Rovos Rail to Namibia – travel in style on the iconic luxury train, Rovos Rail to Namibia. You can start this rail journey in Pretoria, South Africa or Walvis Bay, Namibia. This journey takes the train from the savannahs of the Highveld to the Atlantic in the west.
For 2025, this journey is only operating from Walvis Bay to Pretoria. In 2026, there will be options for both ways. Some of which will be from/to Cape Town (not Pretoria). It will still be 11 nights/12 days. Instead of stopping in Kimberley, it will stop in Matjiesfontein. We will update this later in 2025 so as not to cause too much confusion. There is also the Rovos Rail African Trilogy Journey that is 16 days from Pretoria to Walvis Bay.
11 am: The train departs for Otjiwarongo. Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travelers in the lounge car or observation car at the rear of the train.
1 pm: Lunch is in the dining cars. The train travels across the Namib Desert towards Otjiwarongo.
4.30 pm: Tea is in the lounge and observation cars. The observation car will be leading the train until lunchtime tomorrow – a different aspect that our rail enthusiasts enjoy.
7.30 pm: Enjoy dinner in the dining cars. Dress: Formal
The Namib stretches for more than 2000km along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia and South Africa. The geology consists of sand seas near the coast while gravel plains and scattered mountain outcrops occur further inland. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means “vast place”. Having endured arid or semi-arid conditions for roughly 55-80 million years, the Namib may be the oldest desert in the world.
Day 2: Cheetah Conservation Project
7 am: Breakfast is in the dining cars until departure.
9 am: Transfer (±60 min) to a cheetah conservation project in Otjiwarongo for a visit. Founded in Namibia in 1990, the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is dedicated to saving the cheetah in the wild.
1 pm: Lunch is in the dining cars en route to Tsumeb.
4.30 pm: Tea is in the lounge car and observation car at the rear of the train.
7.30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars. Dress: Formal
Day 3: Etosha National Park
Please pack a small overnight bag ready for the stay at Etosha. Tog bags have been placed in your suite for your convenience.
7 am: Breakfast is in the dining cars until 10 am. Transfer (±60 min) to a lodge in Etosha for overnight. Check-in and enjoy lunch.
3 pm: Afternoon game drive (approximately 3 hours).
7.30 pm: Dinner and overnight at the lodge. Dress: Casual
Etosha National Park (22270 km2) offers great game viewing with many species of mammals, birds and reptiles. It gets its name from the Etosha pan (4760km2), which almost entirely lies within the park. Etosha is a large salt pan forming part of the Kalahari basin and means ‘Great White Place’.
Etosha Safari
Day 4: Etosha National Park
Please ensure your overnight bag is ready to be collected from your suite and proceed to checkout by 10:45. Your bag will be loaded into the vehicles.
6 am: Breakfast at the lodge until 7 am followed by a game drive in the Etosha National Park. Return to the lodge to freshen up and check-out by 10:45 am.
11 am: Transfer (±60 min) to the train at Tsumeb Station.
1 pm: Lunch is in the dining cars.
1 pm: Lunch is in the dining cars en route to Tsumeb.
4.30 pm: Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
7.30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars en route to Kranzberg. Dress: Formal
Day 5: Sossusvlei
Please pack a small overnight bag for the stay in Sossusvlei.
7 am: Breakfast is in the dining cars until 10 am. Transfer to the airstrip. Depart in a light aircraft for a one hour flight to a Sossusvlei Lodge for overnight. After check in, enjoy lunch at the restaurant.
4.30 pm: Afternoon desert drive and a bush dinner after sunset. Overnight at the lodge. Dress: Casual
Excursion to Dune 45, Sossusvlei
The dunes of the Namib Desert were created by sand carried by the wind from the coast of Namibia. The sand here is over five million years old and is red in color due to its iron-oxide content. As the light changes during the day, so does the appearance of the dunes’ characteristic color. This allows for interesting photographs at any time. The wind in the Sossusvlei area blows from all directions causing the sand to form a star shape with multiple arms. Hence the name “star dunes”.
Day 6: Sossusvlei & Windhoek
Please ensure your overnight bag is ready to be collected from your suite before the drive. An early wake up call with tea and coffee. Enjoy a desert drive with breakfast in the vlei. Return to the lodge to use the facilities, check out and transfer to the airstrip.
12.30 pm: Depart Sossusvlei in a light aircraft for the one hour flight to Windhoek.
Light aircraft flight in Namibia
2 pm: Lunch at Windhoek Country Club followed by a city tour. Visit the Trans-Namib Transport Museum, the Independence Memorial Museum, the Evangelical Lutheran Church (a striking landmark) and the Namibia Craft Centre in the old Breweries Building.
