Rovos Rail: Pretoria to Durban 2 Nights/3 Days - Deluxe

A trip aboard Rovos Rail is a journey like no other. Experience the opulent elegance of rail travel on one of Rovos Rail’s exceptional safaris through the heart of Africa. Combining some of the most magnificent scenery with the glamour and excitement of the golden age of rail travel, Rovos Rail will delight the most discerning traveller. With discreet and friendly service, five-star cuisine and a selection of South Africa’s finest wines, Rovos Rail harks back to a simpler, more elegant era – encompassing the timeless grace and high romance of African exploration. Trains depart regularly from Rovos Rail Station in Pretoria for Cape Town, Durban and Victoria Falls with longer journeys operated on an annual basis. These include two golf itineraries, of nine days, each with delightful programmes for non-golfers. There is another nine-day safari to Swakopmund as well as the two-week adventure to Dar es Salaam.

Day 1: Depart Rovos Rail Station, Pretoria
10h00 Depart Rovos Rail Station, Pretoria. Travel southeast across the Highveld and the goldfields of the Witwatersrand towards Heidelberg, site of the first Rand gold strike, and Balfour, a small mining town in Mpumalanga. Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travellers in the lounge car and observation car.
13h00 Lunch is served in the dining cars. The Drakensberg Mountains were first named by the Voortrekkers who thought the unbroken chain of heavily weathered peaks reminded them of the spines on a dragon’s back, hence the name ‘Dragon Mountain’ or Drakensberg in Afrikaans.
16h30 Tea in the lounge and observation cars. The train climbs to Majuba Hill – site of the decisive battle that ended the First Anglo Boer War – then passes Newcastle, which has what is reputed to be the largest cella-dome Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere.
19h30 Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Elandslaagte. Dress: Formal Pass Glencoe, site of the first battle of the Anglo Boer War and now the centre of the province’s coalfields.
Day 2: Off Board Excursion
05h45 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until departure.
Enjoy a game drive in the Nambiti Reserve, a private Big Five bush retreat set on 20 000 acres of malaria free bushveld with incredible biodiversity including savannah, grasslands, thornveld and tall acacia trees.
11h00 Brunch is served in the dining cars. Transfer (±30 min) to Spionkop Lodge for the afternoon. A choice of two excursions is available: 1. Hear the historic tale of the Battle of Spionkop OR 2. Enjoy a game drive in the 11 000-acre reserve.
19h30 Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Estcourt. Dress: Formal
Shortly after Chieveley, on the right of the track, stands a memorial to Winston Churchill who was captured here in November 1899 while trying to free an armoured train trapped by a Boer ambush.
Day 3: Arrive at Durban Station
07h00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. The train descends the escarpment to Lions River.
Visit the famous Ardmore Ceramics Gallery. Here, artists are encouraged to express their imagination based on nature and Zulu folklore and tradition.
13h00 Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train traverses the spectacular Valley of a Thousand Hills.
16h00 Arrive at journey’s end at Durban Station. A number of museums and cultural sights, the beautiful botanical gardens and the superb shark-protected beaches are but a few of the city’s many charms.