16-day itinerary to Austria and South Africa

I really want to share our 16-day itinerary to Austria and South Africa with you guys. I have received so many requests to share on how we managed such a big trip with little kids. We were able to squeeze so much more than we had planned by using some of our tips and tricks with little ones. There were times we were on the go and googling more things we could check out in the area! So here is our 16-day itinerary to Austria and South Africa.

One thing to keep in mind when you are travelling with little ones, is to be flexible! Let the kids decide the pace and give them downtime through the day. Include activities in the day that they will enjoy as well. We always made sure to visit a park everyday. This gave Amarra a chance to crawl and Myrra to burn off her energy! This was enough to satisfy them for the day and we got to do so much more through the day.

Our 16-day itinerary to Austria and South Africa was broken down with:

Day 1-4 in Austria; Day 5-15 in South Africa; Day 16 in London

Day 1

We had an overnight flight from Toronto to Vienna. Even though we were lucky to get the bassinet seats, they did not work well for us because the bassinets were so tiny. Amarra had no place to wriggle around and her legs were jammed in there. 

We reached Vienna the next morning and the first thing we did was set up our phones. When in Canada, we bought a SIM card online from Sims Corner and were quickly able to start using data. We rented our car and once we checked into our AirBnb, we literally slept most of our day! For some reason, this day is a blur to me. I remember the girls eating dinner but not sure if Rohan and I ate. The time difference had surely hit and even the girls were sleeping all day. It worked out well for us because this really helped the girls adjust to the time difference. If this is not something you would like to do, you can check out the Schoenbrunn Palace!

Day 2

We drove to Hallstatt and Salzburg for the day – Click here to read my blog post on what we did in Hallstatt and Salzburg and how we managed this road trip with the girls.

 

Day 3

We took the day to explore Vienna today. We visited St. Stephens Cathedral, Danube Tower and Brunnenmarkt. Click Here to read my blog post on what we did in a day in Vienna. You will find more details on the locations we visited and what we ate! This ended our trip to Austria in our 16-day itinerary in Austria and South Africa.

Day 4

It was time to head to Cape Town and we had a 13 hours non-stop flight from Vienna! We were lucky because the flight was fairly empty so we got an entire row to ourselves. This gave us an opportunity to take Amarra’s car seat on the flight and the 13 hours literally just flew by. After reaching Cape Town past midnight, we rented a car and stayed at an airport hotel. Our plan was to drive the Garden Route early the next morning so this made sense for us. 

Day 5

After checking out, we converted some money at the bank. We then grabbed a quick bite and bought some groceries for our hotel in Knysna. Around noon, we started the 6-hour drive on the very famous garden route. We reached Knysna after sundown and had a 2 night halt there. Knysna is the midpoint while driving the garden route and this little town has to much to offer and is definitely worth checking out.

Day 6

Spend the day in Knysna checking out some local sights like the Elephant Park, Knysna Head and Map of Africa to name a few. We ate lunch at the East Heads Café – this was a beautiful little cafe located right by the Knysna Heads and is a very famous lunch spot. Make sure you are ready to wait a bit because they can get really busy! Knysna is known for its seafood and we ate delicious fish and chips here. Oyster’s are a must try in this town as well and Rohan ate some that night from a restaurant recommended by the locals!

 

 

When I talk about Knysna, I have to mention the beautiful place we stayed at. This place is extra special to us because Amarra started crawling here! It is called the Big Tree House and it was located on one of the mountains. I love log cabins and this is exactly what this place was. The views were spectacular and we could see the town and the water right from our balcony and from all the bedrooms. The house had a kitchen with a massive living room and 3 bedrooms. Each bedroom had a bathroom attached. It was a 2- storey home and provided us with all the privacy we needed. 

The balcony is huge with a BBQ and a dining area to enjoy the beautiful sunsets. A maid comes everyday to clean the place and I cannot tell you enough good things about this place. The owner was so friendly and welcoming. We arrived and left Knysna at odd times but she was always there to make sure we had a fabulous stay. If there is one recommendation you would like to take away from this, it would definitely be this house! YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

 

Day 7

We left Knysna at 7am and drove to the Kramma Kagga Game Park for a self-drive through their game reserve. To read more about this game-drive, Click Here. This was a fantastic experience for Myrra because she sat on daddies lap while he drove. We got to see giraffes, zebras, lions, cheetahs, ostrich, deers and many other animals up close. After spending a few hours at the Game Park and grabbing a quick lunch, we continued onto Kuzuko Lodge located on the north side of the Addo Elephant National Park. Once we reached Kuzuko Lodge we were invited with a welcome drink, hand massage and a delicious lunch spread. We hurried to our chalets to make it on time for the afternoon game drive. 

We had a babysitter watching Amarra and she was so good with her! They had become friends and we knew Amarra was in safe hands (this is the first time we had ever left Amarra with a babysitter. We took Myrra for this game drive because she truly loves to see animals. To be honest, we were a bit skeptical because we did not know how she would react when she saw lions up close. We kept her Ipad with us incase she got bored. Myrra absolutely loved the safari and got to sit in an open jeep and see lions and elephants up close.

Day 8

We had arranged for the baby sitter to come to the room and watch the girls this morning. We had booked a morning safari that left at 5am. Today was another exceptional day at the park and we got to see lions even more closely and witness some really cool sights! Our drive was Kai and he was excellent at what he did. Both our game drives also included an afternoon tea and a morning breakfast in the middle of the jungle and we enjoyed this experience so much! We spend the rest of the day exploring the beautiful Kuzuko Lodge and daddy took care of the girls while I took advantage of the spa!

