Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn is the ostrich capital in the semi-desert behind the Garden Route, ninety minutes over the mountains from Knysna and a different landscape, climate and history. One night, the Cango Caves and an ostrich farm on one road, a meerkat sit before dawn, and the Swartberg Pass if the gravel is dry.
Oudtshoorn in a nutshell
Oudtshoorn: what to expect
Every number below comes from 54,000+ planned stops in South Africa on Stippl.
One night is the Oudtshoorn stay, and the tightest agreement of any stop in the country. The Cango Caves run a standard hour on paved paths through the big chambers with an adventure tour crawling beyond them, the meerkat sit starts in the dark at a wild burrow and waits for the family to warm up, the ostrich show farms walk the biology and the feather history and let you stand on an egg, the Swartberg Pass climbs twenty-four kilometres of convict-built gravel to Prince Albert, and the feather palaces and the museum tell the boom in an afternoon on foot. Most travellers give Oudtshoorn 1 night on Stippl.
Oudtshoorn is the inland leg of the Garden Route, not a detour from it. 86.3% of stops here run one or two nights, of everyone who plans it on Stippl, 57.3% of Oudtshoorn trips carry Plettenberg Bay, which is the coast crossing the Outeniquas for a day and coming back, and only 10.3% of plans are made inside a fortnight.
Sleep in a guesthouse in town, drive the caves and an ostrich farm on the same road north, book the meerkat sit for the following dawn, and take the pass or the gorge out rather than back over the same mountain. Skip the town for a beach or a green landscape, since it is a desert with a huge daily swing, and skip the plan to ride an ostrich, because the big farms stopped it on welfare grounds.
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Families on the Garden Route
Caves, ostriches, meerkats and a game farm inside thirty minutes of each other, and all of them work for children.
Coast-breakers
Ninety minutes from Knysna and a completely different landscape, climate and history, on 11.8% of Stippl trips to the country.
History travellers
A feather boom, its palaces and its collapse in 1914 are a self-contained story with the buildings still standing on the main street.
Drivers
The Swartberg Pass and the Meiringspoort gorge are two of the country's great mountain roads, and both start here.
Early risers
The meerkat sit begins before dawn, and it is the thing people remember about the town.
One-night planners
86.3% of Stippl stops here run one or two nights, the tightest agreement of any South African stop.
Maybe not for you: anybody looking for a beach or a green landscape, since this is the Klein Karoo; anybody unwilling to drive, because the attractions are spread across a valley; and anybody who wanted to ride an ostrich, which the big farms stopped on welfare grounds.
The best time to visit Oudtshoorn
Spring
September to November
The pick of the year, warm days without the summer heat, the Karoo in flower after any rain and November the peak month on Stippl.
Summer
December to February
Twenty-nine-degree days and a desert's daily swing, the caves as the cool option, and 27.9% of starts despite the heat.
Autumn
April and May
Mild, dry and quiet, the pass at its most drivable and the meerkats emerging later in the cooler mornings.
Winter
June to August
Cold nights that fall to six degrees in July, June the trough month on Stippl, and the arts festival taking over the town for a week.
- Most travellers give Oudtshoorn 1 night on Stippl, and 86.3% of stops run one or two. The caves and a farm in the afternoon, the meerkats at dawn, and the pass out the next day.
- November is the peak month on Stippl and June is the trough. The town follows the Garden Route's calendar, and 57.3% of its trips carry Plettenberg Bay on the same loop.
- The meerkat sit is booked for dawn. About three hours including the drive, run by several operators around the town, and the arrival in the dark is the point.
- The Swartberg Pass closes after heavy rain. The province shuts the gravel road, so the pass is checked the day before and the gorge road through Meiringspoort is the tarred fallback.
- The caves keep daytime hours. Nine to four daily, with the standard tour every hour and the adventure tour a physical undertaking rather than a longer walk.
- The arts festival takes the town. The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival fills every bed for a week each autumn, so the dates are checked before the one night is booked.
