Route 62 vs the N2: Which Road to the Garden Route?

The N2 gets you from Cape Town to the Garden Route fastest, but Route 62 in South Africa is the road people still talk about a year later: mountain passes, semi-desert light and farm stalls selling pies out of wood ovens. The choice comes down to one question, whether you'd rather gain an hour or gain a story. The best answer for most travellers is to drive both, one in each direction.

The N2: the direct line along the coast

The N2 leaves Cape Town over Sir Lowry's Pass, drops into the apple country around Grabouw and then runs east through wide wheat and canola farmland to Swellendam. From there it keeps a steady line to Mossel Bay, where the sea comes back into view and the Garden Route proper begins. Cape Town to George is roughly 440 km and about five hours of actual driving.

What the N2 does well is predictability. It is the main coastal highway, so fuel stops, coffee and decent toilets are never far apart, and there are overtaking lanes on most climbs. Swellendam makes a good lunch break, an old town with shady streets and the Langeberg mountains behind it. The scenery is pleasant rather than dramatic: rolling fields that turn green in winter and gold by early summer.

If you're arriving on a long-haul flight and heading straight out, or travelling with young kids who hate long stops, the N2 is the sensible default. Our Garden Route itinerary guide assumes this road for day one for exactly that reason.

Route 62: the long way through the Klein Karoo

Route 62 is the inland alternative. It is usually picked up after the N1 to Worcester, runs through the Robertson wine valley and then climbs through a narrow gorge into Montagu. After that it heads east through Barrydale, Ladismith and Calitzdorp to Oudtshoorn, with the Langeberg and Swartberg ranges on either side.

This is the Klein Karoo, dry, open country with big skies, and the change from the green Boland is striking. Small towns sit an hour or so apart, the traffic thins out and the road bends through passes where it pays to slow down anyway. Montagu is known for its hot springs, Calitzdorp for its port-style wines, and Oudtshoorn for ostrich farms and the Cango Caves just outside town.

From Oudtshoorn you cross the Outeniqua Pass down to George, so Route 62 lands you on the Garden Route from the north instead of along the coast. Expect it to take at least an hour or two longer than the N2 once you count the slower roads, and more if you stop as often as you should.

Padstal culture: why the stops are the point

A padstal is a roadside farm stall, and on Route 62 they are half the reason to go. Some are a single shed with a hand-painted sign, others are proper cafés with a veranda and a view of the mountains. The menu barely changes from one to the next, and nobody minds.

Expect roosterkoek (bread cooked on the grill), pies, biltong and droëwors, dried fruit from the valleys you just drove through, homemade jams, rusks for the road and strong filter coffee. In the fruit season you can buy boxes of apricots or peaches from whoever grew them. Many stalls also sell local wine, olive oil and preserves you won't find in city shops.

The rhythm of a Route 62 day is set by these stops. Plan on two or three, not one. Eat breakfast lightly in Cape Town, because the first padstal will undo it. Carry some cash, since smaller stalls in the Karoo do not always have card machines or signal that works.

Time vs scenery: making the call

Pick the N2 if the drive is a transfer between two holidays. It's the right choice when you land late, when rain is forecast inland, or when someone in the group gets carsick on passes. It's also the easier road for a first day after an overnight flight.

Pick Route 62 if the drive is part of the holiday. It suits couples, photographers and anyone who has already seen the coast and wants a different South Africa. Winter mornings in the Karoo can be cold and clear, which gives the best light of the year, while midsummer afternoons get properly hot. Spring, from September to November, is the most comfortable season to take the slower road.

The loop is what we suggest most often. Drive out on the N2 so you reach the coast rested, spend your days between Wilderness, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay, then come home over the Outeniqua Pass to Oudtshoorn and back along Route 62. It turns the return journey, usually the dullest day of the trip, into one of the best.

Practical tips and what to book

Leave early on either road. Daylight matters more on Route 62, where passes are unlit and wandering livestock is common after dark. If you're doing the loop, consider breaking the Route 62 leg with a night in Oudtshoorn or Montagu instead of driving it in one push. Fill up whenever the tank is half empty inland, as distances between fuel stations are longer than on the N2.

Plenty of guests don't head east on arrival day at all. A quiet first night in the winelands, with a short transfer from the airport to Stellenbosch, takes the jet lag out before the long drive. For the overland legs themselves, our services page covers the multi-day routes we drive and which vehicles fit larger groups, and if you're still weighing a rental car against a driver, this comparison goes through the trade-offs honestly.

If you want the N2 out and Route 62 home with a padstal lunch in Barrydale on the way back, send us your dates and we'll plan the loop around them.