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Great Cape to Coast: A Rovos Rail Journey Across Africa
Great Cape To Coast Rovos Rail Journey From Cape Town To Dar Es Salaam
Duration
17 DaysStarts In
Cape TownRoute
Victoria Falls , Madikwe Game Reserve, Kimberley, Nyerere National Park, Pretoria, Cape Town , Dar es Salaam, Gaborone
There are few ways to see this much of a continent while barely leaving your seat. Rovos Rail's 17-day journey from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam threads together five countries, two Big Five safaris and one of the world's great waterfalls, all from the comfort of a vintage carriage. Roll through the Cape winelands and the ancient Karoo, tour the Big Hole at Kimberley, and spend two nights tracking wildlife in Madikwe before crossing into Botswana and Zimbabwe. A two-night stay at Victoria Falls brings a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, followed by the storied TAZARA line into Tanzania and a game drive through Nyerere National Park. It's a journey built for travelers who want the continent's scale and its detail in equal measure.
LUXURY RAIL JOURNEY 17 Days / 16 Nights itinerary, 13 nights onboard Rovos Rail Luxury Train and 3 nights in luxury hotel accommodation from Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam, featuring Matjiesfontein, Kimberley, Pretoria, Madikwe Game Reserve, Victoria Falls, Chisimba Falls, Nyerere National Park and Dar Es Salaam. Includes private arrival & departure transfers, your choice of luxury cabin accommodations, room service, all meals, local beer, wine and soft drinks, onboard lectures and guided excursions as indicated in the itinerary.
Includes
- Accommodations as per itinerary
- Meals as per itinerary; breakfast (B), lunch (L), dinner (D)
- Sightseeing: per itinerary
- Train tickets as per the itinerary
- Entrance fees as per itinerary
- Special onboard entertainment per itinerary
- Select alcoholic drinks as per itinerary
- Keytours 24-hour emergency assistance
- Private arrival and departure transfers as per itinerary
- Dinner drinks: one glass of local wine per person
Excludes
- Items of a personal nature
- All other items not mentioned as included
- Domestic flights; please inquire with your Keytours travel consultant
- Transfers not mentioned in the itinerary
- Travel insurance; please inquire with your Keytours travel consultant
- Gratuities for drivers, guides, and escorts
Itinerary
Day
1
1
Day 1
Day 1: Winelands & Windows — Departing Cape Town
Your journey begins at the Rovos Rail Lounge, where you check in two hours ahead of departure before boarding at Cape Town Station. As the train pulls away, settle into your suite and let the pace of rail travel take over. Lunch is served in the dining cars as you trundle through the winelands of the Western Cape toward Worcester, vineyards rolling past your window. Afternoon tea follows in the lounge and observation cars, a relaxed prelude to your first formal dinner on board. As evening falls, the train begins its dramatic climb some 750 metres up the face of the escarpment. Lectures are offered throughout the journey in the lounge car; consult your lecture sheet for details. Dress for dinner is formal.
Day
2
2
Day 2
Day 2: Karoo Crossing — Matjiesfontein & the Ancient Seabed
Breakfast is served until 10:00, after which you disembark at Matjiesfontein for a stroll through this historic village, once an ambitious Victorian health resort. Visit the platform museum and admire a curious collection of vintage cars and railway carriages near the Lord Milner Hotel before reboarding. The train then traverses the Karoo, a vast semi-desert that was once an inland sea; over millions of years, volcanic sediment settled on the seabed to form the striated landscape you see today. Lunch and afternoon tea are served on board as the scenery unfolds, followed by a formal dinner as the train continues toward Kimberley. Dress for dinner is formal.
Day
3
3
Day 3
Day 3: Diamond City — Kimberley's Big Hole
After breakfast served until 10:00, spend the morning exploring Kimberley, capital of the Northern Cape and the city that grew up around South Africa's diamond rush following the discovery of diamonds here in 1871. A guided tour takes you through the Diamond Mine Museum and to the edge of the Big Hole, one of the largest hand-dug excavations in the world, where you'll hear the stories of the prospectors who once flocked to this remote outpost. Return to the train for lunch, followed by afternoon tea in the lounge and observation cars. Dinner is served as the train continues toward Union. Dress for dinner is formal.
Day
4
4
Day 4
Day 4: Capital Tour — A Day in Pretoria
Breakfast is served in the dining cars before a transfer of around ninety minutes takes you to Pretoria for a city tour. Explore South Africa's administrative capital, known for its jacaranda-lined avenues and historic government buildings, before lunch at Rovos Rail Station. Take a walking tour of the station itself and visit the on-site museum, tracing the story of luxury rail travel in Southern Africa, before the return transfer to the train. As evening falls, the train departs for Zeerust. A formal dinner is served in the dining cars as you settle back into the rhythm of the journey.
