Rovos Rail to Durban (2 nights)

Day 1: Ardmore Ceramics

10 am: Depart Durban Station. The train traverses the spectacular Valley of a Thousand Hills. Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travelers in the lounge car and observation car.

1 pm: Lunch is available in the dining cars. Visit the famous Ardmore Ceramics Gallery. Here, artists are encouraged to express their imagination based on nature and Zulu folklore and tradition.

7.30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars en route to Ladysmith. Dress: Formal
Shortly after Frere, on the left of the track, stands a memorial to Winston Churchill; who was captured here in November 1899. While trying to free an armored train trapped by a Boer ambush.

Day 2: Spionkop & Nambiti

06:30 am: Breakfast is available until departure. Transfer (±30 min) to Spionkop Lodge for the morning. A choice of two excursions is available:
1. Hear the historic tale of the Battle of Spionkop OR
2. Enjoy a game drive in the 11,000 acre Reserve.

1 pm: Enjoy lunch in the dining cars. The Drakensberg Mountains were first named by the Voortrekkers; who thought the unbroken chain of heavily weathered peaks reminded them of the spines on a dragon’s back. Hence the name ‘Dragon Mountain’ or Drakensberg in Afrikaans. Enjoy a game drive in the Nambiti Reserve; a private Big Five bush retreat set on 20 000 acres of malaria-free bushveld. With incredible biodiversity including savanna, grasslands, thornveld, and tall acacia trees.

7.30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars en route to Vooruitsig. Dress: Formal
Pass Glencoe; site of the first battle of the Anglo Boer War and now the center of the province’s coalfields. Then Newcastle, which has what is reputed to be the largest cella-dome Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere. From here the train descends from Majuba Hill; the site of the decisive battle that ended the First Anglo Boer War.

Day 3: Pretoria

7 am: Breakfast is served until 10 am. Travel northwest across and the goldfields of the Witwatersrand and the Highveld towards Balfour. A small mining town in Mpumalanga, and Heidelberg, site of the first Rand gold strike.
1 pm: Lunch is served in the dining cars.
4 pm: Arrive at journey’s end at Rovos Rail Station, Pretoria

Day 1: Pretoria

10 am: Depart Rovos Rail Station, Pretoria. Travel southeast across the Highveld and the goldfields of the Witwatersrand towards Heidelberg, site of the first Rand gold strike. And Balfour, a small mining town in Mpumalanga. Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travelers in the lounge car and observation car.

1 pm: Lunch is available in the dining cars. The Drakensberg Mountains were first named by the Voortrekkers; who thought the unbroken chain of heavily weathered peaks reminded them of the spines on a dragon’s back. Hence the name ‘Dragon Mountain’ or Drakensberg in Afrikaans.

4.30 pm: High Tea is in the lounge and observation cars. The train climbs to Majuba Hill; site of the decisive battle that ended the First Anglo Boer War. Then passed Newcastle; which has what is reputed to be the largest cella dome Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere.

7.30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars en route to Elandslaagte. Dress: Formal
Pass Glencoe; the site of the first battle of the Anglo Boer War and is now the center of the province’s coalfields.

Day 2: Nambiti & Spionkop

5.45 am: Breakfast is available in the dining cars until departure. Enjoy a game drive in the Nambiti Reserve. A private Big Five bush retreat set on 20 000 acres of malaria-free bushveld. With incredible biodiversity including savannah, grasslands, thornveld, and tall acacia trees.

11 am: Enjoy brunch in the dining cars. Transfer (±30 min) to Spionkop Lodge for the afternoon. A choice of two excursions are available:
1. Hear the historic tale of the Battle of Spionkop OR
2. Enjoy a game drive in the 11 000 acre Reserve.

7.30 pm: Dinner is in the dining cars en route to Estcourt. Dress: Formal
Shortly after Chieveley, on the right of the track, stands a memorial to Winston Churchill. He was captured here in November 1899 while trying to free an armored train trapped by a Boer ambush.

Day 3: Ardmore Ceramics

7 am: Breakfast is available in the dining cars until 10 am. The train descends the escarpment to Lions River.
Visit the famous Ardmore Ceramics Gallery. Here, artists are encouraged to express their imagination based on nature and Zulu folklore and tradition.

1 pm: Enjoy lunch in the dining cars as the train traverses the spectacular Valley of a Thousand Hills.

4 pm: Arrive at the journey’s end at Durban Station. A number of museums and cultural sights, the beautiful botanical gardens, and the superb shark-protected beaches; are but a few of the city’s many charms.