outh Africa is a large and diverse country (about twice as large as France). The best time to visit the country depends on what you intend to do and see there.

The best time to visit Cape Town and the Western Cape is considered to be from November until early March. This is when the summer season lasts in the Southern Hemisphere and the weather is the warmest and least rainy. The same also applies to the famous Garden Route. The climate is warm year-round, but the area is quite rainy from June to September.

However, some travelers prefer to visit the Western Cape in winter as the attractions are less crowded and the prices for accommodation and rental cars are lower. Winter months are also great for whale-watching, although you can see them in spring as well (which lasts from September to November). The penguins can be seen year-round.

The best time to visit the famous South African national parks in the northern part of the country (like Kruger National Park in the northeast and Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park in the northwest) is from June to August. Not only are these months pleasantly warm rather than forbiddingly hot, but it is also the dry season which means that the chances of seeing wildlife are much higher. (Do keep in mind, though, that while less famous than these two, there are great national parks all over South Africa and the best time to visit depends on which part of the country they are located and what their main attractions are).

South Africa is a great surfing destination year-round, but the country usually gets the most impressive waves from April to August. There are many amazing surfing spots in South Africa for anyone from beginners to seasoned pros, such as Durban, Muizenberg near Cape Town, and the Sunshine Coast.

Now that you've decided when to travel to South Africa, check out our prices for the dates you have chosen!

The most important thing to keep in mind is that South Africa is a very diverse country. Cultures vary from region to region. A common mistake of visitors is to lump all the local African peoples together and refer to them as a single, homogenous group. In fact, there are very wide differences among them, noticeable not only in their languages but also in historic ways of life, mutual relations between them, present-day situations, etc. While most locals get along well with each other, it's respectful to learn about the specific culture of the region you're visiting or the person you're speaking to. Similarly, the white people of South Africa do not make up a single culture - there are marked differences between the English-speaking and Afrikaans-speaking communities. South Africa is also home to small, but noticeable Indian and Jewish communities.

Although Apartheid, the racial segregation policy in South Africa, ended almost 30 years ago, its legacy sadly lives on in many forms and South Africa remains a racially and ethnically charged society. Similarly, the country is home to many immigrants from neighboring countries like Zimbabwe who are subjected to xenophobic attitudes by some locals. Discussing any historical issues, intra-racial or ethnic conflicts, or current politics is best avoided by visitors.

Despite these precautions, the vast majority of South Africans of all creeds and backgrounds are very hospitable and kind. For many tourists, meeting local people turns out to be the highlight of their trip. Do not be afraid to make new friends, just keep in mind to be respectful of these very sensitive issues.

South Africa is something of a paradox - it has developed a reputation as a rather dangerous country, but its tourism industry is booming with millions of travelers visiting it every year. While it is true that there are some dangers in South Africa, the country can be perfectly safe to visit as long as you choose your destinations carefully and are aware of potential risks.

South Africa has high rates of violent crime, but it's important to remember that most of it occurs in certain areas such as dangerous urban neighborhoods that are not normally visited by tourists. This means that while being outside in areas frequented by tourists during daytime is normally fine, you should not explore South African cities on your own, either on foot or by car. Get in touch with your Ministry of Foreign Affairs as many countries keep a list of unsafe destinations in South Africa that you should avoid. Even more importantly, listen to and follow the advice of your hotel and trustworthy locals regarding areas that you should not visit. Many of the most dangerous parts are the so-called townships, formerly racially-segregated areas located on the edges of cities. While not all townships are dangerous, you should only visit one if you are going with a local friend or if you're absolutely certain that it is safe to do so.

Although less publicized, petty crime affects foreign travelers a lot more often in South Africa. Do not flash your valuables, watch out for pickpockets, and do not engage with friendly strangers if they are trying to give you a gift, sell you something or are asking for help (unless their need is obvious). If you feel threatened or have been a victim of a crime, contact the local authorities immediately. The nationwide emergency number in South Africa is 112. The national tourism information and safety number is +27 831232345.

While rare, highway robberies and other roadside crimes are not completely unheard of. Many highways and provinces of the country are very safe to explore, but others can have some dangers, especially after dark. Plan your routes carefully and in advance, always consulting your Ministry of Foreign Affairs, your country's embassy in South Africa, and the latest news updates. Regardless of the region you're traveling in, it's best to keep car doors and windows locked at all times.

Many South African highways, secondary roads, and streets in towns and villages lack any lighting and can, therefore, be dangerous to drive on after dark because of pedestrians, cattle, and wildlife possibly being on the road, as well as other vehicles that you might not notice.

While one of South Africa's main attractions is its spectacular nature, many species of wildlife such as venomous snakes, lions, rhinos, sharks, and crocodiles can be dangerous to humans. Therefore, it's important to only hike, camp, and swim in specifically designated places that have been confirmed safe by someone who knows the area. Even when visiting a national park, find out in advance where it is and isn't safe to camp or even visit on foot. a way to show respect as it is the native or ancestral language of many highlanders.

