The Garden Route

The Garden Route is a 300-kilometre stretch of South Africa's southern coastline running from Mossel Bay in the west to the Storms River in the east. It's framed by the Indian Ocean on one side and the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountain ranges on the other, and threaded with lagoons, rivers, ancient indigenous forest and Blue Flag beaches.

Between those endpoints sit the towns most travellers come for: surf-town Mossel Bay, golfing capital George, lake-fringed Wilderness, oyster-and-lagoon town Knysna, holiday-favourite Plettenberg Bay, and the tiny forest hamlet of Storms River at the gates of Tsitsikamma National Park.

The Garden Route Directory is an independent guide to the places worth your time — boutique lodges tucked into the forest canopy, restaurants shucking oysters straight from the lagoon, and experiences ranging from gentle sunset cruises to the world's highest commercial bungee jump.