Drakensberg Mountains

The Drakensberg mountains, or ‘the berg’, as local South Africans call it, is a spectacular region to visit in KwaZulu Natal. It offers superb mountain walking, ancient Bushmen rock paintings and charming craft studios.  So the Drakensberg hotels naturally focus on the glorious walking on offer.

But there are other delights...The Drakensberg offer some superb examples of ancient Bushmen rock paintings at Giants Castle and Kamberg nature reserves. You can visit many arts and craft studios in the Central Drakensberg. There are also weekly musical recitals by the world-class Drakensberg Boys Choir – if you time your visit right.

In the Southern Drakensberg, you can take the guided 4×4 ascent to the top of Sani Pass to Africa’s highest pub in the rugged Kingdom of Lesotho. (Note that you will need to stay in the Southern Drakensberg for the preceding night, as it's too far to drive from the central or northern Drakensberg).

Natal Midlands

At the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains lies the Natal Midlands. This offers a gentler sort of beauty with rolling hills and picturesque river valleys as well as the well-known Midlands Meander arts and craft route. From here you could visit some of the central Drakensberg sites for the day such as Giants Castle, enjoy the treetop canopy tour at Karkloof or visit the moving Mandela Capture Site and museum.

Many of the original Drakensberg hotels are very family-friendly with a range of activities on offer to suit adventurous families. These tend to be larger and more resort like. But being the first accommodation, they have prime locations with some of the top hikes right from their doorsteps. However there are smaller Drakensberg hotels & lodges which are are orientated more towards couples.