South Africa has 11 official languages, more than almost any other country in the world. While all of them are widely spoken in different parts of the country and most South Africans speak at least two themselves, it is quite possible to get around without being a polyglot.

While English is the native tongue of only one-tenth of South Africans, in many parts of the country it is the dominant language of media, business, and also the street. This includes many of the largest cities and popular tourist destinations. While you should not expect absolutely everyone to speak English in South Africa, most people working in the tourism and services industries will have at least some knowledge of it and many will be fluent. The South African English accent is rather specific and the dialect also uses many local loanwords, especially those coming from Afrikaans, but you should not have major trouble communicating.

Afrikaans is the native tongue of about 13% of South Africans. It is the dominant language of the Northern Cape and Western Cape regions where many people speak it as a second and third language. Afrikaans is the most widespread native language in Cape Town; however, many people in Cape Town also speak English. Afrikaans descends from Dutch and speakers of modern Dutch, including Flemish Dutch, usually understand it very well (its mutual intelligibility with German, however, is much lower).

The most common native language in South Africa is Zulu. It is primarily, although not exclusively, spoken in the northeastern part of the country, including Durban where it is the number one native language of the locals. Other official languages of South Africa are Xhosa, Northern Sotho, Tswana, Sesotho, Tsonga, Swati, Venda, and Ndebele.

There are lots of gas stations in South Africa, especially on the main highways and near cities. The largest national parks also usually have their own stations (sometimes several of them).

Prices at the South African gas stations are shown per liter (1 liter = 0.26 gallons).

As of June 2024, the average price is 23 ZAR (or $1.27, or €1.18). This makes the gas in South Africa more expensive than in the United States or Australia, but noticeably cheaper than most countries in the European Union.

Like elsewhere in the world, rental car prices in South Africa are affected by season and proximity to large holidays. Being in the Southern hemisphere, South Africa experiences the warmest weather roughly from December to February Overall, the prices are notably lower than in Western Europe, North America, or Australia.

That being said, different places in the country have different price dynamics. Cape Town has a rather steady car rental pricing throughout the year, with November being the cheapest month with the average daily price of $31 and August being the most expensive at $45. Port Elizabeth has similar dynamics, but more seasonal variance, with the averages being $32-35 during the cheapest months and $56 in August.

In Durban, the prices are steady throughout the year, hovering around $30-35 for much of the year and rising slightly to $42 in May and July, the most expensive months for renting a car in the city. In Johannesburg, the largest city in the country, January is the cheapest month at $32, and July is the most expensive at $47.

As temptingly cheap as some rental offers in South Africa might seem, make sure to also check the company's rating, as well as rental conditions - more on that below!

The three surest ways to keep the daily rental price down are to book as early in advance as possible, to book a car for several days instead of just one or two, and two pick up and drop off a vehicle at the airport instead of the city center.

Price is obviously a huge factor when choosing a rental car, but it shouldn't be your only concern — often, for a couple of euros more, you can find a much better overall deal. Instead, try to look for a company that offers both a good price and has a good rating from previous travelers.

Also, make sure you are familiar with the rental conditions! Different rental car suppliers will have different conditions. The rental conditions can influence the final price of the car and are important to be aware of in general.

You can find the rental conditions when searching for a rental car on our website.

Some of the most important things when picking up a rental car is knowing your rental car supplier's fuel and mileage policies along with its driver requirements.

Mileage policy :
A rental supplier's mileage policy is the maximum permitted distance that you are allowed to travel per day (or sometimes per week) with your rental car. Once you exceed the permitted distance, you will be required to pay an extra fee for every additional kilometer you drive. There might also be the maximum permitted mileage for the whole of the rental period.

Different rental car suppliers have different mileage rules. It's important to know about them before booking your car, especially if you plan to drive a lot or travel long distances during your trip.

You can find the supplier's mileage policy in their rental conditions:

Fuel policy:
Different car rental companies have different policies when it comes to fuel. While we used to offer car rental deals with full-to-empty fuel policies, we have since decided to only offer what we deem to be fair fuel-policies.

Driver requirements:
Different rental car companies will have different requirements for drivers. These may include:

The same as with mileage and fuel policies, the driver requirements of each car rental supplier be found on their rental conditions page.

Check our comprehensive Help Center to learn more about mileage, fuel, and driver requirements, as well as other important questions.

Choosing the right insurance is very important as it will protect you in case anything goes wrong during your rental period. If you have your own personal insurance, it may or may not cover your rental car — you should ask your insurance carrier to find out.

We strongly recommend you choose our own Full Coverage. Not only does it come at a reasonable price and covers most potential scenarios, but it will also give you clarity and peace of mind as you will have 24/7 support from our team for any issue that you might have.

Check the Insurance section of our Help Center to learn more about choosing the right insurance and everything related to it.