6 pm: The train travels south through the Kalahari Desert.
7.30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars en route to Mariental. Dress: Formal
Situated in Namibia’s central highlands, Windhoek is an attractive city surrounded by clusters of hills and the impressive Auas and Eros Mountains. The Trans-Namib Transport Museum outlines Namibian transport history, particularly that of the railway. The Independence Memorial Museum focuses on the anti-colonial resistance and the national liberation struggle of Namibia.
Rovos Rail traveling through the Kalahari
Day 7: Keetmanshoop & Garas Park
7 am: Breakfast is in the dining cars in the dining cars until 10 am.
12.30 pm: Lunch is in the dining cars.
2 pm: Visit Keetmanshoop and Garas Park (Quiver Trees). Home to roughly 300 specimens of the Aloe dichotomy. The prehistoric trees have forked branches that reach up to 5m making for great photographic opportunities.
4:30 pm: Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
7:30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars. Dress: Formal
Day 8: Lüderitz & Kolmanskop
6 am: Breakfast is in the dining cars until departure.
8 am: Transfer (±60 min) to the ghost town of Kolmanskop for a visit followed by lunch in Lüderitz. Lüderitz is known for its museum, colonial architecture and wildlife. Including seals, penguins, flamingos and ostriches. Look out for the illusive legendary horses rumored to roam the Namib.
6 pm: Depart for Holoog. The observation car will be leading the train until after dinner.
7:30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars. Dress: “Africa” Theme or Smart Casual
Day 9: Fish River Canyon (Border: Ariamsvlei, Namibia / Nakop, South Africa)
6 am: Breakfast is in the dining cars until departure.
8:30 am: Transfer (±60 min) to the Fish River Canyon.
1 pm: Lunch is in the dining cars.
4:30 pm: Tea in the lounge and observation cars. Border formalities with South Africa.
7:30 pm: Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Upington. Dress: Formal
The Fish River rises in the center of the country before flowing south into the Orange River on Namibia’s border with South Africa. It has formed the great Fish River Canyon. The largest canyon in the southern hemisphere and probably only second to Arizona’s Grand Canyon in terms of size. The vast rocky landscape breaks up into a series of spectacular cliffs. Its size is impressive: 161km long, up to 27km wide and almost 550m at its deepest.
Fish River Canyon
Day 10: Upington & The Orange River
6 am: Breakfast is in the dining cars until departure.
8:30 am: Enjoy a walking tour of Upington with a cruise on the Orange River.
11 am: Travel through the Karoo, a vast semi-desert region that was once an enormous inland sea. Over millions of years, volcanic matter was ground down and deposited as silt upon the seabed to form what geologists call the Karoo system.
1 pm: Lunch is in the dining cars.
4:30 pm: Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
7:30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars en route to Kimberley. Dress: Formal The observation car will be leading the train until breakfast.
The Orange River is the longest river in South Africa (2432km/1511mi). It rises in the Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho and flows westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. It forms part of the borders between South Africa and Lesotho and South Africa and Namibia. Except for Upington, it does not pass through any major cities. Attorney General of the Cape, Sir Thomas Upington was principally responsible for liquidating the business activities of all the Orange River pirates and capturing their leader, Klaas Lucas. When the desperadoes were finally chased away in 1884, the town was founded on the banks of the Orange River. And named in his honor.
Day 11: Kimberley
6 am: Breakfast is in the dining cars until departure.
9 am: Enjoy a tour of Kimberley’s Diamond Mine Museum and the Big Hole. Capital of the Northern Cape, Kimberley is well known for the discovery of diamonds that led to its establishment in 1871.
1 pm: Lunch is in the dining cars. The train continues its climb to Pretoria.
4:30 pm: Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
7:30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars. Dress: “1920s” Theme or Smart Casual
Day 12: Pretoria
Please ensure luggage is ready for collection 15 minutes before arrival and that you have your passport.
7 am: Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10 am. Travel through the goldfields of the Witwatersrand.
1 pm: Lunch is served in the dining cars.
5 pm: Arrive at journey’s end at Rovos Rail Station, Pretoria.
Walvis Bay to Pretoria 21st March – 1st April, 12th – 23rd May, 14th – 25th November
Rovos Rail Namibia Rates Include:
Accommodation, all meals, all beverages on board the train, room service, limited laundry, excursions with a qualified guide (where applicable), entrance fees as per itinerary, government tax. The rates also include the light aircraft flights to / from Sossusvlei and your overnight bag.
EXCLUDED:
All off-train beverages, international/French Champagne, gratuities, personal expenses, visas, travel insurance, pre and post-tour transfers and international flights.
All our Namibia Safaris and Tours ↓
We are still working on this and have many more Namibian Tours available if you get in touch with us.
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