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Things to do in Oudtshoorn
The Cango Caves
The standard tour is about an hour on paved paths through the big chambers, and the adventure tour adds crawling through passages narrow enough that the caves publish a size limit.
A meerkat sit at first light
You arrive in the dark at a wild burrow, wait, and the family emerges to warm up, about three hours including the drive, run by several operators.
An ostrich show farm
A guided walk through the farm, the biology, the feather history, standing on an egg and feeding the birds, with the oldest show farm in the world on the caves road.
The Swartberg Pass
Gravel, twenty-four kilometres, built by convict labour in the 1880s and a national monument, with Prince Albert at the far end.
The museum and the feather palaces
The whole story of the town in an afternoon on foot, from the sandstone frontages to the synagogue inside the museum.
Meiringspoort
The tarred gorge road east through the Swartberg, with the river crossed twenty-five times and a waterfall halfway.
The areas of Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn town
Practical
The grid around the main street with the museum, the restaurants, the guesthouses and the feather palaces, where the one night is spent. For everyone.
The museum, the restaurants and the guesthouses on foot, but a farming town after dark.
Baron van Reede Street
Historic
The main street and its sandstone frontages, the Victorian buildings the feather money paid for, walked in an afternoon. For the history.
The feather palaces on one street, and nothing open late.
Schoemanshoek and the Cango valley
Rural
The road north toward the caves with the ostrich show farms and the wildlife ranch along it, and guest farms in between. For the caves and the farms.
The caves and the farms on one road, though a drive to dinner in town.
De Zeekoe and the western farms
Quiet
The farmland west of town with the meerkat burrows, the guest farms and the dark skies for the stars. For the meerkats.
The meerkats at the door and the stars, and a drive to everything else.
Buffelsdrift and the eastern farms
Lodge country
The game farms east toward De Rust with the waterhole lodges, the meerkats and a game drive without leaving the Karoo. For a lodge night.
A waterhole lodge and a game drive in the Karoo, at lodge prices.
The Swartberg foothills
Remote
North toward the pass with the start of the gravel and the mountain scenery, and a few farm stays on the way up. For the pass.
The pass at the door, and the road closes after rain.
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Where to stay in Oudtshoorn
Guesthouses in town are the default and there are a lot of them, because this is a one-night stop for most people and the town is built for it, with the guest farms in the Cango valley and the lodges east of town for anyone who wants the meerkats at the door. Most travellers give Oudtshoorn 1 night on Stippl.
Oudtshoorn town
Guesthouses in the old houses and a backpackers, €20 to €90 a night.
Baron van Reede Street
Boutique rooms in the feather-era buildings, €50 to €120 a night.
Schoemanshoek and the Cango valley
Guest farms on the caves road, €50 to €130 a night.
De Zeekoe and the western farms
Farm stays by the meerkat burrows, €60 to €150 a night.
Buffelsdrift and the eastern farms
Waterhole lodges and game-farm tents, €120 to €300 a night.
The Swartberg foothills
A few farm cottages toward the pass, €50 to €110 a night.
What to eat in Oudtshoorn
a lean red meat, served as a fillet or in a stew, and on every menu in town
the regional meat the ostrich shares a menu with
fortified wine from Calitzdorp, 50 km west, the best of its kind in the country
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Oudtshoorn customs and what not to do
Afrikaans is the first language
Of most of the town, and the Klein Karoo is one of its heartlands, with English understood everywhere the visitors go.
Tipping runs to fifteen
Ten to fifteen percent in restaurants, and the car guards expect a coin or two, as everywhere in the country.
Ask before photographing
At the farms and the museum, and expect the ostrich handlers to have a routine they will talk you through.
The feather story is Jewish too
The merchants who ran the trade were largely Jewish, and the working synagogue inside the museum is part of the story rather than a curiosity.
A farming district first
The visitor economy sits on top of an agricultural one, and the town runs on its own calendar of harvests and auctions.
The riding stopped
Two of the big farms ended ostrich riding on welfare grounds and others followed, dropping the races too, and the tours continue without it.
