South African Luxury Rail

3 Days

Overview

Rail journeys awaken the nostalgia of travel from a bygone era, with formal dining cars, personal butlers and an elegance that is otherwise lost in modern travel. Your rail excursion can be easily combined with an extended itinerary, or you can choose one of the longer rail routes that visits all your wishlist destinations. There are two luxury trains operating in South Africa – Rovos Rail and the Blue Train. In this itinerary, we highlight the extremely popular Rovos classic, Pretoria to Cape Town in 2 nights and 3 days. Rovos Rail is the epitome of grandeur and sophistication, furnished in period décor to capture the romance of days gone by.  Your 1600km journey will take you across the grasslands of the gold-rich Highveld to the haunting desolation of the Great Karoo, before meandering through  the scenic Cape Winelands and ending up in cosmopolitan Cape Town. This journey can be done in either direction.

Your journey begins at Rovos Rail Station in Pretoria where you'll board the luxury train that will be your home for the next three days. Settle into the opulence and elegance of days gone by as the train travels south via Johannesburg through the goldfields of Witwatersrand. You'll enjoy a genteel late afternoon tea in the lounge and find yourself mesmerized by the passing scenery from the observation car. That evening a formal dinner is served in the dining car, complete with coat tails for gentlemen, evening wear for ladies and the finest food and drink served in bone china and crystal glasses.

This morning you'll arrive in Kimberley, the site of one of the biggest diamond rushes in the world. This Northern Cape town has a fascinating history culminating in the diamond hysteria of the late 1800s and the Big Hole, the site of a massive mine that is the largest man-made excavation in the world. You'll explore the interactive tourist experience that the mine is today, featuring a ride underground in a recreation of a mine shaft, a short history of diamonds in Kimberley and a museum of ancient artifacts. You'll hop back on the train in time for a delicious lunch and proceed overnight via De Aar and Beaufort West to Matjiesfontein.

After a leisurely breakfast, you'll stop off in the picturesque village of Matjiesfontein where you'll find yourself swept away into yesteryear. This little town remains a perfectly preserved Victorian railway village with very few changes made more than 100 years after it was founded. Stroll the atmospheric streets and be enchanted by classically preserved buildings and the archetypal London cast-iron streetlamps. After your tour, you'll board the train for your last journey leg, travelling via Touws River and Worcester before arriving in Cape Town at 18h00 that evening.

Destinations

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