Set off on a luxurious 1,600 km (994 mile) rail journey between Pretoria and Cape Town, spending two nights aboard the Blue Train. Over 31 hours, you’ll pass through mountainous landscapes, sprawling farmland, and vine-woven valleys. With large windows and a live camera feeding TVs in the club car and your suite, you can watch the journey’s scenery unfold in real time.
En route, you’ll stop at the former diamond-mining town of Kimberley to visit the Kimberley Open Mine Museum. Here, a guided tour sheds light on the region’s 19th-century diamond-mining industry, for which South Africa’s rail network was integral.
The train itself has a relaxed yet convivial atmosphere, accommodating up to 84 guests in 41 Luxury and slightly larger De Luxe Suites. Its decor has a distinctive 1920s feel, with burnished wood panels, plump leather seats, and warmly lit lamps on the walls.
By day, your fully carpeted, soundproofed suite is a private compartment you can retreat to, complete with comfortable chairs and complimentary Wi-Fi. Then, as the sun sets, your space will be converted into a bedroom, complete with a bed draped in crisp cotton sheets and a down duvet. Each suite has its own bathroom with a shower or bath.
You’ll sit down to freshly prepared meals in the elegant dining car (or in the privacy of your suite, if preferred), with on-board chefs able to cater to any dietary requirement. After-dinner drinks are offered in the Club Car, where you could also enjoy a game of backgammon, cards, or chess, or unwind with a book from the library.
A traditional High Tea is served each day in the Lounge Car. And, you can relax in the Observation Car, whose large picture windows allow you to take in views over the surrounding landscape or gaze up at the star-spangled night sky.
Throughout your journey, butlers will be on hand for round-the-clock assistance — each butler serves no more than four suites, so your stay feels highly personal.
Start planning your tailor-made trip by contacting one of our South Africa specialists
These activities are designed to give you the most authentic experiences around where you're staying. We work with local guides, who use their knowledge and often a resident's eye to show you the main sights and more out-of-the-way attractions. Our specialists can suggest tours and activities that will introduce you to the local ways of life.
A journey on Rovos Rail
Travel across Southern Africa in the restored trains of Rovos Rail. With several luxury journeys to choose from, you can explore the regions that most interest you in both comfort and style.
Cape Town city tour
Take a guided tour of the “Mother City”. You’ll visit the Castle of Good Hope, the Parliament Buildings, and the brightly painted Bo-Kaap district for a grounding in the city’s history and culture, as well as riding the rotating cable car up to Table Mountain’s summit.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden occupies a large swathe of beautiful land on the lower slopes of Table Mountain. It houses a huge collection of indigenous flora, such as heathery fynbos, flowering proteas and dramatically colored strelitzias.
Museums of Cape Town
Cape Town boasts a variety of museums that help tell the story of the city’s multi-layered past, as well as that of South Africa as a whole and the wider continent. We share a few that we particularly recommend visiting during your stay.
Peninsula Tour
The Cape Peninsula is an area of dramatic natural beauty and huge ecological significance, which manages to retain a wild feel despite its huge popularity with visitors. As you drive south from Cape Town, you pass through the exclusive suburbs of Camps Bay and Clifton before continuing onto Hout Bay and through Constantia, where the road meanders behind Table Mountain and down onto the coast.
Robben Island tour
Led by a former inmate, you’ll tour Robben Island’s old prison buildings, from the communal cells to the tiny solitary cells of B-Section, where Nelson Mandela spent much of his incarceration. You’ll also explore the wider island and find out more about its uses over the years.
Table Mountain Tour
Guests are taken to the lower terminal for the cable-car up Table Mountain. The cable-car is a very modern affair, and completes a 360º rotation during the ascent, affording you fantastic views over the city.
You can enjoy this activity as part of the suggested tours below, or we can weave it into a trip shaped entirely around you.