Do
- Book the meerkat sit for dawn
- Do the caves and a farm on the same road
- Walk the main street's feather palaces in the afternoon
- Check the pass before driving it
- Take the gorge road east if the pass is shut
Don't
- Ask to ride an ostrich
- Drive the pass after heavy rain
- Take a low-clearance car up the gravel
- Expect green, or a beach
- Walk the town at night rather than driving
What an Oudtshoorn trip costs
Backpacker
€50
A guesthouse room in town, self-catering and the free Swartberg Pass drive.
Mid-range
€70–100
A guesthouse or farm stay for two, the caves and an ostrich farm tour, dinner in town.
High-end
€150+
A game lodge east of town with its own kitchen and waterhole.
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Fun facts about Oudtshoorn
Between 1900 and 1914 Oudtshoorn was among the wealthiest towns per head in South Africa. On ostrich feathers alone, and the trade collapsed with the First World War and the motor car.
The Cango Caves at Oudtshoorn are the largest accessible cave system in Africa. The entrance chambers hold evidence of human occupation going back tens of thousands of years.
The Swartberg Pass above Oudtshoorn was built by convict labour in the 1880s. Under Thomas Bain, and it is a national monument that the province still closes after rain.
Meiringspoort near Oudtshoorn crosses the same river twenty-five times. A tarred gorge road through the Swartberg with a waterfall halfway, the fallback when the pass is shut.
Highgate at Oudtshoorn describes itself as the world's oldest ostrich show farm. On the caves road, and the egg-standing is part of the tour.
86.3% of stops in Oudtshoorn on Stippl run one or two nights. The tightest agreement of any South African stop, and the town is built for exactly that.
Local tips for Oudtshoorn
The roads are the attraction
Oudtshoorn is reached over the Outeniqua Pass from George or through the Meiringspoort gorge from the north, and neither is a chore.
George is the airport
About an hour south over the pass, and the practical fly-in for the Garden Route's middle.
The pass closes after rain
The Swartberg gravel to Prince Albert is shut by the province after heavy rain; in fair weather an ordinary car does it slowly, and low-clearance cars stay off.
Caves half an hour north
About twenty-five minutes on the caves road, with the ostrich farms on the same road, so the two are one afternoon.
The safer end of the country
The standing advice still applies with petty crime, vehicle crime and no walking after dark, which is the town's own published line.
One night, off the coast
Most travellers give Oudtshoorn 1 night on Stippl and 57.3% of its trips carry Plettenberg Bay, so the town is the inland day of the coast loop.
Oudtshoorn questions, answered
One night: most travellers give Oudtshoorn 1 night on Stippl, half take exactly one and a third exactly two, and 86.3% of stops run one or two, which is the tightest agreement of any South African stop. The caves and a farm in the afternoon, the meerkats at dawn, the pass on the way out.
Mostly no. Two of the big farms stopped on welfare grounds and others followed, dropping the races too, and the farm tours continue without it: the biology, the feather history, standing on an egg and feeding the birds. The show farm on the caves road is the oldest in the world and does the rest.
The standard hour-long one on paved paths through the big chambers, unless crawling through very narrow passages appeals, because the adventure tour is a physical undertaking rather than a longer walk. Put the caves into Stippl as the afternoon before the meerkats, then ask people who crawled in subreddits like r/southafrica whether they would again.
In fair weather, yes, slowly: it is twenty-four kilometres of gravel to Prince Albert, and the province closes it after heavy rain, so it is checked the day before. Low-clearance cars stay off, and the tarred gorge road through Meiringspoort is the fallback east.
A pre-dawn sit at a wild burrow, about three hours including the drive, run by several operators around the town: you arrive in the dark, wait, and the family emerges to warm up. It is the experience visitors rate highest here, and only 10.3% of Oudtshoorn plans on Stippl are made inside a fortnight, so it is booked with the bed.
The data says people think so: 57.3% of Oudtshoorn trips on Stippl also carry Plettenberg Bay and 90.4% carry Cape Town, which is the loop crossing the mountains for a day and coming back. It is the inland leg of the Garden Route rather than a detour from it.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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