This South African motorbike tour will take you over some of the best mountain passes in South Africa, venturing from sensational coastal roads,…
Ride cable car up to the top of Table Mountain and enjoy the spectacular views Cape Town and the Athletic Ocean.
Ride through the scenic 'Garden Route'.
The BIG FIVE! We will go on Safari at Addo National Park in search of lion, rhino, cape buffalo, elephants and leopards.
Spot giraffe and ostrich at our beautiful lodge.
Explore the Cederberg Wilderness with it's rich and ancient rock art heritage.
Whale spotting in Hermanus - the best land based whale spotting location in the world.
Ride the world's famous Chapman's Peak drive... If this is not the most beautiful coastal road you've ever ridden, please do let us know where we can find better.
Visit the penguin colony at Betty's Bay.
This South African motorbike tour will take you over some of the best mountain passes in South Africa, venturing from sensational coastal roads, deep into the desolate Cederberg Wilderness and across the Tankwa Karoo region. The route also journeys through the world famous Garden Route on the southern Cape coast and finishes with a superb safari showcasing Africa’s majestic wildlife.
We’ve squeezed as many of South Africa’s greatest roads and most beautiful little towns as we could into this 8 day tour. Riding times and distances are comfortable and the route offers a mix of well maintained gravel and tarmac roads that are sure to keep you entertained all day!
It’s your first day in South Africa and arriving in Cape Town you can’t fail to be impressed by Table Mountain towering above the city. To start the day we’ll take a trip up the gently rotating cable car to the top and look over the fantastic view. The top of the mountain is vast, and we’ll give you time to explore, take photos and maybe get a selfie with the cute little dassies that wander around the rocky plateau.
Back down in the city, we will have an afternoon tour briefing before heading out to collect the motorcycles, followed by dinner at the historic Victoria and Albert Dock area.
Please note that the contract for the motorcycle rental is between you and the motorcycle rental company, not Ride Expeditions. The motorcycles have an insurance excess of approx £1000 – £1800 (depending on the model) and the rental company will require this amount to either be paid as a deposit or held on your card as a security against damage/loss. Please contact us if you require any further information.
So, it’s time to get riding! Throw on your kit, leave your cases for our support staff to pack in the truck and hit the road!
The first part of the day takes us round the incredible Cape peninsula on the iconic Chapman’s Peak Drive which hugs the rugged coastline. We’ll go all the way down to the Cape of Good Hope, the south-western tip of Africa that literally feels like the end of the world, before tracking east through lovely little seaside towns and on to the Whale Coast route to reach our first overnight stop in Hermanus.
What a start to the day – grab your binoculars and watch whales breach the surface of the Indian Ocean in the bay just in front of our accommodation – this isn’t called the Whale Coast for nothing.
Please note: the best whale viewing months are July – November. While it is still possible to spot them outside of these months, sightings are less common.
After breakfast it’s time to kit up and head out for a hugely enjoyable day of riding. We’ll take in mile after mile of smooth blacktop heading north through the fertile hills and valleys of the Western Cape’s scenic wine region.
As we approach the Cederberg Wilderness, we’ll head leave the tarmac behind and hit the dirt on wonderfully fast and sweeping tracks climbing higher into this remote and beautiful region. If epic is what you’re looking for – today delivers big style!
We’ll finish the day with cold beers and a braai (a BBQ for non South Africans) as the sun goes down over the mountains – perfect!
After a leisurely breakfast on the terrace it’s onto the bikes for more joyful riding up through the Cederberg, starting with a scenic ride to see ancient Bushmen rock art and spectacular sandstone formations.
Next the journey continues with a climb up the impressive Katbakkies Pass. The view from the top is just awesome and so is dropping down the appropriately named Skittery Pass to reach the valley floor of the vast Tankwa Karoo.
From there it’s a long and pencil straight dirt road that takes more concentration than you might imagine before we finally hit the smooth stuff again for a life-affirming blast all the way to our overnight stop of Montagu – a regular pilgrimage destination for bike riders from across the globe. What a day!
Saddle up for an epic day on the tarmac! We’ll blast over 3 mountain passes before morning tea and join the main route along Route 62 (the South African version of Route 66). The road passes through more picturesque and joyful roads of the Klein Karoo all the way to the ostrich capital of the world, Oudtshoorn. This is a great day’s riding that will have you grinning in your Arai from start to finish.
Heading into Oudtshoorn you’ll be ready for a Zebra beer, a hearty meal and a soft bed. Tonight we’re in tents – but this is no ordinary night’s camping – think luxury safari tents overlooking the wild bushlands.
Spend the morning relaxing in this incredible accommodation, feed the giraffes or explore the ostrich farm.
Then we’ll hit the road for an incredible afternoon of riding. We’ll ride a mix of gravel and tar roads down the Montagu Pass and over the Seven Passes – you’ll be grinning from start to finish!
Tonight we stay on Thesen Island within the Knysna estuary – an absolutely beautiful place with plenty of excellent restaurants and bars.
It’s the last day of the tour and the riding is just great as we carve our way through the Van Stadens Pass and on towards our lunchtime stop at Addo. After this, it’s time to get off the bikes for the last time and on to the finale safari.
