World's cheapest long haul holiday is perfect for families – with no jet lag, jaw-dropping animals and perfect beaches

The Irish Sun

16-05-2025

HEADING back along the dusty track towards our cottage, we gaze at the darkening sky, so clear it's littered with twinkling stars.
Suddenly, a rustle in the bushes ahead makes us stop still.
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Camps Bay suburb feels like a cross between Cannes and a fancy California town, with its white sandy beach, backdrop of Table Mountain and restaurants lining the beach
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To sample some of Cape Town's finest bottles, we headed to the historic town of Stellenbosch, set among the vineyards of the Cape Winelands
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The Cape Town waterfront
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Two beady eyes emerge, followed by a set of stripey legs slowly plodding on to the trail in front of us. 'There are some zebras on the path,' my partner whispers.
Not your usual walk home, but that's South
Africa
for you.
This is a country so packed with wildlife that it is not uncommon to see exotic creatures such as baboons and ostriches feeding at the side of the road, or taking an evening stroll in front of your hotel room.
Luckily, zebras are a gentle breed and the ones we encountered seemed entirely disinterested as we weaved around them to our cottage.
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It was a typical evening on our two-week road trip through
We flew on Norse Atlantic Airways, the affordable airline whose budget prices meant we could fly Premium Economy on our overnight flight and stand a decent chance of getting some sleep.
Everything in Cape Town is so accessible that we landed at 8.30am, got our hire car, checked into the hotel and were on the glorious Camps Bay beach in swimsuits by 11.30am.
Camps Bay suburb feels like a cross between Cannes and a fancy California town, with its white sandy beach, backdrop of Table Mountain and smart restaurants lining the beachfront.
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Seals swimming
Better still, the one-hour time difference meant we had no jet lag, so we could get stuck in straight away without the need to sleep it off.
The famous mountain was the first adventure spot on our list. And it made for a great family day out thanks to the rotating gondolas that slowly spin to offer panoramic views on the ascent to the top.
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You will also see plenty of cute dassies (a type of large rabbit, native to these parts) that can be spotted scurrying across the rocky landscapes or munching on
plants
.
Once there, the flatness of the peak meant there was a vast area to explore, with circular two-hour hikes across the top.
Easter is a great time to visit, because that's Cape Town's autumn, meaning it is relatively crowd-free at this time, with 20C to 29C temperatures.
The
next
stop on our road adventure was Kalk Bay, a cute little boho town where ramshackle restaurants and hippy boutiques line the seafront.
At the town's upmarket Harbour House restaurant, we dined on seafood and good wine for the price of a Pizza Hut meal in the UK — all while watching seals swimming in the harbour.
Our accommodation was the charming Chartfield Guesthouse, staying in a huge two-bedroom apartment. It was bigger than my house back home, and cost only £94 a night.
Kalk Bay is a prime spot for visiting the endangered African penguins of neighbouring Simonstown.
There must have been around 100 on the town's shoreline, Boulders Beach, when we visited, swimming in the sea, waddling about or protecting their nests.
That wasn't our only wildlife encounter in the area, though.
Kalk Bay is also close to the 17,300-acre Cape Point Nature Reserve, with its sweeping ocean views and 200ft cliffs, where we spotted ostriches and baboons, among other creatures.
Aside from its excellent wildlife, Cape Town is known for one thing: Wine.
To sample some of its finest bottles, we headed to the historic town of Stellenbosch, set among the vineyards of the Cape Winelands.
Here, we checked into the
Evergreen
Manor and Spa, a quaint property that felt like the home from the Anne Of Green Gables novel, and an outdoor
pool
to relax in after a day's wine tasting.
Stellenbosch is the perfect base for exploring the region's family- friendly vineyards.
We saw whales, sharks, dolphins, penguins and seals on our morning at sea, with our favourites being the bronze whaler shark and colony of Cape fur seals.
At the Warwick Wine Estate, we relaxed on the lawn with a gourmet picnic, while my boy was more than content in the playground and water fountain.
