Table Mountain, Cape Point's penguins, the Winelands and a genuine Kruger safari, three real TUI tours compared, weather by month and what it actually costs.
South Africa is a different kind of trip to the rest of my destination guides, and I think that is exactly why clients love it. TUI is the only one of my three operators, TUI, Jet2holidays and easyJet holidays, that currently sells it, and it does not sell it as a week in one hotel with a pool. It sells it as an escorted tour, flights, transfers, a local English speaking guide and a string of real named lodges and hotels all bundled together, so you are not left trying to stitch together Cape Town, the Winelands and a safari yourself.
That makes it one of the easiest genuinely life list trips I book. You can go purely for the wildlife on a lodge based safari around the Entabeni Wildlife Conservancy, or go big on the full Highlights of South Africa tour and tick off Kruger, the Garden Route and Cape Town in one booking. I will come back to all three real, bookable options further down.
The first question I ask is whether this is a safari trip with Cape Town as a bonus, or a Cape Town trip with safari as a bonus. It decides which of the three TUI tours I point a client towards.
TUI's two lodge based safari tours run 8 nights, 9 days, built entirely around game drives from a single base. The full Highlights of South Africa tour runs 14 nights, 16 days, and covers Johannesburg, Kruger, KwaZulu Natal, the Garden Route and Cape Town in one trip. All three suit couples, honeymooners and small groups after a proper once in a lifetime holiday rather than a poolside week, and all three have a minimum tour age of 12, so they are not aimed at young families. Anyone who wants the shortest possible flight or a straightforward beach stay with no organised itinerary is better suited to one of my other destinations.
TUI's tours fly indirectly into OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg from a choice of UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Birmingham, with TUI's own travel information quoting a flight time of around 11 hours 30 minutes. If a client wants Cape Town specifically, outside of a TUI tour, both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic fly nonstop from Heathrow to Cape Town, taking around 11 hours 40 minutes.
All of a TUI tour's internal flights and transfers, including the one between Johannesburg and Cape Town on the longer tour, are included in the price and arranged for you. You only have to book the one trip.
Cape Town runs on a Mediterranean style climate that is the reverse of the UK's, warm and dry in summer, cooler and wetter in winter.
| Month | Avg high | Rainfall | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°C | Low | Hot, dry and the busiest month of the year |
| February | 25°C | Low | Still hot and dry, among the best beach weather |
| March | 24°C | Low | Warm and settled, a quieter alternative to peak summer |
| April | 22°C | Moderate | Rain starts to pick up, still mild and pleasant |
| May | 19°C | High | Cooler and wetter, the start of Cape Town's winter |
| June | 17°C | High | Cool and rainy, Cape Town's wettest month |
| July | 17°C | High | Cool and wet, but prime dry season weather inland for safari |
| August | 17°C | Moderate-high | Still cool and showery on the coast, excellent safari viewing inland |
| September | 18°C | Moderate | Spring arrives, drying out and warming up |
| October | 20°C | Moderate | Mild and increasingly settled |
| November | 22°C | Low-moderate | Warm, dry and a good value shoulder month |
| December | 24°C | Low | Hot and dry, busy and pricier over Christmas and New Year |
Average high temperatures sourced via weather2travel.com. Rainfall bands are based on average monthly precipitation for Cape Town via climate-zone.com.
Kruger and the rest of the safari country run on the opposite pattern to Cape Town. May to September is the dry season and the best stretch for game viewing, since thinner vegetation and animals gathering at waterholes make wildlife much easier to spot, while October to April is warmer and greener with more frequent afternoon storms.
Cape Town's rain and Kruger's dry season line up in the same months, June to August, which is exactly why the longer Highlights of South Africa tour works so well then. You get Kruger at its wildlife viewing best and simply dress for cooler, showery days once you reach Cape Town at the end of the trip.
June to September is the standout window if safari is the priority, dry and cool inland for the best game viewing, even though Cape Town itself is at its wettest then. November to March is the better call if Cape Town's beaches and warm weather matter most, hot and dry on the coast, though this does overlap with the wetter, greener season in safari country. April, May and October are solid shoulder months either way, with fewer crowds and a reasonable balance of weather in both halves of the country.
This is not a one hotel holiday, so where you stay depends entirely on which of the three TUI tours you book. The two lodge based safari tours keep you in a single lake view lodge at the Entabeni Wildlife Conservancy in Limpopo Province for the whole trip, choosing between a 4 star or 5 star standard. The full Highlights of South Africa tour moves through 11 different hotels of a 3 and 4 star standard as it crosses the country, from Johannesburg and Hazyview near Kruger, through KwaZulu Natal and the Garden Route, to a final two nights in Cape Town itself.
Facilities at tour hotels can vary and TUI does not guarantee things like spa, gym or pool access at every stop, since the point of a tour is the itinerary rather than any one hotel. I set that expectation with clients upfront.
Every TUI tour includes return airport transfers plus all transport during the trip itself, whether that is a safari minibus, a 4x4 game viewing vehicle or a coach between stops, all with a local English speaking guide. You do not need to arrange a single transfer or self drive leg yourself. South Africa drives on the left, the same as the UK, which is worth knowing if a client wants to extend a trip independently with their own car hire.
The Highlights of South Africa tour builds in a free day in Cape Town, and plenty of clients add extra nights there before or after a tour too. These are the activities I point them towards for that time.
