Cairo to Cape Town overland tours
Dispelling easy stereotypes every step of the way, on an overland tour from Cairo to Cape Town you’ll quickly learn the truth behind the saying that ‘Africa is not a country’. Naturally, exploring the big ticket locations: the Nile, the Great Rift Valley, the Sahara, will captivate you, but this is also an opportunity to really delve beneath the headlines and catch sight of the ‘real Africa’ on a continent that is often visited but rarely well explored.
Our Overland Vacations
Namibia and Botswana camping safari
Camping safari to Namib desert, Caprivi, Etosha & Okavango
From
US $2815
21 days
ex flights
Cape Town to Vic Falls vacation in Southern Africa
A spectacular and diverse African journey
From
US $3579 to US $3749
20 days
ex flights
The Grand Southern Africa safari
21-day tour from Cape Town to Victoria Falls
From
£1620
20 days
ex flights
Victoria Falls to Cape Town small group vacation
Explore the best of Southern Africa's wildlife and nature.
From
US $2810 to US $3090
22 days
ex flights
Zanzibar to Victoria Falls overland tour
Overland trip through Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe
From
£1090
19 days
ex flights
West African overland tour
Off the beaten track West Africa overland tour
From
£4600 to £4615
70 days
ex flights
Ethiopia tour by overland truck
A pioneering expedition through Ethiopia's incredible north
From
£1575
21 days
ex flights
Nairobi and Cape Town African overland truck tour
The best of Eastern and Southern Africa overland
From
£4535 to £4585
71 days
ex flights
Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe expedition safari
Expedition trip through Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.
From
US $3810
20 days
ex flights
Cape Town to Victoria Falls small group lodge tour
Classic route lodge safari to Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe
From
US $3965
21 days
ex flights
Southern Africa overland vacation
Discover southern Africa from Kruger to the Okavango Delta
From
US $2480 to US $2730
18 days
ex flights
Ethiopia to Kenya overland truck tour
Overland through Ethiopia's remarkable tribal lands
From
£1830 to £1860
24 days
ex flights
Safari adventure vacation, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique
An extraordinary camping safari across South Eastern Africa
From
US $2830
22 days
ex flights
Western Trans Africa overland tour, Dakar to Cape Town
The ultimate Africa overland experience
From
£6885
134 days
ex flights
Kenya and Ethiopia overland tour
Overland tour of Ethiopia with Northern & Central Kenya
From
£3325 to £3355
44 days
ex flights
Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe expedition
Expedition through the wildlife havens of Zimbabwe & Zambia
From
US $3810
20 days
ex flights
Ghana to Sierra Leone, West Africa overland tour
Overland adventure through West Africa
From
£1940
28 days
ex flights
Cape Town to Nairobi overland tour
An in-depth safari of East and Southern Africa
From
£3265 to £3290
51 days
ex flights
West Africa explorer tour, Marrakech to Cotonou
An epic journey from Morocco to the voodoo coast of Benin
From
£13449 to £14449
8 weeks
ex flights
West Africa tours, Ghana Togo & Benin
Explore West Africa's highlights overland
From
£1350
21 days
ex flights
Victoria Falls to Cape Town overland truck tour
A classic overland route through Southern Africa
From
£1450 to £1470
24 days
ex flights
Cape Town to Victoria Falls small group camping safari
"Overland" camping safari to Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe
From
US $2945
21 days
ex flights
Guinea Bissau to the heart of the Sahara overland tour
Travel from Guinea Bissau to the heart of the Sahara
From
£8175
4 weeks
ex flights
Nairobi to Victoria Falls overland tour
From the tribal lands of East Africa to wildlife of Southern Africa
From
£1900 to £1910
28 days
ex flights
Victoria Falls to Cape Town small group tour
Luxury small group tour from Victoria Falls-Kruger-Cape Town
From
£4295
15 days
ex flights
West Africa tour, Bissau to Cotonou
Voodoo heartlands, traditional storytellers and lush islands
From
£7599
4 weeks
ex flights
Rift Valley overland tour of Ethiopia & Kenya
From Rift Valley of Ethiopia to the Plains of Kenya
From
£670 to £690
10 days
ex flights
Cape Town to Zanzibar overland tour
Stunning beaches with some of the best wildlife parks
From
£2460 to £2480
42 days
ex flights
Cairo to Cape Town overland truck tour, the Nile route
Explore the length of Africa on this epic overland journey
From
£9695 to £9710
142 days
ex flights
Cairo to Nairobi overland safari truck tour
Overland through the Sahara and the Ethiopian Highlands
From
£5685 to £5700
72 days
ex flights
Cairo to Cape Town itinerary & highlights
Traveling the length of a continent, some 10,400km as the crow flies, it can take up to 20 weeks to get from Cairo to Cape Town, or indeed the other way. Luckily, for those with more ambition than time, it’s easily possible to break this route up into shorter stages that you can tackle over several years if you wish.