Another brilliant spot for the whole family was Soetmelksvlei, an immersive farming experience that recreates an 1800s farm, on the grounds of the Babylonstoren wine estate.
We sat at the kitchen table of the manor house while the cook rustled up snacks, and learned how the staff churned milk.
From here, we made our way to the coastal town of Gansbaai, aka 'great white shark capital of the world', to go on Marine Dynamics' Big 5 Marine Safari.
We saw whales, sharks, dolphins, penguins and seals on our morning at sea, with our favourites being the bronze whaler shark and colony of Cape fur seals.
The team on board were outstanding, too.
I've been on plenty of marine-life spotting trips and never experienced that level of care.
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The city skyline at sunset is a sight you'll always remember
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A stunning view across Cape Town for our explorers
Credit: Supplied
Our hunt for Africa's animals continued afterwards, with a stay at the De Hoop Nature Reserve, an 84,000-acre area that is home to free-roaming zebras, baboons, ostriches, mongoose and eland. Because of the non-predatory nature of the animals, guests are free to walk among them.
Which is how we found ourselves bumping into a dazzle of zebras on our way back from dinner.
It was an eventful night. Apparently the baboons also snuck into the restaurant kitchen to steal some bread that evening.
Pride of lions
We'd already been warned about keeping the windows of our cottage closed when out, as the cheeky primates liked to break in for snacks.
I could hardly blame them for wanting to have a nose around.
The De Hoop Collection cottage we stayed in was gorgeous — spacious and designed in a country-chic style, all chintz curtains and huge squishy sofas.
It was the perfect warm-up for our penultimate destination, where we splurged on a three-night safari at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve.
It is one of South Africa's largest privately owned nature reserves, with around 150,000 acres of land and a handful of 5* lodges, as well as the all-important 'big five' — lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, among others.
A whirlwind 14 days with so many memories made, that it felt like five holidays wrapped into one.
My favourite wildlife spots had to be a herd of elephants and
pride
of lions, and both came within a few metres of our safari truck.
But we had so many encounters, from giraffes and hippos to Cape buffalo, zebras, springboks and hyenas, that we felt truly spoilt.
As we did by the hospitality at Sanbona, where we stayed in the 12-suite Gondwana family lodge.
The hours between the morning and evening game drives were spent eating delicious food, sunbathing, swimming in the pool and playing one of the many board games, which are free for guests.
Given we had packed so much in, it felt only right to spend our last 36 hours in Cape Town chilling. And there was no better place to do just that than the Radisson Collection Hotel, Waterfront Cape Town, a 5* hotel in a prime coastal spot with far more reasonable rates than most of Europe.
Last year, South Africa's tourism minister touted the region as such great value that 'British visitors can afford our 5* hotels'.
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A bird's eye view of penguins at Boulders Beach
Credit: Supplied
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Luckily, zebras are a gentle breed and the ones we encountered seemed entirely disinterested as we weaved around them to our cottage
Credit: Getty
And the city was crowned the world's best-value long-haul destination in the
Pitched up on sun loungers, we drank delicious wine — fancy stuff at just £4 a glass — while our son played with the other kids in the infinity pool, as dolphins played in the ocean 20 metres away.
If it sounds like the trip was a dream from start to finish, it really was.
A whirlwind 14 days with so many memories made, that it felt like five holidays wrapped into one.
GO CAPE TOWN:
GETTING THERE:
Norse Atlantic flies from Cape Town to Gatwick from $197pp (£148). Gatwick to Cape Town fares are from $249pp (£187). flynorse.com.
STAYING THERE:
Rooms at the Radisson Collection Hotel, Waterfront Cape Town cost from R5500 (£299). See
Evergreen Manor And Spa has rooms from R1470pp (£61), based on two people sharing. See
Rooms at De Hoop Collection cost from R2950pp (£123), based on two sharing. See dehoopcollection.com.
OUT & ABOUT:
A Marine Dynamics whale and bird watching tour, with a chance to see the Big Five, costs from R2145pp (£90). See