South Africa is known for its breathtaking scenery, magnificent wildlife, award-winning vineyards, lovely beaches, and vibrant, cosmopolitan towns. I’ve gone to the country twice and each time I return, I’m left wanting more. There’s something unique about this location.

With nearly 56 million people and a length of 2,800 kilometers (1,700 miles), you could effortlessly spend months here and still not see all. It would take several days to drive from one end of the country to the other.

Though there are hundreds of things to see and do in South Africa, here is a selection of what I consider to be the must-see and must-do activities:

Go On A Safari

The majority of visitors to South Africa come for a safari, and for good reason. It has some of the best game drives in the world, and you’ll want to stay in one of the hundreds of national parks for at least a couple of nights. There’s nothing else like it.

Kruger National Park is the most well-known safari destination, with remarkable diversity and plenty of wonderful species, including the “Big Five” (lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses, and Cape buffalo).

Safaris are so widespread in South Africa that they cater to almost every price range and budget. Budget-friendly campsites to premium guesthouses and resorts are all available as lodging options.

Cape Town

Cape Town is South Africa’s most popular tourist destination and with good cause. It’s a busy, cosmopolitan city with lively pubs, delectable cuisine, pleasant weather, and plenty of wildlife and hiking opportunities nearby. The waterfront, in addition to the city’s wonderful beaches, is brimming with things to do.

South Africa’s Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean coasts both provide world-class surfing. Jeffrey’s Bay, near Port Elizabeth on the south coast, is South Africa’s most famous surfing spot, with large waves and various breaks.

Near Cape Town, there are a number of good surfing spots, including Dungeons in Hout Bay and a few more further south on the Western Cape, such as Long Beach.

Because of the consistent waves and warm water of the Indian Ocean, Durban is a wonderful place to learn to surf if you’re a beginner. For a 2-3 hour course, expect to pay roughly 500 ZAR per person.

Learn About Apartheid

You can’t visit South Africa without knowing about apartheid (a system of institutionalized racial segregation), which lasted from the 1940s to the 1990s and left a pall over the country. The Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, which opened in 2001, does a great job of exposing apartheid’s history and consequences.

Visit the Constitutional Court while in Johannesburg. It is built atop the remnants of a former political prisoner, and visitors can tour the ruins and learn more about the numerous political prisoners who were wrongfully imprisoned here.

In Cape Town, you should also pay a visit to the District Six Museum. It’s a memorial to the people who were forced to leave the neighborhood in the 1970s so that white people could settle there. It’s both depressing and enlightening.

Visit Robben Island

You should also schedule a visit to Robben Island if you want to understand more about apartheid. Robben Island was a maximum-security prison until 1996, located just four miles off the coast of Cape Town. Many political prisoners were transferred to Robben Island during the apartheid era. Nelson Mandela, who spent 18 years on Robben Island, is one of them. The penitentiary is currently a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well as one of the country’s most important cultural landmarks.

Go Diving

Cape Town is the place to go if you enjoy diving (or want to learn). Because of the mixture of warm and cold water currents, diving is world-class. There are rocky coasts, several reefs, and kelp forests here. On both sides of the peninsula, there are several wrecks.

If you’re a beginner diver, expect to pay roughly 1,450 ZAR for a one-tank dive (including equipment rental) and 6,600 ZAR for your PADI certification.

Port Elizabeth is a great place to go if you want to see more wrecks (which is on the coast halfway between Cape Town and Durban). The Haerlem (a wrecked navy frigate) and the Doddington are two of the more fascinating wrecks to examine. It’s also a fantastic spot for shark diving.