As of June 2024, small cars are the cheapest in South Africa - they start from only $15 per day. The starting price is $20 for medium cars, $18 for large cars, and $61 for premium cars.

To pick up a rental car, you'll need to have your booking confirmation voucher, passport, driver's license, a credit card on the main driver's name, and all the other necessary documents.

When making the reservation, you will see your rental car's pickup location, of which there are many types. Since most travelers tend to pick up their rental cars at the airport, we'll mainly focus on the pickup locations in or near the airport. These are the most popular pickup location types:

• Meet & Greet. With this type of pickup location, you'll be met by an employee of the car rental company in the arrivals hall of the airport which you normally enter right after leaving the baggage claim area. The employee will usually have a printed sign with your name on it. The employee will take you to the company's office to proceed with signing the rental contract and collecting the car's keys.
• In the terminal. In this case, you will have to find your rental car company's desk yourself. The desk will be usually located in the arrivals hall. Once you've found the desk, you can present your documents and continue with the pickup procedure. Do keep in mind that you might have to wait in line.
• Shuttle bus. In certain cases, the car rental company's desk might be located outside the airport's terminal. Sometimes you can reach it on foot, but in most cases, you need to take a shuttle bus. For this, you'll need to find the shuttle bus stop inside the airport, the location of which will be given to you when making the booking. Sometimes, the shuttle bus is shared by multiple car rental companies while others have their own shuttle service just for them. Look for the name and the logo of your rental company to make sure you take the right shuttle bus.
• Delivery service. This type of pick-up is similar to Meet & Greet but takes even less time to complete as you won't need to go to the car provider's office to sign the agreement.
• Car rental center. This means that your car rental company shares its location with other companies. The car rental center is located in the arrivals hall, in another part of the terminal, or in a separate building next to the terminal.
• Outside terminal. This pick-up location means that your car rental company has an individual desk located outside the airport's terminal, but within the larger airport complex, that can usually be reached on foot

At the pickup location: After the car rental company checks your documents and make sure you have enough deposit on your credit card, you will receive the car's keys and be taken to the rental car which will usually be parked in a nearby parking lot.

Inspect the car: Upon picking up the car, you will have to sign a document called the check-out form. If your rental car has any scratches or other types of damage, they should be listed on the form. Inspect the car carefully — if it has any scratches or other issues that are not listed, make sure to point them out to the employee before signing the check-out form. The form will also list the mileage and the amount of fuel the car has at the pickup time.

Take photos: It is generally a very good idea to take photos of the car before picking it up, preferably from multiple angles and including the inside of the car with the odometer showing the previous mileage on the car and of the amount of fuel in the tank (read more about fuel on our Fuel Policy section above). The photos should have a timestamp to show the date and time when they were taken; most pictures taken with mobile and digital cameras have them.

Find out the drop-off location: Before leaving with the car, make sure you find out the exact drop-off location and the directions to get there. While it will often be the same as the pickup location, it might also be in a completely different part of the airport (this is especially the case with the larger airports that have multiple terminals).

Returning the car: When dropping off the car at the end of your trip, carefully check the vehicle in the presence of an employee of the rental company. If any new scratches or damages are found, the company employee should point them out in your presence. If there are none, the car's check-in form should state that the car has been returned in the same condition. The same applies to the cleanliness of the car (if you return a car that is not clean, the company might later charge an extra cleaning fee). Make sure to check the car's trunk and the glove compartment to avoid leaving any personal belongings in the vehicle.

You might also want to add some extras for your rental car such as a GPS system, a child's seat, second-driver permission (if you're traveling with a friend or a family member who can and wants to drive). If you plan to drive in the mountains, snow chains might be useful or even necessary during winter. Be sure to search for them in advance and add them before making the booking. Not every rental car supplier will have all of these extras available. Adding extras will influence the final price of a car and different car rental companies offer them for different prices.

There are lots of speed or safety cameras in South Africa. The locations of some are publicly known and you might even be warned about it before approaching by a GPS service such as Google Maps, while others are hidden.

If you're caught speeding, the fine will likely be sent to your rental car company. They might add an additional fee for administering the fine.

The legal alcohol limit is 0.05% per 100ml of blood and 0.24% per 1000 ml of breath for experienced drivers and is 0.00% for novice drivers. Exceeding the allowed limit can lead to large fines or even imprisonment or deportation.

There are many toll roads all across South Africa. For using most, your vehicle needs to have an electronic tag that is on the vehicle or by the vehicle's license plate number.

Many rental cars are equipped with an e-tag that will be used for making toll payments. Some rental car providers will charge an additional fee for this service. Ask your car rental provider about it beforehand and make sure to check the rental conditions (read more about them in the section above).

The exact fee for using the toll roads depends on the type of road and the length of the trip. You can find the exact tolls as of March 2024 from the Automobile Association of South Africa.

If your rental car is not equipped with an e-tag, the bill for using the toll roads will be sent to your car rental provider. Due to delays in the South African toll road system, you could be billed and charged after the end of your rental period.