Frommer's South Africa (Frommer's Complete)

• An exploration of Cape Town, one of the world's most beautiful cities, surrounded by mountains and sea, and the nearby picturesque Winelands country;
• Whale-watching and eating seafood on the Western Cape;
• Walking through carpets of flowers in Namaqualand plains after the first spring rains;
• Rafting or surfing the churning waters of the Zambezi River.

Frommer's South Africa, 5th Edition, gives you all that and much more, from the best places to stay and eat to expert advice on getting there, getting around, and having the trip of a lifetime!

Prices for gas and some of the attractions, like Cape Point and a couple nature reserves we visited were already outdated. Gas is nearly R3/litre! I understand their economy isn't doing well, so they've had to increase prices to the visitors. Tourism is their no. 1 business.

There were several things I remember reading in the text, then later, when I wanted to see it again, I couldn't find them in the index...stuff like the Vergelegen Winery (which has amazing views and delicious wines!) and others. Not all boldface terms are in the index. This is something that could really be improved!

Lastly, I must reiterate what my hosts said: They've seen many rediculous books on Cape Town and the Western Cape and this is not one of them.

I debated between 3 and 4 stars, but remembering my frustrations with the index, I knocked it down to 3. :)


A disappointing entry in the Frommer series   January 3, 2005
Peggy (New York, New York)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

I travel extensively and am a fan of Frommer's guides which I generally find to have a nice assortment of options in varying price ranges. The volume on South Africa however, was a great disappointment. If Frommer's were to be believed, you had to pay $200 and up for a decent hotel room. Fortunately I have often traveled in South Africa, enjoyed its reasonably priced accomodations, and knew such prices were nonsense. I stayed in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and other top destinations in season for less than half that much. The guide also overlooked destinations a bit off the beaten path and proved of so little use to me that I didn't bother to pack it home with me. I strongly suggest the Eyewitness guide instead or just surf the web for tons of great information from the South African Tourism Board.


Great guide to South Africa   December 28, 1999
17 out of 18 found this review helpful

In December 99 we used Frommer's 00 South Africa for a nine day tour by car through the Western Cape -- a good test for relevance and comprehensiveness. We found it by far the most helpful of the guides we looked at. An amazing amount of detail, good maps, lots of interesting background information, and thoroughly entertaining. How all guidebooks should be.


South Africa Trip   December 11, 2000
12 out of 16 found this review helpful

An excellent reference book for anyone visiting Southern Africa. We only found a few minor errors but the recommendations on where to go and what to see were very useful.

We're looking forward to going again and will certainly take this book along. We didn't have enough time to see it all.