South Africa is one of my favourite countries to travel to and is the kind of place that you can return to time and time again. It’s huge, so you can do something new on every visit, or find your favourite spot (mine is Knysna) and keep coming back. Whichever way you do it, if you are planning your first trip to South Africa there are few things that knowing in advance can make your adventure a bit easier; enter my round up of the most useful South Africa travel tips!

I have been to South Africa twice; our first trip in 2016 was a two and a half week whirlwind where we explored Johannesburg and Cape Town, spent a few day on safari in Kruger, drank wine in Stellenbosch and experienced the iconic Garden Route road trip. I love pretty much everywhere I visit, but rarely return in favour of exploring new places. South Africa, however, was somewhere I always intended to come back to.

We had grand plans to cook in our villa and chill during our three week South Africa trip, but with so many great places to eat in Knysna, we ended up eating out almost every night.

I have quite a diverse preference on where to eat depending on my mood; sometimes it’s all about casual dining and other times I fancy dressing up a bit. My guide to the best restaurants in Knysna reflects this and isn’t an exhaustive list of every restaurant we ate at, just the ones that gave us such a pleasant evening that we returned (or plan to return).

Sea and sand are always an integral part of my holiday and the beaches in Knysna (a seaside town located on the Garden Route of South Africa’s Western Cape) do not disappoint. I would have been thrilled with just one Knysna beach, instead I got six; each one completely different from the one before.

I loved each one for different reasons, but for me Brenton-on-Sea was the winner of the best beach in Knysna for me (if only this was a paid job)!

We stayed in Knysna for a blissful three weeks (my second visit to the area) renting a house in Pezula. I fell in love with South Africa on our last trip which was an epic two week long road trip taking in Kruger, the Garden Route, wine lands and Cape Town. We had a wonderful time, but as part of my drive to slow down my travel, we wanted to have a more laid back holiday this time.