Day
5
5
Day 5
Day 5: Into the Bush — Arriving Madikwe Game Reserve
Pack a small overnight bag using the tog bag provided in your suite; spa treatments are available at your own expense, payable in South African rand or by card. Breakfast is served until 10:00 before a transfer of roughly ninety minutes brings you to a lodge in Madikwe for a two-night stay, with lunch on arrival. Madikwe is a malaria-free Big Five reserve bordering Botswana, its volcanic hills and riverine bush supporting species from both bushveld and Kalahari ecosystems, along with more than 300 bird species. After afternoon tea, set out on your first game drive of roughly three hours. Dinner at the lodge is casual dress.
Day
6
6
Day 6
Day 6: Dawn Patrol — A Full Day of Game Viewing
Rise early for a game drive of approximately three hours, tracking wildlife through Madikwe's plains and thornveld in the cool morning light. Return to the lodge for breakfast, served until 09:30, followed by a leisurely morning at leisure before lunch. In the afternoon, enjoy tea before heading out on a second game drive, again around three hours, as the bush comes alive with activity in the golden late-afternoon light. With two drives today, your chances of spotting the reserve's full range of resident wildlife are at their best. Dinner at the lodge rounds out the day; dress is formal this evening.
Day
7
7
Day 7
Day 7: Border Crossing — Madikwe to Botswana
Have luggage ready for collection and check out by 10:00 following one final early morning game drive of around two hours. Breakfast is served at the lodge until 09:30 before a transfer of about an hour to rejoin the train at Gaborone, crossing the border into Botswana en route; be prepared to present yourself for border formalities, and hand your passport to the Train Manager. Lunch is served as the train crosses the Tropic of Capricorn and skirts the Kalahari, a vast semi-arid basin extending across Botswana, Namibia and South Africa toward the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta. Afternoon tea and a formal dinner follow on board.
Day
8
8
Day 8
Day 8: Straight and True — Toward the Zimbabwe Border
If booking excursions for Victoria Falls through the on-board historian, arrange these before lunch; cash is accepted. Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00, with border formalities into Zimbabwe taking place through the morning. Lunch is served as the train rolls on, followed by afternoon tea in the lounge and observation cars. Today's route includes one of the world's longest stretches of straight railway line, a 114-kilometre run between Gwaai and Dete, tracing the eastern boundary of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe's largest game reserve. A formal dinner is served in the dining cars this evening.
Day
9
9
Day 9
Day 9: Thundering Water — Arrival at Victoria Falls
Pack an overnight bag for tonight's hotel stay. Breakfast is served until 10:00 before the train arrives at Victoria Falls, where you disembark for a short walk to the hotel and a welcome address on the lawn, followed by lunch. In late afternoon, gather in the foyer for a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River, Africa's fourth-longest river, watching the light change over the water. Return for dinner at the hotel. Victoria Falls itself, the largest curtain of falling water on earth, plunges over a 1.6-kilometre precipice into a chasm just 50 meters wide; its roar and spray are unforgettable. Dress this evening is smart casual, with no safari wear, shorts or sandals.
Day
10
10
Day 10
Day 10: Falls to Rail — Crossing into Zambia
Check-out is typically 10:00; luggage storage is available at reception if you have morning plans before your afternoon departure. Spend the morning at leisure in Victoria Falls, with breakfast and lunch served at the hotel. In the afternoon, meet on the station platform to reboard the train, passport in hand for the Train Manager, before crossing the iconic Victoria Falls Bridge into Zambia. Tea is served in the lounge and observation cars as border formalities take place. This is a moment to savor: the gorge and spray of the falls visible from the bridge itself. A formal dinner is served in the dining cars this evening.
Day
11
11
Day 11
Day 11: River and Rail — Across the Kafue
Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00 as the journey continues deeper into Zambia. Lunch is served as the train crosses the Kafue Railway Bridge, a striking 477-metre steel girder structure of thirteen spans, an engineering landmark of the line. Spend the afternoon relaxing in the lounge or observation cars over tea, taking in the changing scenery as Zambia's woodlands and river valleys pass by. As dusk falls, the train passes near Lusaka, Zambia's capital, en route to the following day's stops. A formal dinner is served in the dining cars this evening, rounding out a day of leisurely rail travel.
Day
12
12
Day 12
Day 12: TAZARA Line — Africa's Best-Kept Secret
Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00 as the train joins the TAZARA railway, a remarkable feat of engineering built to connect Zambia and Tanzania through remote, little-travelled territory. Spend the day watching the landscape shift through the windows of the lounge car, with lunch and afternoon tea served on board. This stretch of line, completed in the 1970s, remains one of the continent's great rail achievements, threading through terrain few travelers ever see. As evening approaches, the train continues toward Kasama. Dinner is served in the dining cars, with tonight's dress code an "Africa" theme or smart casual.
