Klein Karoo

Travelling from Cape Town along the N1, turn off at Worcester and travel through Robertson. Take the R62 to Barrydale which is situated in a little valley. The area offers very good hiking and the Tradouw Wine Cellars are worth visiting. The Tradouw Pass links Barrydale to the Garden Route.

Take the road to Ladismith where you will find the Noukloof Nature Reserve. Visit the Towerkop Cheese Factory, the Ladismith Co-operative Winery and CJ Langenhoven's birthplace in the Hoeko Valley (famous for growing apricots).

Calitzdorp lies at the foot of the Huis River Pass and overlooks the valley of the Gamka River, renowned for its dried fruit, wine and port. From Calitzdorp, travel to Oudtshoorn which now forms part of the Garden Route.

Uniondale is situated in the eastern part of the Klein Karoo. Visit the Water Mill and the Old English Fort, a reminder of the Anglo-Boer War.

Central Karoo

The entry point to the Central (or Great) Karoo is Matjiesfontein, a quaint, very small Victorian village. It was once a fashionable health resort. The village has now been restored and is a national monument.

Laingsburg is notorious for the flood that crippled the town in 1981. Visit the Old Blockhouse and the Voortrekker Monument. The Anysberg Nature Reserve is situated in the Klein Swartberg and Anysberg Mountains. The Pony Trail is recommended.

Beaufort West is the capital of the Central Karoo. The town lies in the centre of the world's largest plateau of its kind outside Asia. The area is considered a wonder of the scientific world and one of the world's richest stone-age sites.

Visit the Chris Barnard Museum, pioneer heart surgeon who was born and raised in Beaufort West. The Karoo National Park is just north of the town and is home to the endangered black rhino. The town has a number of fine accommodation establishments and it is the ideal stopover en-route to Johannesberg or Cape Town.