We’ll see herds of elephants at the watering holes, search for rhinos in the deep bush and maybe catch a glimpse of the lions and leopards that stalk the undergrowth either side of the trails. You’ll want to have plenty of room on your memory cards today as there’s a chance you’ll get the Big 5 in the course of one afternoon.
With the final destination being a wonderful Game Lodge, we’ll seal off the tour with cold beers and cocktails as the sun sets, before we head on to a farewell braai & campfire.
So with the riding done, our team will begin the long drive back to base in Cape Town, but what do you want to do next? With flights from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg, Cape Town & Victoria Falls to name but a few you can keep your adventure going if you’re not ready to fly home yet. For those who would like to fly from Port Elizabeth, we can assist in arranging transfers to the airport.
Twin-share accommodation is included as standard – see ‘Optional Extras’ below for single room pricing.
On this trip we stay in a mix of 4-5*hotels, luxurious safari tents, game lodges and guesthouses.
Please see the daily itinerary info for more details on each nights accommodation.
You’ll be collected from Cape Town International Airport (CPT) on the morning of the first day (you are of course welcome to arrive a day or two earlier, but there will be an extra cost for airport pickup).
All entrance fees during the tour are included in the tour price. A cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain & a 4×4 safari at Addo National Park are also included.
Your tour will be led and managed by a highly experienced member of the Ride Expeditions team (trained as a wilderness first response medic).
Ride Expeditions Ltd is committed to customer satisfaction and consumer financial protection. At no extra cost to you, and in accordance with ‘The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018’, all passengers booking with Ride Expeditions Ltd are fully insured for the initial deposit, and subsequently the balance of monies paid as detailed in your booking confirmation form.
The policy also includes repatriation if required, arising from the cancellation or curtailment of your travel arrangements due to the insolvency of Ride Expeditions Ltd. This insurance has been arranged by Towergate Travel through Evolution Insurance.
During the COVID-19 crisis, every rider that requested a refund was issued a cash refund.
All fuel for your motorcycle is provided by us.
This motorcycle tour is accompanied by a GPS tracker that displays our live location and track history on an online map. We will provide you with the link and login details which you can then share with your family at home so they can track your progress throughout the trip.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner is provided on most days.
Please see the daily itinerary to see what meals are included on each day.
At least one member of the support team will have been trained as a Wilderness First Response medic.
An extensive medical kit including a defibrillator (AED) & stretcher is carried in the support vehicle.
We also have consulting doctors on call, 24/7, who are always ready to assist in the case of an emergency. Our doctors are fully briefed on all riders medical info prior to the tour, they know what we do, where we are riding, exactly what we have in our medical kit and what training our medics have.
Tours are accompanied by GPS trackers and a satellite messenger device so our doctor and office can see exactly where we are and can maintain communication.
If you have you your own suitable & reliable motorcycle at the start point, you are quite welcome to use that for this trip. If not, we will provide a rental motorcycle for you… Please see the Dates & Prices section for available bikes.
INCLUDED:
We organise your motorcycle rental with our preferred rental provider in South Africa. Your contract for the motorcycle rental is direct with the provider and you’ll be required to sign their contract when receiving your motorcycle. You must comply with the terms & conditions of the rental provider. Upon request, we can provide you with a copy of these terms & conditions in advance.
Since the day Ride Expeditions started running tours in Cambodia back in 2012, we have been dedicated to supporting the local community.
Part profits from every motorcycle tour are donated to M’Lop Tapang – a local Cambodian charity dedicated to bettering the lives of young children & their families.
Playing our part in rainforest & wildlife conservation and in an effort to off-set our carbon emissions, we donate part profits to World Land Trust.
Our South African motorcycle tours are accompanied by a Toyota Hilux 4×4. This will be towing a twin-axle off-road trailer capable of carrying 7 bikes.
The backup vehicle & trailer will carry all of your luggage, essential spare parts, a spare motorcycle, tools, extensive medical kit (in addition to the kit carried by the tour medic), defibrillator (AED), stretcher, cold drinks and lunch. There is always a spare seat in case any of the riders want to sit in the truck for a rest.
Our support truck will follow behind the riders throughout the ride. When we are eating lunch ‘on the road’ the driver will prepare a picnic with fresh local produce, cheeses & meats, fruit & snacks etc.
Once we reach the accommodation at the end of the day the driver will hand out cold beers from the coolbox and have your bags sent ahead to your rooms.
We’ll welcome you with a bag of Ride Expeditions goodies which will include:
You’ll need to book flights to arrive in Cape Town (CPT) on or before the morning of Day 1 of this trip. You can then fly out of Port Elizabeth (PLZ) on the last day of the trip. Riders often find it easier to book a return flight to Cape Town and then just book a domestic flight from PLZ to CPT at the end of the trip.
It is important you either:
Comprehensive motorcycle insurance is included with the motorcycle rental, however the insurance excess is approximately £1000 - £1500 (depending on the model). Please note that this amount will either be 'held' on your card or paid as a deposit.