Day
13
13
Day 13
Day 13: Sacred Falls — Chisimba & the Tanzania Border
Breakfast is served in the dining cars before a visit to Chisimba Falls, a trio of cascades along the Luombe River where a short walk leads down to rock pools at the base. According to Bemba tradition, a nature spirit is said to inhabit a cave behind the falls, and the site has long been treated with particular respect. Lunch is served as the train climbs toward the border, roughly the midpoint between Africa's two Great Rift Valley lakes. Border formalities into Tanzania take place before a formal dinner this evening. Remember to set your watch forward an hour before retiring.
Day
14
14
Day 14
Day 14: Rift Valley Vistas — Toward the Southern Highlands
Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00 as the train traverses the Rift Valley, passing through baobab-studded landscape en route to Mbeya. Lunch is served amid the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, a region of grassland, savanna and woodland that gives way at higher elevations to evergreen Afromontane forest, part of an ecoregion shared with the mountains of Malawi and Zambia. Spend the afternoon over tea in the lounge and observation cars, watching the terrain grow greener and more mountainous. The train continues toward Makambako as evening falls, with a formal dinner served in the dining cars.
Day
15
15
Day 15
Day 15: Escarpment Switchbacks — Into the Udzungwa Mountains
Breakfast is served until 10:00, with time for an optional stroll through Makambako before the train departs at 09:00. Lunch is served as the route heads toward the jungle-clad Udzungwa Mountains, where the train negotiates dramatic switchbacks, viaducts and tunnels carved into the escarpment, a highlight of engineering and scenery alike. Afternoon tea in the lounge car offers front-row views of the terrain as it steepens and thickens with forest. As the train continues toward Fuga Halt, settle in for a formal dinner in the dining cars, your penultimate evening aboard before reaching journey's end.
Day
16
16
Day 16
Day 16: Wild Encounter — Nyerere National Park
A continental breakfast is served until 08:00, followed by brunch until noon. Weather permitting, set out on a game drive through Nyerere National Park, Africa's largest protected area at some 30,000 square kilometers, home to significant populations of elephant, lion, wild dog and hippo along the Rufiji River system. Afterward, the train resumes its journey across Tanzania's fertile lowlands, the scenery shifting from savanna to farmland. Dinner is served in the dining cars as the train continues toward Gwata, with tonight's dress code a playful "1920s" theme or smart casual, a fitting send-off before tomorrow's arrival.
Day
17
17
Day 17
Day 17: Journey's End — Arrival in Dar es Salaam
Have your luggage ready for collection at least 15 minutes before arrival, along with your passport. Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00 as the train completes its final approach into Tanzania's largest city. Your journey concludes at Tazara Station on Julius K. Nyerere Road in Dar es Salaam, marking the end of an epic rail crossing spanning South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania. From the winelands of the Cape to the thunder of Victoria Falls and the wilds of Nyerere National Park, this journey traces the continent's diversity in a single, unforgettable itinerary.
Dates & Prices
27 of Feb, 2027
Saturday
3 of Jul, 2027
Saturday
9 of Oct, 2027
Saturday
10 of Jan, 2028
Monday
28 of Feb, 2028
Monday
3 of Jul, 2028
Monday
9 of Oct, 2028
Monday
Frequently Asked Questions
The Great Cape to Coast Rovos Rail Journey spans five countries and includes several remarkable destinations: Cape Town, Madikwe Game Reserve, Kimberley, Pretoria, Victoria Falls, Chisimba Falls, Nyerere National Park, and Dar es Salaam. This itinerary offers a unique opportunity to experience diverse landscapes and cultures across Southern Africa.
This package lasts for 17 days and 16 nights, with 13 nights spent onboard the Rovos Rail Luxury Train. The remaining 3 nights are spent in luxury hotel accommodations, allowing travelers to enjoy both the comfort of rail travel and the luxury of hotel stays.
This tour includes all meals as per the itinerary, which typically consists of breakfast, lunch, and dinner served in the dining cars. Additionally, local beer, wine, and soft drinks are included with meals. Travelers can also enjoy one glass of local wine per person during dinner. However, items of a personal nature and other drinks not mentioned are not included.
Yes, this itinerary includes two nights at the Madikwe Game Reserve, where travelers will enjoy guided game drives. There are also opportunities for game viewing in Nyerere National Park, ensuring that wildlife enthusiasts can experience Africa's rich biodiversity during their journey.
Yes, travelers can customize their accommodations by choosing from various luxury cabin options on the train. Additionally, you can inquire about adding extra nights or destinations to your itinerary through your Keytours travel consultant, who can assist with personalization to suit your travel preferences.
Items not included in this package are personal expenses, travel insurance, domestic flights, gratuities for drivers, guides, and escorts, and any transfers not mentioned in the itinerary. It's advisable to consult with your Keytours travel consultant for any additional services you may require.
Travelers primarily move between destinations via the Rovos Rail Luxury Train, which provides a comfortable and scenic journey. There are also private transfers included for arrival and departure, as well as transfers to and from game reserves and city tours, ensuring seamless travel throughout the itinerary.
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