Along the picturesque African coast while driving on the loosely defined Garden Route, you will come across a small town called Knysna South Africa. Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, away from the noise and all the tourists, you will find this town sitting right by the Indian Ocean.
Knysna is a quaint town and is the perfect place to visit if you are travelling with kids, if you are travelling on a budget, or even if you are backpacking through South Africa. There are a ton of things to do in Knysna on a budget. There are endless activities in Knysna, and you will also find elephants in Knysna!
The town of Knysna is filled with scenic views of the Knysna Head, the Knysna Lagoon and is home to the Elephant Park in Knysna. You will find some of the best restaurants in Knysna. The laid-back vibe of this town will make you want to spend more time here. It is exceedingly kid friendly, and children will never run out of things to do in Knysna.
So, why Knysna?
Our trip to South Africa seemed incomplete without visiting an open jeep safari – afterall, don’t we all associate Africa with wild animals and safaris? Visiting Cape Town was on our bucket list as well. During my research, I found numerous safaris in East Africa but very limited in South Africa.
We have desperately wanted to visit East Africa – all those safaris and wildlife tours look so tempting. Although, with two little kids, I knew that the timing was not right, I was determined to find something similar. Something that would give us the experience of living in the forest close to a waterhole and give us an opportunity to see wildlife.
East Africa was not an option for us. Our little one was 6 months old and would not have been able to get a Malaria vaccine. South Africa is Malaria free and offers first world services in terms of hospitals and hygiene. These mattered to us because we were travelling with an infant and thus, we needed to stick to the area.
After a lot of research, I found Kuzuko Lodge in Addo Elephant National Park. This lodge is located on the east side of South Africa. This worked for us. Visiting the east part of South Africa also meant that we could drive on the world-famous Garden Route in South Africa.
We started our journey in Cape Town and the total drive was 10 hours. To break it up, we wanted to spend 2 nights in a town along the Garden Route. There are quite a few famous towns (e.g., the Plettenburg Bay area) to stop along the way. Knysna was a smaller town filled with coastal vibes and stunning views. This town offered everything that I was looking for along with keeping us within our budget. This was the reason we chose to stay in Knysna over the other more popular towns and cities.
How to get to Knysna?
If you are planning a trip to South Africa, there are a few ways you can get around. You can either book a tour, use local transport (I would not recommend using local transportation due to lack of our knowledge in a new country and safety while travelling with little kids) or you can rent a car.
We always prefer and highly recommend renting a car (if possible and depending on the destination) when travelling to new countries, especially with kids. This gives you the flexibility to roam and explore at your own pace. Our girls often nap in the car when we drive from one point to another. This gives them some much needed downtime and get them energized for the evening. You can stop wherever you choose along the way or detour if you want to see something different. If driving is on your agenda, make sure you read our 10 tips of driving in South Africa BEFORE you go!
Tavel tip with kids: When you travel for the first time after potty training your child, having a car is a blessing. You don’t need to take them to public bathrooms nor have to worry about finding a toilet everywhere you go. We pull our car over on the side of the road, open our portable potty INSIDE the car and let them do their business.
Knysna Western Cape is a must visit and is extremely safe to drive to. Cape Town to Knysna distance is approximately 500 kms. It takes about 5.5 hours to drive without any stops. I DO NOT by any means recommend stopping anywhere along the way – again, read our 10 tips of driving in South Africa to learn why you should not stop just about anywhere on the Garden Route or in South Africa in general.
There are no direct flights to Knysna so you can choose to either drive by yourself or take one of the bus tours to visit Knysna. The distance from Knysna to Port Elizabeth is approximately 3 hours and if you choose to drive, you can fly back to Cape Town from Port Elizabeth.
We drove from Cape Town to Knysna, stayed in Knysna for 2 nights and then drove to the Kragga Kamma Game Park to spend a few hours and do a self-drive safari. We then made our way to the Kuzuko Lodge, spend 2 nights at the Lodge and then drove to Port Elizabeth, dropped off our car, flew to Cape Town and rented another car there. Although this may sound hectic, I can assure you, the girls had so much downtime because we chose to stay 2 nights in each of the places. We travelled to South Africa when our girls were 6 months and 2 years old and there was no time during our road trip where they were tired or bored.
Types of accommodations in Knysna
Like any other place, you will find a mix of Airbnb’s, self-catering units, campgrounds, and hotels in Knysna. What kind of accommodation you chose is entirely based on your family’s preference. We found an exceptional home called “Big Tree House Lodge” on Expedia. This home is extra special to us because our little one started crawling in this house.