Michael Battley from our supplier Dragoman on the flexibility of overland Africa itineraries:
“Often you can make a tour as long or as short as you wish. For example we have had passengers that have completed Cairo to Cape Town but done it over a five year period as they come back and rejoin at the point they left last time. Each individual leg is designed as a trip in its own right, which then just has the benefit of tying together with other legs to form the longer itineraries.”
“Often you can make a tour as long or as short as you wish. For example we have had passengers that have completed Cairo to Cape Town but done it over a five year period as they come back and rejoin at the point they left last time. Each individual leg is designed as a trip in its own right, which then just has the benefit of tying together with other legs to form the longer itineraries.”
Over the course of an odyssey from Egypt to South Africa you can pass through countries including Botswana, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Namibia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Kenya. The breadth of landscapes and cultures that you will experience is immense.
In respect of activities, you might be raising your adrenaline levels with white water rafting, or scuba diving in the Red Sea. You will equally be gaining valuable insights into the realities of life in different parts of Africa, by meeting Maasai communities, taking bush walks with San tribespeople, and eye opening, ethical tours around townships.
In respect of activities, you might be raising your adrenaline levels with white water rafting, or scuba diving in the Red Sea. You will equally be gaining valuable insights into the realities of life in different parts of Africa, by meeting Maasai communities, taking bush walks with San tribespeople, and eye opening, ethical tours around townships.
Our top Overland Vacation
Cape Town to Vic Falls vacation in Southern Africa
A spectacular and diverse African journey
From
US $3579 to US $3749
20 days
ex flights
Small group travel:
2021: 17 Jul, 28 Aug, 6 Nov
2021: 17 Jul, 28 Aug, 6 Nov
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about Overland or need help finding a vacation to suit you we're very happy to help.
Practicalities
On a Cairo to Cape Town overland tour, you can definitely expect to be roughing it for the most part. Wild camping, or bush camps with limited toilet facilities are the norm, and by the time you reach the finish line, you’ll be an expert at setting up tents, collecting water, and choosing food at local markets.
Roads can be dusty, waterlogged, pitted with potholes or blocked by bad tempered buffalo, making progress slow. But travel in Africa is rarely fast, and its unpredictable nature should be embraced. The luxury comes from the experiences you’ll have as you travel, such as sleeping beneath a starry African sky every night. That is something that never, ever gets boring.
More about Overland
Jump aboard our overland vacations travel guide to find out all about what this kind of vacation involves, and get ready to unleash the explorer within.
Our exciting guide to the best overland tour routes is stuffed with useful info on what to expect, but don’t forget our helpdesk team can go into much more detail if you need it.
It’s easy to find useful information about the destinations you’ll be visiting, but more difficult to get a feel for one important aspect of overland travel – what it’s like to spend weeks on end in a truck.
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Will my kids enjoy an overland vacation? What if I can only take a few weeks off work? Where are the best places to take an overland tour? All these questions and more are answered by the experts.
All our overland guides. Find all of our overland guides in one place; includes all rail and self-drive vacations as well as trips using a combination of transport; or see our regional overland trips.
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Photo credits: [Page banner: Phil Whitehouse] [Intro: Ferran Feixas]
[Itinerary & highlights: ray rui]
[Practicalities 1: Gopal Vijayaraghavan]
[Practicalities 2: Maxim Medvedev]
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