Updated Date:
Author: BazBus Editorial Team
Quick Summary: The active 2026 network is a single hop-on hop-off corridor between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, with 14 stops in each direction, plus day trips from both cities and Kruger safari packages. Westbound and eastbound buses run on different schedules and reach the same towns at very different hours, which matters more for planning than most people expect. This is the full stop-by-stop breakdown, including the connections and the gaps.
Strip away the marketing and the network is straightforward.
One corridor runs along the Garden Route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, roughly 750km of coastline, served in both directions. Fourteen stops are available on a pass, and you choose which of them to use. Buses pick up and drop off at your accommodation rather than at a terminal.
Around that spine sit three other product families: day trips operating out of Cape Town, day trips operating out of Port Elizabeth, and Kruger National Park safari packages in the Lowveld, which is a separate region entirely and not connected to the Garden Route corridor by our buses.
That is the whole active network. Being clear about it up front saves people planning trips that our operations team cannot deliver.
The Cape Town to Port Elizabeth route leaves Cape Town early and arrives in Port Elizabeth late. If you rode the whole thing in one go, it is a long day.
| Leg | Arrives |
|---|---|
| Cape Town (departs 7:00am) to Stellenbosch | 8:00am |
| Stellenbosch to Hermanus | 9:30am |
| Hermanus to Swellendam | 11:20am |
| Swellendam to Garden Route Game Lodge | 12:40pm |
| Garden Route Game Lodge to Mossel Bay | 1:30pm |
| Mossel Bay to George Mall | 2:20pm |
| George Mall to Wilderness | 2:50pm |
| Wilderness to Sedgefield | 3:30pm |
| Sedgefield to Knysna | 4:10pm |
| Knysna to Plettenberg Bay | 5:00pm |
| Plettenberg Bay via Bloukrans Bridge to Storms River | 7:00pm |
| Storms River to Jeffreys Bay | 8:10pm |
| Jeffreys Bay to Port Elizabeth | 9:20pm |
Departure days: every day from October to February. From March to September, departures run Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Port Elizabeth to Cape Town route leaves earlier and arrives slightly earlier, and hits the same towns at almost opposite times of day.
| Leg | Arrives |
|---|---|
| Port Elizabeth (departs 6:30am) to Jeffreys Bay | 7:35am |
| Jeffreys Bay to Storms River | 8:40am |
| Storms River to The Crags / Bloukrans Bridge | 9:30am |
| The Crags to Plettenberg Bay | 10:20am |
| Plettenberg Bay to Knysna | 11:00am |
| Knysna to Sedgefield | 11:40am |
| Sedgefield to Wilderness | 12:20pm |
| Wilderness to George Mall | 1:30pm |
| George Mall to Mossel Bay | 2:00pm |
| Mossel Bay to Garden Route Game Lodge | 2:45pm |
| Garden Route Game Lodge to Swellendam | 4:00pm |
| Swellendam to Hermanus | 6:00pm |
| Hermanus to Stellenbosch | 7:15pm |
| Stellenbosch to Cape Town | 8:00pm |
Departure days: every day from October to February. From March to September, departures run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
Compare the two tables and something useful falls out. The same town is a morning stop in one direction and an evening stop in the other.
None of this is a problem — you simply plan around it. But travellers who book activities for the afternoon of their arrival day without checking the direction they are travelling do get caught out.
One hour from Cape Town and the first stop westbound. The heart of the Winelands, surrounded by more than 150 wine farms, with grapes first planted for wine production here in 1679.
Things to do: the vineyards, cycling around the town, and hiking in Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. If you would rather do it as a structured day rather than a stop, there is a Stellenbosch vineyard and wine tasting day tour from Cape Town.
Ninety minutes further on and one of the most-used stops on the network, particularly between June and December when southern right whales are in Walker Bay.
Things to do: whale watching from the free cliff path, shark cage diving, and Overberg wine tasting. The Hermanus Marine Big 5 sea safari and full day shark cage diving both run out of the Gansbaai area nearby.
One of South Africa’s oldest towns and a quieter stop than the coastal ones either side of it. Worth it for the Cape Dutch architecture and for hiking in Marloth Nature Reserve.
This is a stop most travellers skip, which is precisely why the ones who use it tend to like it.
A game lodge stop rather than a town, and the only Big Five-style wildlife stop on the corridor itself. Guided wildlife drives, torch-lit night walks to find nocturnal species, and mountain biking.
Useful for travellers who want a taste of game viewing without committing to a Kruger trip, and it sits in a malaria-free region.
The western gateway to the Garden Route proper. Scuba diving, bungee jumping, ziplining over the ocean, and the St Blaize Trail with cliff-top coastal views.
George is the transport hub of the Garden Route and the network’s main onward connection point. From George Mall, private shuttles run inland to Oudtshoorn, which is not included in your pass but is the access route to the Cango Caves and the Klein Karoo.
Also in the area: the Garden Route Botanical Gardens, surfing at Victoria Bay, and hiking the Outeniqua Mountains.
If your itinerary includes the Karoo or the Cango Caves, George Mall is where you break off. Plan that leg separately.
A small town wedged between forest, lakes and a long beach. The Kingfisher Trail, horse riding on the beach at sunset or through the forest, and Wilderness National Park.
Short hop from George — 30 minutes westbound — and one of the more relaxed overnight stops.
The quietest stop on the corridor and deliberately so. Stand-up paddleboarding, five beaches that are essentially never crowded, and the Wild Oats farmers market.
Travellers doing the route quickly skip Sedgefield. Travellers doing it slowly often name it as their favourite stop.
The most popular Garden Route town and the one most people build their trip around. Abseiling at the Knysna Heads, walking in the Garden of Eden, and sunset cruises on the lagoon.