The Big Tree House Lodge was priced at $66/night and came with amazing reviews, the most beautiful log home, a kitchen, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The lodge was located on top of a hill covered in nature and forest and the balcony of the home offered the most stunning views of the Knysna Lagoon. We ate all our breakfasts on the balcony and brough home dinner to enjoy the view. The owner was beyond accommodating and friendly, and we absolutely loved our time here and recommend this place to anyone visiting Knysna.
The type of accommodations you pick are very personal choices. For e.g., I am not a big camper and campgrounds was not an option for us. We wanted something with a kitchen and lots of space for the girls to do their thing. The beautiful balcony was a sweet bonus 🙂
Things to do in Knysna
With all the popular and unusual things to do in Knysna, I can assure you that you will never run out of attractions in Knysna. Knysna caters to people from every age group – from the delicious seafood to natural structures or sights, there is something for everyone. If you are looking for more details on where we went, make sure you check out this blog post!
In the post, I have listed all that you can do and the cost of some of these things. This will help you plan your trip to Knysna while taking in those once-a-lifetime experiences.
Things to do in Knysna on a budget
Like I always say, we love to travel to luxurious destinations but on a budget. We have no intention of breaking our bank while quenching our thirst for travel. Each destination we visit, we prioritize things we absolutely must do and then add in some free attractions along the way. We splurge on one experience or one thing during our trip and keep the rest of the trip well within our budget.
For our trip to South Africa, we splurged on staying at the 5-star Kuzuko Lodge located in the jungle near a waterhole. This experience was so unique and something we haven’t done before BUT I’ll be honest with you. I scored a superb deal for this as well and spend way less than half of what we were planning on spending. If you want to know more on how to look into and secure deals to this lodge, click here for my breakdown. We got the most bang for our buck at this lodge along with experiences that will last us a lifetime.
Understandably, we did not leave a splurging budget to visit Knysna. We found things to do for free and only paid for visiting the Elephant Park in Knysna.
Some places you can visit for free are:
- Knysna Head
- Knysna Lagoon
- Hiking in Knysna is quite famous
- Beaches in Knysna – With kids, you can’t go wrong with visiting a beach
- Map of Africa – this is a natural formation and will leave you stunned and speechless
- Dolphin or whale watching at Knysna Seas
- Thesen Island
- Driving through The Seven Passes Route
- Margaret’s Viewpoint – some of the best views of the entire town.
One thing we love to do when we visit a new country is walk through the grocery store. We find unique food, snacks and fresh fruit that is local to the country. This also means that we are spending less money on eating out for every meal and staying within our budget. You get to try new foods and often, groceries stores will have local quick meals where you will spend way less money compared to a restaurant. We do, however, eat one meal at a restaurant every day. Visiting a grocery store REALLY helps us stay within our budget.
Is it worth visiting Knysna?
Typically, I plan and book all our trips. I decide the itinerary and set our budget for each trip – this is something I love to do and absolutely flourish at. When I was planning our trip to South Africa, I remember finding the town of Knysna on a whim through one of my searches.
The town instantly called to me. The more photos I saw of this place, I knew it was the perfect place for our family to spend 2 nights. Additionally, we really wanted to visit an Elephant Park and the Knysna Elephant Park looked just perfect. We got to feed elephants and roamed the park right beside them.
The seafood was delicious, and the sights were unique and beautiful. Our accommodation was perfect, and the main thing was, we were able to visit this town while staying within our budget.
I would highly recommend visiting Knysna. If you are planning a trip with kids, they will love it. There are playgrounds right on the water and the whale watching from land is always so much fun. If I were to rebook this trip, we would be spending more time in Knysna and taking in more of the coastal town vibe that this place has to offer. There are several things to do in Knysna on a budget.
Final thoughts
Whether you are looking to spend a night or 3 nights in Knysna, you will be able to make the most out of your trip here. I strongly believe that when a place is good, no time is enough time, and you will need to prioritize on what you want to do and see. Make a list of things you want to do, map it out so you are checking things off on way rather than having to backtrack, start your day at a reasonable time, line up places that your kids may not be too excited to visit during their nap time so you can still experience it while they nap – after all, no-one wants a toddler throwing a tantrum.
All in all, no matter how much time you spend in Knysna, you will be pleased with your time there. I hope that this post helps you plan your trip by adding in things to do in Knysna on a budget. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us or comment below!