Typically, Kuzuko Lodge is an all-inclusive lodge where all your meals and the game drives are included but we had paid for bed, breakfast and dinner. They had a promotion going on where we paid less than half of the price if we chose this. In short, our game drives and lunch would be the only things not included. 

We paid an additional 30$ CAD each for how many ever game drives we decided to do. In all honestly, we had paid for 2 beforehand and would pay for more at the time if we thought we needed to go. But, we were content and we also wanted to take advantage of the facilities and spend time with the girls so we did not go for more. If you decide to book this lodge, make sure you email them for any promotions going on. You can also Click Here to read more about the Lodge and our game drives there.

 

 

Day 9

We checked out after breakfast and drove to Port Elizabeth located 2 hours from the Kuzuko Lodge. To save time, we took a flight back to Cape Town. After landing in the afternoon, we rented our car and drove to the apartment we rented. There was an issue with the apartment hotel we had booked and had to find new accommodations. This was literally the first time we had an issue with a place we booked and it was the first time we experience a dishonest owner. We got settled in by 8pm and did not end up doing anything this day.

Day 10

This was one busy day for us! We started our morning visiting the tabletop mountain. Due to the winds, we were not able to take the cable car up but we got to spend a lot of time taking in this beautiful mountain. 

We drove through Bo Kaap and took some really nice pictures with the colourful houses in the back. We then made our way to the Chapman’s Peak Drive. Along this drive, we stopped at almost every lookout point because every spot was breathtaking. 

Our next stop was Muizenberg to check out the beautiful surfer huts on the beach. We made our way back through Maidens Cove and Hout’s bay. The highlight of this day was stopping at a tiny local restaurant for lunch in Hout’s Bay. This place was located right alongside the ocean and it had the most gorgeous sights and the most delicious fish and chips, calamari as well as jumbo Prawns.

 

 

Day 11

We visited Boulder’s beach and got a chance to get up close with the colony of Penguins that still reside at this beach. Our next stop was the Cape of Good Hope – the Southern most tip of Africa. I felt we could have completely skipped the Cape of Good Hope. It was a long drive from Cape town plus there was over an hours wait to get inside the park area. The tickets were overpriced and we had seen much prettier sights. It was filled with tourists and we could not even find parking and ended up leaving. 

That night, I was craving some Indian food and we ordered from the Eastern Food Bazaar. This place was heaven because it has multiple food stations with food from every corner of India. From Hakka Chinese to South Indian, it was all there! It was reasonably priced and the portions were huge – we actually ate the leftovers another night as well.

 

 

Day 12

We spend the day exploring the buzzing V & A Waterfront today. This place is truly a beauty and it’s the perfect place to find souvenirs to take back. Yes, it is a bit over priced but we did not want to roam around finding something else plus you pay for the quality and we came across some really unique things at the Waterfront made by local artisans and some made by the local women of Africa. We bought most of our souvenirs from here. We then went back for a drive through the Chapman’s Peak Drive. 

This was honestly one of the best drives we have ever done in all of our travels because of the splendid views of the ocean while driving through the mountains. Plus a little ahead of Camps Bay along the Chapman’s Peak Drive road was a road side woodcraft display with such beautiful pieces to pick from. We hunted this place down to pick some more souvenirs for our family back home. They were really good quality wood and the carving was outstanding.

 

Day 13

We desperately needed a beach day and decided to visit Camps Bay, which is a happening area with lots of restaurants and shops lined along the beach road. There was a natural infinity pool as well and I definitely wanted to check it out. Too bad, it was so windy and the water was cold that we did not want to take the girls in it and get them sick before flying out. Even though we couldn’t get into the water – Myrra enjoyed the parks in this area! 

I love water and I have swam in some really really cold water in the past and would have willingly done that again but then again, with kids you have certain things you cant necessarily do and this was definitely one of them for me. We then drove to Maiden’s Cove again to see the 12 Apostles. It is truly a beautiful sight to see of the majestic mountains shaped in a certain formation to for the 12 Apostles. This one spot gives you the view of the entire 12 Apostles and is definitely worth a visit.

 

 

 

Day 14

We had an evening flight and after checking out, we went to explore the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. These gardens have so much to offer and you can easily spend a day here and pack a nice picnic lunch. We spend half the day at the Gardens and then headed back to our hotel to collect our luggage and head to the airport.

 

Day 15

After an overnight flight back to London, We rented our car and literally drove through the city. It was a Saturday, it was raining and it was flooded with tourists. I literally did not feel like getting out of the car and we just wanted to check in and relax at the hotel. As soon as we got our room, we spend the remainder of the day in the room looking at our trip pictures and having some downtime with the girls. It was Rohan’s birthday and he did not wish to do anything at all but spend our last day together just playing and having fun. We had roamed so much these past few days and it had finally caught up to Rohan and I if not the girls.  

Day 16

We flew back to Toronto from London and all Myrra kept telling us the entire flight was that she wanted to go back to Africa and see animals. She was looking out the airplane window to spot some animals and we knew this trip was forever going to leave a mark on her!

We have seen pictures from this trip at least a 100 times because that is all Myrra wants to do. Amarra was such a good baby through it all and we saw a complete different side of her. She was so happy taking in all the beautiful sights. Both the girls were so easy going through this trip. I know how they are and I know this is generally not the norm for us. 

Myrra gets anxious in an hours car ride and wants to get off her car seat and play. Amarra gets tired sitting in her car seat for long hauls but honestly guys, if traveling is on your agenda, see what works for them and go with the flow. We let screen time rules pass during holidays, we kept tons of snack and we had lots of toys in the car for them to play with and all these things really helped us.

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