Knysna is also where hostel beds get tight in peak season, so book accommodation ahead even though your bus seat is flexible.
Beaches, indigenous forest and coastal views, with dolphin and whale watching trips in season, the Monkeyland sanctuary, and game reserves including Rhino Base Camp and Buffalo Hills.
Listed as its own stop on the eastbound timetable and passed through westbound. This is the access point for the Bloukrans Bridge bungee jump — at 216 metres, the highest bungee jump in the world.
The adventure capital of the corridor and the gateway to Tsitsikamma. Blackwater tubing, guided forest rides, sea kayaking and the wolf sanctuary.
Remember the timing asymmetry here: eastbound arrives in the morning, westbound arrives at 7:00pm.
One of the best-known surf breaks in the world and the last stop before Port Elizabeth. Surf lessons, extreme kayaking, diving and paddleboarding.
The western terminus and the start point for most passengers. Beyond the city itself, it is the base for the widest range of day trips from Cape Town:
More detail sits in our Cape Town travel guide.
The eastern terminus. The day trips from Port Elizabeth centre on Addo Elephant National Park, reachable on a full day tour or a 2-day tour — a Big Five park in a malaria-free region.
Also here: sandboarding the dunes, township tours, and the Kap Nature Reserve. Our Port Elizabeth travel guide covers the city in more depth.
Kruger National Park safaris are part of the active network but sit in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, roughly 1,500km from the Garden Route. They are booked as standalone packages of 3 to 5 days rather than as an extension of a bus pass, and you reach the Lowveld under your own arrangements, typically by flying to Johannesburg or Nelspruit.
Packages run across bush tent, chalet and treehouse accommodation, with guided Big Five drives, a bush braai and a visit to Blyde River Canyon included.
The practical point for route planning: do not assume a Garden Route pass gets you to Kruger. It does not. Budget the internal flight separately.
This section exists because we would rather you found out here than after booking.
The active 2026 network does not include:
These have been part of the network at various points in our thirty-year history and are not running in 2026. If your itinerary includes them, you will need to arrange that travel separately — intercity coaches, domestic flights or a rental car. We would rather tell you that plainly than sell you a pass that leaves you stranded in East London.
A few operational realities worth understanding before you plan around the timetable.
Useful context for judging a 13-hour travel day. Our buses carry 16 seats with sponge foam padding, a temperature-controlled air system, high-quality brakes and suspension, GPS monitoring that tracks each bus and driver speed, and USB ports on every seat for charging throughout the trip.
On punctuality, we publish our figure rather than making a vague claim: 98.5% on-time arrival per trip. In a region where schedules often slip, that number is the one we would want a prospective passenger to check us on.
Some practical sequencing advice from thirty years of watching people do this.
“I travelled with bazbus for 3 months. Absolutely loved it! Great way to see the country, get from a to b, and meet other travellers. Busses are comfortable, drivers are safe and very nice, online-service is great and all the stops are worth it! Would highly reccomend this if you have the time, because some travel days are long! Thanks bazbus for an amazing experience of south africa. I also went on the cape peninsula trip in cape town, which was great!” — Pascale B, New York.
That last caveat is worth keeping. Some travel days on this route genuinely are long, and the timetables above show exactly how long. Planning around that is easier than being surprised by it.
How many stops are there and do I have to use them all?
There are 14 stops available on a hop-on hop-off pass in each direction, and you use as many or as few as you want. If you want to skip a stop, you simply stay on the bus until the one you want. Most travellers on a two- to three-week trip use between four and eight, which allows enough time at each to actually experience it. Trying to use all 14 on a short trip produces a sequence of arrivals and departures rather than a holiday, and it is the most common planning mistake we see.
How often do the buses run?
From October to February, buses depart daily in both directions, so the next bus from any stop is never more than 24 hours away. From March to September, frequency drops to five days a week in each direction — Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday westbound, and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday eastbound. That difference matters if you are travelling in the shoulder or winter months, because a spontaneous departure may mean waiting a day rather than leaving in the morning.
Can I get to Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves on the bus?
Not directly. George Mall is the connection point, and private shuttles run inland from there to Oudtshoorn, but these are not included in your pass and must be arranged separately. If the Cango Caves and the Klein Karoo are a priority, plan George as an overnight stop rather than a pass-through, and sort out the shuttle in advance. Your driver can advise on current options, since these arrangements change more often than the main timetable does.
Does the route go to Durban, the Wild Coast or Johannesburg?
Not in 2026. The active network is the Cape Town to Port Elizabeth corridor, day trips from both cities, and Kruger safari packages. The Wild Coast, Durban, the Drakensberg and a continuous Cape Town to Johannesburg hop-on hop-off service are not currently running, despite having featured in our network at various points over the past thirty years. If your trip includes those regions you will need to arrange that travel independently, and we would rather say so clearly than have you buy a pass expecting coverage that does not exist.
Which direction should I travel?
Practically, whichever fits your flights — most travellers land in Cape Town and go westbound to Port Elizabeth. If you have a genuine choice, consider what you most want to do. Eastbound gives you morning arrivals at Storms River and Tsitsikamma, which suits adventure activities. Westbound gives you a morning arrival in Hermanus, which suits whale watching on the cliff path. Neither direction is better overall; they simply deliver different towns at different hours, and matching that to your priorities is worth ten minutes of thought at the booking stage.
Timetables, departure day patterns and stop lists are operational details that change with season and demand, so the times above reflect the published schedule at the time of writing rather than a guarantee for your travel date — always check the current route pages and your booking confirmation, which carries your personal pickup time. Network coverage also changes over time, and routes that are inactive in 2026 may reopen, so verify the current network directly rather than relying on any article, including this one, for a service that is not listed here.
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