South Africa Classic: Johannesburg, Kruger and Cape Town, 9 Nights

You are met at O.R. Tambo International Airport and driven to your hotel in the northern suburbs. The rest of the day is for resting after the flight. Johannesburg sits at about 1,750 metres, so the air is dry and evenings can be cool; take it easy and drink plenty of water on the first day.

A full guided day into the story of modern South Africa. The Apartheid Museum tells it through photographs, film and personal accounts. In Soweto you see Vilakazi Street, where Nelson Mandela’s house still stands, and the Hector Pieterson memorial to the 1976 student uprising, before the tour returns through the city’s changing centre.

A transfer to the airport for the short flight north-east to Hoedspruit, a small bush airport close to the western edge of the Greater Kruger. You are met and taken to your lodge. In the late afternoon an open vehicle heads out on a private reserve for your first game drive, and dinner is at the lodge.

An early start with a packed breakfast for a full day inside Kruger, one of Africa’s great national parks. The vehicle is open-sided for the best views, and the guide will be looking for lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, as well as giraffe, hippo and a remarkable range of birds. Back to the lodge for dinner.

A free day. Many people add the Panorama Route, which follows the edge of the escarpment past the Three Rondavels above the Blyde River Canyon, the eroded rock pools at Bourke’s Luck and the lookout called God’s Window. Others prefer a quiet day at the lodge, a visit to a wildlife rehabilitation centre, or an extra game drive. Dinner is at the lodge.

There may be time for an optional early game drive before the transfer to Hoedspruit airport and the flight to Cape Town. You are met and driven into the city, where Table Mountain stands over the bay. Spend the evening at the V&A Waterfront, which has restaurants of every kind along the working harbour.

A half-day guided introduction to the city: the Company’s Garden, the colourful houses of the Bo-Kaap, the Castle of Good Hope and, when the weather allows, the cableway to the top of Table Mountain for views across the city and the ocean. Cableway tickets are paid separately. The afternoon is free.

A day for the Cape Peninsula, which we can add as a full-day tour: Chapman’s Peak Drive, the African penguins at Boulders Beach, and the cliffs and lighthouse at Cape Point in the Table Mountain National Park. If you prefer to stay in town, Robben Island trips leave from the Waterfront.

Another free day. The Cape Winelands, under an hour away, make a relaxed full-day tour through Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, with tastings at estates set among mountains and old Cape Dutch farmhouses; we can arrange it. Alternatively, spend the day on the beaches at Camps Bay or Clifton.

Breakfast at the hotel, then the drive to Cape Town’s airport for the flight home. If you leave in the evening, the Kirstenbosch botanical garden below the mountain is a lovely last visit, and we can arrange a late check-out.