The two safari only tours both stay at the same lodge at the Entabeni Wildlife Conservancy, a private reserve home to the Big Five, with the choice coming down to standard. TUI is the operator I use for South Africa, so both are booked through TUI.
A 4 star lake view lodge inside the Entabeni Wildlife Conservancy, used on TUI's Lakeside 4 star Lodge Safari tour. Full board throughout, with daily game drives and nature walks included. The one I'd point a client towards if the Big Five is the whole point of the trip and a 5 star price tag is not. Bookable through TUI.
The 5 star version of the same lake view lodge and the same Entabeni Wildlife Conservancy, on TUI's Kingfisher 5 star Lodge stay & South Africa safari tour. Same full board, game drives and guiding, with a higher standard of lodge. The one I'd suggest for a honeymoon or a milestone celebration. Bookable through TUI.
Hotel availability, board basis and pricing change regularly, always confirm the live details with Jake before booking.
South Africa is the clearest example I have of a destination that is genuinely only sold as a tour. These are not a generic add-on, each one is a real, named, priced tour you can book directly through TUI, and they cover very different trips.
Nine days built entirely around the Entabeni Wildlife Conservancy, flying into Johannesburg, with full board, 14 included experiences and daily game drives looking out for lions, elephants and giraffes from a 4 star lake view lodge. Flights, transfers and a local guide included. From £2,277 per person.
The same nine day Entabeni itinerary, game drives, full board and a local guide, upgraded to a 5 star lake view lodge throughout. The one to pick when the safari itself is non negotiable but a higher standard of lodge matters too. From £2,528 per person.
A 16 day tour from Johannesburg to Cape Town, taking in Kruger National Park, Hluhluwe Game Reserve, an ostrich farm tractor ride near Oudtshoorn, a scenic Garden Route drive through Knysna, wine tasting in the Western Cape and a Cape Town city tour with a free day to explore. 11 included experiences across 11 hotels. From £2,704 per person.
Prices shown are TUI's own "from" prices for two adults sharing at time of writing and change regularly with dates, departure airport and availability. All three are flight-inclusive, ATOL protected tours booked through TUI, with a minimum tour age of 12.
The two Entabeni tours are the ones I book when a client wants the Big Five and nothing else to think about. Highlights of South Africa is the one I book when someone says they want to see the country properly, Kruger, the Garden Route and Cape Town, in a single trip rather than three separate holidays.
A few of the sights that make it onto the Highlights of South Africa tour, or that I'd suggest adding if a client extends their time in Cape Town.
Cape Town's flat topped landmark, reachable by a rotating cable car with views across the city, Table Bay and all the way to Robben Island on a clear day. Part of the city tour on the Highlights of South Africa tour.
A colony of African penguins nesting right on the sand at Boulders Beach, usually paired with a trip out to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope at the peninsula's tip. One of the most popular half day trips from Cape Town.
Stellenbosch and Franschhoek sit less than an hour from Cape Town, with vineyard after vineyard set against mountain backdrops. The Highlights of South Africa tour includes a Western Cape wine tasting on its way into the city.
One of the world's most scenic drives, running along the southern coast through forests, lagoons and seaside towns including Knysna, where the Highlights of South Africa tour builds in a free day. Starts from Cape Town for anyone extending a trip independently.
South Africa uses the South African Rand. Prices below are shown in pounds sterling, based on a rate of roughly £1 to 21.8 ZAR. These are crowd-sourced averages for Cape Town, and prices right in the most touristy parts of the city can run a little higher.
| Item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Meal for one at an inexpensive restaurant | £9.16 (about R200) |
| Cappuccino | £1.86 (about R40.55) |
| Local draught beer, a pint | £2.29 (about R50) |
| Bottled water, 1.5 litres | £0.88 (about R19.22) |
| Taxi, start tariff | £0.46 (about R10) |
Sources: crowd-sourced averages via Numbeo (Cape Town), checked at time of writing. Rand to pound sterling conversion is approximate and moves around day to day, so treat these as a guide rather than an exact figure.
The essentials, at a glance.
| Currency | South African Rand (ZAR) |
| Plug type | Type M, and increasingly the newer Type N, different from the UK's Type G, so you will need a travel adaptor. Mains supply is 230V |
| Language | English is one of 11 official languages and is widely used in hotels and tourist areas, alongside Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans among others |
| Flight time from the UK | Around 11 hours 30 minutes from Gatwick to Johannesburg on a TUI tour. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic both fly nonstop from Heathrow to Cape Town in around 11 hours 40 minutes |
| Time difference | South Africa does not change its clocks, so it is 2 hours ahead of the UK in winter and 1 hour ahead during British Summer Time |
| Entry requirements | UK passport holders can visit visa free for up to 90 days. Your passport needs to be valid for at least 30 days beyond your planned departure from South Africa with 2 blank pages. From 1 July 2026, all travellers entering or leaving South Africa must also complete a mandatory online traveller declaration form between 24 and 48 hours before travel |
| Driving | Left hand side, the same as the UK |
Photos: Peter Burdon, Sebastian Canaves, Zeke Tucker, Meg von Haartman, redcharlie, Jonathan Gensicke, katsuma tanaka, Casey Allen, Nenad Gataric and Trey Smith via Unsplash.
I can build a trip around a lodge based safari, the full Cape Town, Garden Route and Kruger tour, or plan somewhere else entirely, around what you're after.
