and the Kruger	Who it suits
7 days	3 nights	3 nights	A first taste of both
10 days	4 nights	5 nights	The best balance for most people
14 days	5 nights	8 nights	Time for the winelands, a private reserve, the Kruger and the Panorama Route

Do not go under three nights on safari. Game drives run at dawn and late afternoon, so two nights gives you only three or four drives, and the first is often spent getting your eye in.

The best time to combine Cape Town and the Kruger

Months	Cape Town	Hoedspruit and the Kruger
September and October	Spring: mild, greener, fewer crowds	End of the dry season: thin bush, animals at water, the best game viewing of the year
November to March	Summer: hot, dry and busy, the classic beach season	Green season: hot, with afternoon storms, baby animals, migrant birds, often better lodge rates
April and May	Autumn: settled and calm	The bush starts to dry and game viewing improves through May
June to August	Winter: cool and wet, quieter and cheaper	Dry winter: mild sunny days, cold early mornings, excellent game viewing

September and October are the best all-round months. If you only care about the safari, come between May and October. For more on the bush side, see the best time to visit the Kruger and our Hoedspruit weather page.

Sample plans

7 days: the short version

• Days 1 to 3, Cape Town: Table Mountain (the cableway runs when the weather allows), a day down the Cape Peninsula to Cape Point and the penguins at Boulders Beach, an evening at the V&A Waterfront.
• Day 4: fly Cape Town to Hoedspruit and transfer to your lodge in time for the afternoon drive.
• Days 5 and 6, the Greater Kruger: morning and evening game drives in a private reserve, or one day in the Kruger National Park on our Full Day Kruger Safari.
• Day 7: a last morning drive, then fly home through Johannesburg.

10 days: our pick for most people

• Days 1 to 4, Cape Town: as above, plus a day in the Winelands.
• Day 5: fly to Hoedspruit.
• Days 5 to 7: two nights at a lodge in a private reserve such as Kapama, Thornybush or the Timbavati, with all your game drives.
• Days 7 to 10: three nights in Hoedspruit: a Kruger day, the Panorama Route, a boat cruise in the Blyde River Canyon and, if you are up early, a hot air balloon flight.

14 days: the full picture

• Days 1 to 5, Cape Town and around: the city, the peninsula and the Winelands, with a day to Hermanus from June to November, when southern right whales come into Walker Bay.
• Day 6: fly to Hoedspruit.
• Days 6 to 9: three nights in a private reserve lodge.
• Days 9 to 13: four nights in Hoedspruit with a Kruger day, the Panorama Route, the endangered species and rehabilitation centres, and an elephant morning at Jabulani; or one night inside the Kruger at a rest camp such as Satara.
• Day 14: fly home through Johannesburg.

What does it cost?

The safari half decides most of the budget. A night in a private reserve lodge with meals and game drives costs several times a night in a guesthouse or self-catering house in Hoedspruit with drives booked separately. As a guide, these are the bands our trip planner uses, per person for the whole trip, without international flights:

• Under R25,000: guesthouses and self-catering in Hoedspruit and mid-range Cape Town, shared game drives, a Kruger day trip.
• R25,000 to R50,000: two or three nights in a private reserve lodge with all meals and drives, the rest in Hoedspruit, comfortable Cape Town hotels.
• Over R50,000: luxury lodges in the private reserves, private guiding and vehicles, top Cape Town hotels.

Add the domestic flights and the SANParks conservation fee for any day in the Kruger National Park (R602 per international adult per day until 31 October 2026). We price your dates for you; nothing is charged when you ask.

Health and safety

Cape Town has no malaria. The Kruger and Hoedspruit are in South Africa's seasonal malaria area: South Africa's Department of Health advises tablets from September to May and avoiding bites all year, while the US CDC advises tablets all year. See a travel clinic before you go. If you are arriving from a yellow fever country, you need the certificate.

Let us plan it

Tell us how many days you have, when you are coming and what you would like to see, using Plan my trip at the top of our itineraries page, and the team will put the whole route together around the flights. We book the safari half for you: the lodges and places to stay, game drives, the Kruger day and the airport transfer from Eastgate. For Cape Town we suggest how long to stay and where, and fit it to your dates. If you would rather put the days together yourself, build your trip and send it to us.

Flights checked on 5 October 2026 against airline route listings and launch reports; malaria advice from the South African Department of Health and the US CDC.