The Garden Route is a combination of long, deserted beaches and tranquil lagoons, lush green forests and mountain ranges.  Stretching from the Slang River near Heidelberg to the Tsitsikamma Forest and Storms River, the Garden Route is a narrow temperate zone, wedged between the mountains and the sea.

Swellendam, the third oldest city, lies 222 km from Cape Town and has a rich historical heritage.  The Drostdy, built in 1746, has a unique collection of Cape antiques and is open daily.  The Bontebok National Park, 6 km out of town, is a sanctuary for the bontebok and many other antelope species.  Witsand is situated at the mouth of the Breede River.  The estuary fishing is amongst the best in South Africa.  Between May and November each year, the southern right whales arrive in St Sebastian Bay to mate and calve.  The coastal region between Witsand and Mossel Bay offers some of the world's best land-based whale-watching and is also an important breeding ground the rare blue crane and the African oystercatcher.  Riversdale has the Julius Gordon Africana Museum which contains antique furniture and paintings.  The Werner Frehse Nature Reserve is on the outskirts of the town.  Stilbaai offers a safe and placid coastline, a navigable river and many natural springs.  The peaceful village of Albertinia, at the foothills of the Langeberg Mountains, is the "home of the aloe" and is surrounded by fine examples of Cape fynbos.  Nearby attractions include the Aloe factories, bridge bungi-jumping, Rein's Coastal Nature Reserve and the Garden Route Game Lodge.

Mossel Bay is where some of the first Europeans landed in Southern Africa nearly 500 years ago.  Places of interest include the Milkwood tree - the first "Post Office" in South Africa, the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex, which houses the Dias Caravelle, a replica of Bartolomeu Dias's ship, the Sea-Shell Museum, the Hartenbos Museum, the Harry Giddey Park, and the Cape St Blaize Cave.  The Point, at the tip of Cape St Blaize, is an ideal location to view whales, dolphins and seals at play or swim in a safe tidal pool.  The St Blaize hiking trail is 13.5 km along rugged cliffs with spectacular views.  The town also offers an indigenous garden and braille trail, where a fynbos garden can be observed, touched and smelt.  Seal Island in the bay is the home of countless seals.  George, 443 km from Cape Town, established in 1811 and the centre of the Garden Route, is surrounded by seaside resorts - Glentana, Herolds Bay, Victoria Bay, Wilderness Lagoon, the upper and lower Langvlei, the Rondevlei and the Swartvlei Lagoon.  Attractions include the Gary Player-designed Fancourt golf-courses, the George Golf Course, and the Outeniqua Railway museum.

Wilderness is an eco-tourist's paradise in the heart of the Garden Route.  Nestling between the warm Indian Ocean and the Outeniqua Mountains, the village forms the gateway to the Wilderness Lakes National Park, which is well known for its scenic beauty and abundance of birdlife.  There are a wide range of outdoor activities in the area, including walks on the beach, gentle hikes in indigenous forest, canoeing on the lagoon or even paragliding and abseiling.

Knysna, founded by George Rex, reputedly the son of George III of England, is situated on the northern side of Knysna lagoon.  At one time a flourishing port, it is now a restful holiday resort.  The Heads are an impressive rocky outcrop where the lagoon enters the sea.  Day excursions from Knysna include:  Goukamma Nature Reserve and Buffalo Bay, 22 km - Upper Lagoon, Old Road and Phantom Pass 30 km - Brenton-on-sea and Belvidere Estate 30 km - Main Forest, King Edward's Tree, the Glen, Buffel's Nek, Paardekop, View Site, Wittedrift, Keurbooms River and Plettenberg Bay, Bracken Hill Falls (11 km) and the Garden of Eden where the trees are marked with identification labels, 16 km from Knysna.  The Harkerville Mountain biking trail is one of the best in the country.  Attractions include Featherbed Nature Reserve, Sparrebosch Golf Estate on top of the eastern Head, the castles at Noetzie and oysters at the Knysna Oyster Company.

In Plettenberg Bay, Autumn lasts until July and it has been well named " A Bay for All Seasons". It is one of South Africa's top holiday resorts and for artists and photographers the subject-matter is endless.  From Plettenberg Bay trips can be made to Robberg Nature Reserve, Kranshoek, Pheasant Hoek, the Garden of Eden, Bracken Hill Falls, Noetzie (which has real "castles"), George Rex's grave, the Keurboom River, Keurboomstrand, Arch Rock and Natures Valley.  The Keurbooms River, 6 km from Plettenberg Bay, is navigable and runs through densely wooded hills.  The small holiday resort of Keurboomstrand is known for its fishing, swimming and scenic walks.  Natures Valley is a peaceful haven where the Grootriver forms a lagoon.  The N2 passes through the Tsitsikamma forest and over the Storms River, spanned by the Paul Sauer Bridge.  The Garden Route is an adventure tourist's mecca, and offers paragliding and hang-gliding, bungi jumping, surfing, mountain biking, canoeing, sea-kayaking, abseiling, caving and numerous watersports.