Places · South Africa

Natural Wonders of South Africa: The 5 Most Beautiful Places to Visit

5 places in the atlas

South Africa packs remarkable diversity into one country: the flat-topped sandstone of Table Mountain above Cape Town, where the cold Atlantic and warm Indian oceans nearly meet; the fynbos-clad slopes of the Cape Floristic Region, the smallest and one of the richest of the world's six floral kingdoms; and, further inland and north, savanna, mountains, and famous wildlife reserves. Ancient rock, unique flora, and dramatic coastlines define its natural character. Below are the 5 natural wonders of South Africa in the atlas — the most beautiful places to build a trip around, each with what makes it remarkable, when to go, and how to reach it. Best overall time: Roughly February–May and September–November for clear Cape weather; the region is beautiful year-round, with wildflowers in spring.

Kruger National Park

Mpumalanga & Limpopo, South Africa

One of Africa's greatest and most accessible game reserves — a vast bushveld wilderness the size of a small country, home to the Big Five and an extraordinary abundance of wildlife.

Savanna & plains Africa

Blyde River Canyon

Mpumalanga, South Africa

One of the world's largest canyons and the greatest of its green, forested kind — a subtropical gorge of red-rock buttresses, plunging cliffs and swirling rock pools along Mpumalanga's Panorama Route.

Canyon Africa

Cape of Good Hope

Cape Peninsula, Western Cape, South Africa

The wild, storied headland at the tip of the Cape Peninsula — soaring sea cliffs, wind-blasted fynbos and crashing surf where two ocean currents meet, long mistaken for the southern tip of Africa.

Beach & coast Africa

Table Mountain

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

The flat-topped sandstone massif that presides over Cape Town — a sheer-sided landmark often draped in a 'tablecloth' of cloud, and the heart of a plant kingdom so rich it is unique on Earth.

Mountain Africa

The Drakensberg

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (bordering Lesotho)

South Africa's great basalt rampart — a UNESCO World Heritage range of soaring escarpment walls, plunging waterfalls and the world's richest gallery of San rock art, rising along the border with Lesotho.