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What to see in the Karoo, South Africa?
Endless semi-desert, white gabled farmhouses, hair-raising mountain passes and some of the darkest night skies on Earth: the Karoo is South Africa's vast interior. Most visitors cross it between Cape Town and the south coast, and it rewards anyone who stays a night or two.
The name comes from a Khoikhoi word usually translated as 'land of thirst', and the Karoo covers nearly a third of the country. It splits into the Little Karoo (Klein Karoo), a long valley between two mountain ranges near the south coast, and the Great Karoo, a huge plateau further north.
What to see:
- Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves (Little Karoo): the ostrich capital, plus a cave system with a one-hour Heritage Tour and an Adventure Tour that involves squeezing through tight tunnels (up to about R300, about US$18).
- Swartberg Pass: a 19th-century gravel road zigzagging between Oudtshoorn and pretty Prince Albert; spectacular, and fine in a normal car when it's dry.
- The route R62: the back-road alternative through the Little Karoo from the Winelands, slower but far more scenic than the coastal highway.
- Graaff-Reinet and the Valley of Desolation (Great Karoo): one of the country's oldest towns, with over 200 heritage buildings, and a viewpoint over towering rock columns in Camdeboo National Park (R227, about US$14, per day).
- Nieu-Bethesda: a remote hamlet known for the Owl House, a home and garden crowded with cement sculptures.
- Karoo National Park near Beaufort West (R358, about US$22, per day), and Sutherland, home of South Africa's largest telescope, for stargazing.
Oudtshoorn's ostrich farms welcome visitors; a few still offer ostrich riding, which is widely criticised on welfare grounds, so choose a tour that doesn't include it.
Allow about five hours from Cape Town to Oudtshoorn on the route R62, then three and a half to Graaff-Reinet. The climate is extreme: often above 35°C (95°F) in summer, with freezing winter nights. Spring (September–October) and autumn (March to May) are the most pleasant. Fuel stations are far apart, so fill up whenever you can.
Verdict: the Little Karoo (Oudtshoorn, Cango, Swartberg) slots neatly into a Cape Town to Garden Route road trip; the Great Karoo (Graaff-Reinet) is worth the detour on the way to Addo, or if wide-open emptiness is your thing.
Tip: spend at least one night on a farm or in a village, far from any lights: the Karoo sky, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a glow, is one of the highlights of any trip, and it costs nothing.
Information checked in November 2026; confirm before you travel.