The Garden Route stretches roughly from Heidelberg in the Western Cape to the Storms River Mouth in the Eastern Cape - a little over 350 kilometres of lush, green and contrasting vegetation that has earned it its title. It is not a huge area.

This popular route crosses numerous lagoons, river mouths, lakes and seaside towns – Klein and Groot Brak River, Wilderness, Sedgefield, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, George and Nature's Valley - with accompanying scenery that many have felt moved to convey in photographs, paintings and verse in an attempt to encapsulate its beauty. Thus whilst the area has few cultivated gardens on offer, it is a spectacularly green, narrow coastal strip that has rain year round, in which you will find nothing short of 6500 species of indigenous plants.

The Garden Route is the home of the largest montane forest complex. Add to this the incredible mountains, lakes, cliff tops and rugged sandy beaches, and you have nature's garden as few will see it. Other than Cape Town or the Kruger National Park the Garden Route is South Africa's most popular destination. The range of vegetation, environment, wildlife and extensive range of outdoor activity is hard to beat.

Unsurprisingly, the area is renowned as an artists' haven, with potters, painters, blacksmiths, alternative healers and writers all having settled in towns along the route. And because of its popularity there is a huge range of accommodation for all budgets – anything from backpacker establishments through nature reserves, bed and breakfasts, guest houses, and self-catering venues, to hotels, beachside apartments and retreats.

The demand has been instrumental in placing little towns that few had even heard of before on the map. Towns like Dana Bay, Keurboomstrand, Riversdale, Still Bay, Vleesbaai, Eersterivier, and even as far afield as Joubertina, Kareedouw and Witsand now make it onto the Garden Route (albeit unofficially) and offer accommodation that ranges from neat and comfortable, through artistic and quirky, to luxurious and opulent.

Along the Garden Route you are spoiled for choice!