Travelling within South Africa

Bus
Buses are a means of transport in South Africa, linking major cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and others. The main bus companies operating coaches on major routes include Greyhound, Intercape Mainliner, Translux and SA Roadlink. For main lines, reservations are required to be made at least 24 hours in advance. Booking for these buses can also be done via Computicket.

Prices of buses are relatively economical, but fares can increase during school holidays. All lines offer student and senior-citizen discounts, along with the backpacker discount offered by Interscape.

Bus companies also offer travel passes, which often help in saving up to 40%. Other than main bus line operators, several smaller services also operate, such as City to City, City Bug and Lowveld Link.

An alternative is Baz Bus, which offers regular hop-on-hop-off service on some of the most popular routes like Cape Town-Garden Route-Durban, Durban-Swaziland-Johannesburg and Durban-Drakensberg-Johannesburg. Catering exclusively to backpackers and other travellers, Baz Bus works out to be more economical than other major bus lines, if taken advantage of the pick-up and drop-off service along the route.

Baz Bus also has a loop service from Durban to Johannesburg via Zululand and Swaziland. Passing close by Kruger National Park, this route is heavily travelled by tourists.

Urban cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and others also have city bus systems. City buses have economical fares and extensive routes, but usually stop running early in the evening. No city buses operate on weekends.

Train
The extensive rail network in South Africa is operated by a state-owned enterprise called the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). PRASA has four main branches, of which MetroRail operates commuter rail services in urban areas of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London. Shosholoza Meyl is the branch of PRASA operating regional and inter-city rail services.

Shosholoza Meyl operates three types of trains, namely Premier Classe (semi-luxury), Tourist Trains (sleeping cars & restaurant car only) and Economy Trains (sitters only). Major towns linked by these trains include Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London.

These trains usually operate once, twice, four or six times a week, or even daily. One-way fares for 1st, 2nd and economy classes are $34, $22 and $13 (Johannesburg–Durban), $70, $47 and $31 (Cape Town–Pretoria) and $49, $33 and $20 (Johannesburg–Port Elizabeth). Return fares are double the one-way fares.

Luxury rails, or Premier Classe services like Blue Train and Rovos Rail also operate on scenic routes including Pretoria-Cape Town and Cape Town-Port Elizabeth, to name a few. Owned by private companies, these luxury trains charge anywhere from $1,323.13 to $2,642.67 one way per person. Companies like Bushveld Train Safaris and Shongololo Express operate mid-range rail safaris within the country.

Taxi
Within the country, one can also use minibus taxis for commutation. Travelling within major cities, to the suburbs and to neighbouring towns, these minibus taxis cover many routes, even the ones that are not covered by main bus service.

These taxis can accommodate 14 to 16 passengers at a time and often, do not leave until full. Passengers may also have to detour and change at the taxi rank en route.

Taxis do not have fixed rates and it is better to negotiate prior to booking a taxi, especially when travelling a long distance. Usually taxis charge 25 cents per kilometre per person on the main routes.

Other
With the abundance of caravan parks in South Africa, motor homes have also become popular. Companies offering motor homes on rent include Helderberg Camper Hire, Bobo Campers, Kea Campers, Auto International and Maui.

Charges for renting a motorhome are $200 (2-sleeper) or $240 (5-sleeper) per day. One can also rent a bicycle from The Freedom Trail, Heritage Tours Private Travel and GoTravel24.com. Hitchhiking is another option for travelling within South Africa.