It is a condition of booking that you obtain appropriate travel insurance that covers you for riding the same capacity motorcycle that you’ll be riding on this motorcycle tour.
The insurance must cover emergency evacuation, medical bills, repatriation etc.
Adventure style kit with decent ventilation is the way to go on this motorcycle tour, rather than enduro or road leathers. So that means a good helmet, protective riding jacket and trousers, ideally with CE or equivalent approved armour on the pointy bits – elbows, knees and shoulders.
You are also going to need good riding gloves, a neck tube and a sturdy pair of motorcycle boots.
Please bring waterproofs if your kit doesn’t keep out the wet stuff.
Single room accommodation is available for every night of the trip.
Yes, please do. You can obtain these upon arrival at Cape Town airport. You will need your passport in order to purchase a sim. We would recommend the ‘Cell C’ network.
South Africa is more developed than most first time visitors will anticipate, so the idea of vegetarian menus is not new. Most of the places we stay at will cater for a meat-free / vegan meal, and we will of course do our best to ensure that any allergies are catered for.
We’ll do our best to work around any specific requirements, but if you are going to go into anaphylactic shock if a peanut looks at you, please let us know and have a fully loaded epi-pen somewhere readily accessible…
Drop us an email and we can discuss any concerns you may have.
Yes, you must be licensed to ride the same capacity motorcycle that you’ll be riding on this motorcycle tour.
Please check with your local Foreign Office if an International Driving Permit is required from your home country.
This depends where you are from originally, but visitors from the UK, USA and Australia can enter the country for up to 90 days without any visa or additional costs (you will need a proof of return flight and 2 blank pages in your passport. Please double check this before travelling just in case they’ve recently changed their minds!)
Follow this link for South African entry requirements. This link to the UK foreign office website – if you are not a UK resident, please search for the equivalent info from your home country’s foreign office.
Visa costs, if applicable, are not included in the tour price.
To secure your place we simply need a 20% non-refundable deposit (subject to a minimum of £500). The remainder does not need to be paid until 60 days prior to the tour start date.
As this is a largely inclusive tour, you won’t need much. You will only need money for the items not listed as inclusions, which is mainly just alcohol and any other personal spending. Unless you go mad with the wine list and gift shops, around £100 – £150 should be quite adequate.
Yes. Here at Ride Expeditions, we take the necessary precautions to ensure that we protect both ourselves and you as the customer, with insurances covering financial failure, public liability, professional indemnity and employers liability (you will need your own travel insurance).
To obtain this insurance we must meet strict safety standards and local regulations. We must also carry out thorough risk assessments about all aspects of a tour before tyres can hit tarmac (…or dirt!).
Yes. All passengers booking with Ride Expeditions Ltd are fully insured for the initial deposit, and subsequently the balance of monies paid as detailed in your booking confirmation form. The policy also includes repatriation if required, arising from the cancellation or curtailment of your travel arrangements due to the insolvency of Ride Expeditions Ltd. This insurance has been arranged by Towergate Travel through Evolution Insurance.
Not riding the motorcycle, no (although this will of course depend on the extent of your limited mobility). However, we may be able to accommodate you in our support vehicle. We advise you to give us a call and we can discuss.
There is decent wi-fi at all but 3 overnight accommodations.
For the most accurate and up to date info, we advise you visit the ‘Travel Health Pro’ website.
Please also consult with your own doctor at home at least 8 weeks before your trip.
Average group sizes are 8-9 riders and we limit the groups to 12 riders.
If you cancel your booking before departure, cancellation charges will be applied as follows:
Please refer to our Terms & Conditions for further info regarding cancellations, changes and transferring your trip to a friend.
The local currency is the ‘Rand’. You can either pick up some Rand back home or bring USD, GBP or EUR with you – you’ll easily be able to change these for Rand in Cape Town. Alternatively you can simply withdraw from ATMs when you arrive. (There are ATMs in the towns, but not in all of the remote areas).
Don’t forget to tell your bank you are heading to South Africa as without this information they will most likely think some rogue hacker is dipping into your account and promptly block your card.
Ideally, we want confident and experienced riders on our tours in South Africa, so for this reason we want you to have at least two years active motorcycle riding experience. And by this we mean that you have regularly ridden during that period, rather than just passing a test on the test centre’s bikes and not ridden a mile since.
We will send a pre-booking form to gauge the level of your riding experience.
Following on from this, as this motorcycle tour is both on and off-road on adventure bikes, it is more than preferable if you have had a good amount of adventure riding experience before booking up. Should you have any doubts, give our tour leaders a call or email and we can talk through any queries you may have.
The minimum required number for this trip to run is 6 riders. We reserve the right to cancel the tour if this number is not met and we will provide you with a minimum of 56 days notice. Please know that this is an absolute last resort for us and we will always do everything in our power to avoid this happening.
We accept GBP payments by Visa, Mastercard & American Express and direct bank transfers. Please get in touch if you would rather pay in another currency – we’ll do our best to accommodate!
For South Africa there are four associated plug types, types C, D, M and N. Plug type C is the plug which has two round pins, plug type D is the plug which has three round pins in a triangular pattern and plug types M and N both have three round pins.
