Updated Date:
Author: BazBus Editorial Team
Quick Summary: South Africa welcomed a record 10.5 million international tourists in 2025 and is running roughly 12% ahead of that pace through the first half of 2026, which puts 2027 on track to be the busiest backpacking season the country has ever had. The practical conditions have improved too: the power grid has gone over a year without load shedding, the rand has steadied near R16 to the dollar, and visa processing has moved online for several key markets. This report sets out what the numbers say, what we see from the driver’s seat on the Garden Route, and what travelers planning a 2027 trip should budget, book and expect.
Backpacking planning usually starts with a vague sense of “is South Africa having a moment?” The data answers that clearly. Statistics South Africa recorded 10 498 506 international tourists in 2025, a 17.7% jump on the 8.9 million counted in 2024 and 2.6% above the pre-pandemic 2019 benchmark of 10.2 million. That was the first year the country moved past its previous ceiling rather than merely recovering toward it.
The momentum carried into 2026. The Department of Tourism reported 5 584 473 international tourists between January and June 2026, up 12.3% year on year, with arrivals from elsewhere in Africa growing 14.3% and overseas arrivals growing 5.6%. June alone brought 823 365 visitors, a 9.8% annual increase, and the United States held its position as the largest single overseas source market. Government has set a target of 15 million arrivals by 2030 under its Tourism Growth Partnership Plan, which tells you the direction of travel even if the target itself proves ambitious.
Three things follow from this for anyone planning a 2027 backpacking trip:
That last point matters more than any headline figure. Along the corridor BazBus has run since 1995, the difference between a Knysna waterfront in mid-January and the same waterfront in early May is not subtle.
The stereotype of the South African backpacker is a 21-year-old on a gap year. Our own ridership has never matched that picture. The average age of passengers on our buses sits between 25 and 35, and the spread runs much wider in both directions. We have carried families with toddlers and passengers in their seventies and eighties on the same 16-seat vehicle, which produces a particular kind of on-board atmosphere: older passengers tend to enjoy the energy of the younger ones, and younger passengers get stories they would never hear in a hostel dorm.
Over 30% of BazBus passengers travel as couples. This is worth stating plainly because couples researching South Africa often assume a backpacker network will feel like a student bar on wheels, and then book something more expensive and less interesting instead.
“We are in our 30s and wanted some chill out time after a big family wedding, try some wines, see the sights, meet people, and not worry about who would drive and where each day!!! I looked at every option for months…after checking Bazbus reviews we eventually were convinced to book the 14 day travel pass..and we added a Kruger Park safari package too.” — Lisa-Jane, Canada.
Solo travelers are the fastest-changing segment we see, and independent survey work backs this up: the 2026 Solo Female Travel Trends report found 68% of solo female travelers cite personal safety as a top concern, a figure that has held remarkably steady for years. What has changed is that concern no longer translates into staying home. It translates into buying differently — travelers now filter hard for door-to-door transport, verified accommodation and a named local contact, and they will pay a premium for all three. Our own long-stay passes reflect this shift; three-week and open-ended one-way tickets have become common where two-week trips once dominated.
“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!” — Pascale B, New York.
National arrival figures do not tell you whether a trip will be pleasant. Four operational changes did more to improve the 2026 backpacking experience than any marketing campaign.
Costs below are indicative mid-2026 figures for the Cape Town to Port Elizabeth corridor and should be re-checked at booking.
Two schedules govern the corridor. Between October and February, BazBus departures run every single day. Between March and September, departures run Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Buses do not operate between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth on 24 and 25 December or 31 December and 1 January, which catches out travelers who assume a festive-season trip runs on autopilot.
The practical planning implications:
| Option | Indicative cost, Cape Town to Port Elizabeth | Stops en route | Door-to-door | Meet other travelers | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BazBus hop-on hop-off pass | From $119 one-way, no time limit | 14 stops, get off at all or some | Hostel and hotel pickup at every stop | Built in — 16 seats, mixed nationalities | Travelers who want the Garden Route itself, not just the endpoints |
| Intercape or Greyhound coach | Roughly R400–R980 one-way | None — terminal to terminal | Terminal only; taxis at both ends | Limited; most passengers are commuting | Point-to-point travelers comfortable navigating terminals independently |
| Self-drive rental | Vehicle from about R201/day plus fuel, insurance and one-way fee | Unlimited, but you find them yourself | Yes, if you are willing to drive | No | Confident left-side drivers travelling in a group of three or four |
| Guided tour | Typically the most expensive option | Fixed itinerary | Yes | Yes, with a fixed group | Travelers who want everything planned and no autonomy |
| Domestic flights | Varies; fastest option | None — you skip the region entirely | No | No | Travelers short on time who are skipping the Garden Route |
The honest summary: if your goal is Cape Town and then Port Elizabeth with nothing in between, a coach ticket or a flight is cheaper and faster, and we would say so. If the point of the trip is the 300km of coast, forest and lagoon in between, terminal-to-terminal travel removes the reason you came.
Is 2027 going to be more expensive than 2026 for backpackers?
Probably marginally, but not dramatically. The pressure points are fuel, which rose sharply in September 2026 and feeds into shuttle, tour and food costs, and peak-season accommodation, which is responding to record arrival numbers. Dorm rates have been the most stable line item in the budget and are likely to remain so. The variable you cannot control is the exchange rate: the rand strengthened roughly 16% against the dollar between April 2025 and August 2026, which makes South Africa less of an outright bargain than it was at the weak end of that cycle. Budget using current rates rather than figures you read in a 2023 blog post.
How far in advance should I book for the 2026/27 festive season?
For travel between mid-December and mid-January, book accommodation six to eight weeks out and your transport as soon as your dates are fixed. This is the one period where the Garden Route genuinely runs short of beds, because it coincides with South African domestic holidays rather than only international demand. Note also that BazBus buses do not run on 24, 25 and 31 December or 1 January, so build those dates into your plan rather than discovering them later.
Is load shedding still something I need to plan around?
As of September 2026, no — South Africa passed 400 consecutive days without load shedding during 2026 and Eskom’s winter outlook projected continued stability. That said, grid performance has swung before, and some municipalities still run localised “load reduction” in areas with infrastructure problems, which is a different thing from national load shedding. Packing a power bank and a head torch costs you almost nothing and covers the residual risk.
Do I need to be young to travel a backpacker network?
No. Our average passenger is between 25 and 35, more than 30% of passengers travel as couples, and we regularly carry travelers in their sixties, seventies and eighties as well as families with small children. The relevant question is not your age but your tolerance for shared spaces and flexible plans. Many hostels on the network offer private ensuite rooms alongside dorms, which is how most older passengers and couples travel the route.
Arrival figures come from Statistics South Africa and the Department of Tourism and are revised periodically; full-year 2026 data will not be published until early 2027, so the trend line here is based on half-year results. Ridership observations are drawn from our own network and reflect the Cape Town–Port Elizabeth corridor rather than South Africa as a whole. Costs, fares and exchange rates were accurate in mid-September 2026 and move monthly — check current prices at the point of booking, and treat dollar figures as indicative given rand volatility. Customer quotes are reproduced verbatim from our own published reviews and do not carry review dates in our current records; dates should be added before publication.
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