Your Route
Irene Station (Pretoria) → The Highveld → Kimberley → The Great Karoo → Matjiesfontein → Hex River Valley → Cape Town
The southbound Blue Train is the one most people picture: lunch as the Highveld slides past, a morning among the diamond diggings of Kimberley, a night crossing the Karoo, and Table Mountain filling the window as you pull into Cape Town.
The Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town
This is the classic Blue Train journey. It covers about 1,600 km (994 miles) over two nights and three days, and it runs most of the length of South Africa, from the grasslands around Pretoria to the Atlantic coast at Cape Town. You unpack once, and from then on the train does the travelling while you eat, sleep, read and watch the country change outside the window.
Since 1 January 2025 the southbound train has left from Irene Station in Centurion, just south of Pretoria, rather than from Pretoria Station. Check-in is at Irene Country Lodge, on the farm side of the estate, in the late morning, and we confirm the exact time with your travel documents. There are snacks, drinks and usually some live music while your luggage is taken care of, and the train is scheduled to leave at 13:00. If you are coming from Johannesburg or O.R. Tambo airport, Irene is a much easier drive than central Pretoria, and we can arrange the transfer.
Your fare covers almost everything: your suite, a butler for your coach on call around the clock, every meal and snack, wine, spirits and soft drinks, after-dinner cognac and Cuban cigars, Wi-Fi and the off-train excursion. French Champagne and caviar are the only things charged extra on board.
Kimberley or Matjiesfontein
If scheduling and the weather allow, the journey includes an off-train excursion, and The Blue Train offers two options on this route. We will tell you which is planned for your departure when we confirm your booking.
Kimberley and the Big Hole
Kimberley is where South Africa's diamond story began. The Big Hole is the site of the old Kimberley mine, worked from 1871 until 1914. It covers 17 hectares and is about 463 metres wide and 240 metres deep, which makes it one of the deepest man-made holes anywhere. Next to it, the Kimberley Mine Museum tells the story of the diamond rush through the reconstructed buildings of the old mining town. On the southbound journey the train usually reaches Kimberley at about ten in the morning on the second day, and you are back on board for lunch.
The Big Hole at Kimberley, worked by hand and machine between 1871 and 1914
Matjiesfontein
The alternative is a stop at Matjiesfontein, a tiny Victorian railway village in the heart of the Karoo. Guests climb aboard an old red London double-decker bus for a short tour of the whole village, which does not take long, before stopping at the Lord Milner Hotel and its pub. It is a charming, slightly eccentric place and a nice contrast to the scale of Kimberley.
Transport, the guided tour and entry fees are included in your fare for whichever excursion runs.
Day by Day
Departure from Irene Station
Check in at Irene Country Lodge, on the farm side of the estate, in the late morning. Your butler shows you to your suite, and the Blue Train is scheduled to pull out of Irene Station at 13:00.
Lunch is served as the train heads south and west across the Highveld, past the old gold-mining country of the Witwatersrand and out into open farmland. The afternoon is yours to settle in, explore the train and meet your fellow guests in the lounges.
Dinner is the first formal occasion of the trip, with a jacket for gentlemen and elegant evening wear for ladies. Afterwards there is cognac and a Cuban cigar in the Club Car at the front of the train, the only place on board where smoking is allowed. While you are at dinner, your butler turns the suite from a sitting room into a bedroom.
Lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and all drinks. One night on board.
Kimberley and the Big Hole
Breakfast is served from 07:00 to 10:00 in the dining car, or you can ask your butler to bring it to your suite. On the published timetable the train reaches Kimberley at about 10:00, and a guided tour of the Big Hole and the open mine museum follows. You are back at the station by about 12:30 and the train continues south.
- 07:00 to 10:00 Breakfast
- 10:00 Arrive Kimberley Station
- 10:30 to 12:00 Tour of the Big Hole and mine museum
- 12:30 to 13:00 Train departs Kimberley
- 12:30 and 14:00 Lunch, two sittings
- 16:30 High tea in the Lounge Car
- 18:30 and 20:30 Dinner, two sittings
The afternoon is spent crossing the western edge of the Karoo, a huge, quiet landscape of scrub, flat-topped hills and wide skies. High tea is served in the non-smoking Lounge Car, and dinner follows as the train runs on into the night.
Excursion with transport, guide and entry fees, all meals and drinks. One night on board.
Through the Mountains to Cape Town
Breakfast is served from 07:00 to 10:00. The last morning brings the most dramatic scenery of the trip, as the line drops out of the Karoo and down through the mountains of the Hex River Valley into the vineyards of the Western Cape.
A light lunch is served in the Lounge Car and the Observation Car between 13:00 and 15:00, and the train is scheduled to arrive at Cape Town Station at about 18:00. The Blue Train shares the line with freight trains, so the arrival time can vary in either direction. We suggest you book a hotel for that night rather than an evening flight.
Breakfast and lunch on board. Cape Town hotels and transfers can be arranged by us.
Timings are based on The Blue Train's published timetable and are a guide only. They can change, and confirmed times are sent with your travel documents.
What Is Included
Your Suite
Two nights in a De Luxe or Luxury Suite with its own bathroom, air conditioning and a bed made up each evening by your butler.
Butler Service
A butler for every coach, on call day and night, from your first welcome drink to the moment you step off in Cape Town.
All Meals and Drinks
Every meal, high tea and snack, with wine, spirits, soft drinks, cognac and Cuban cigars. French Champagne and caviar are extra.
Off-Train Excursion
Kimberley or Matjiesfontein, weather and scheduling permitting, with transport, the guided tour and entry fees.
Wi-Fi, room service and a limited laundry service are also included, although the Wi-Fi runs on the mobile network and comes and goes in the remote Karoo. Gratuities are at your discretion, and there is a box for them at the entrance to the Club Car.
Fares and Departures
We price every Blue Train journey in sterling once your date and suite are confirmed, so the fares below read as TBA for now. Call us on 0333 405 0192 and we will give you a confirmed price.
| Suite | Per person sharing |
|---|---|
| De Luxe Suite | from £TBA |
| Luxury Suite | from £TBA |
Fares are per person sharing a twin or double suite, one way, and include everything listed above. Children aged five and under sharing their parents' bed travel free, and children aged 6 to 11 pay half the adult fare.
Departure Dates
The Blue Train runs from Pretoria to Cape Town on scheduled dates through most of the year. Please call us for current departure dates, as the schedule changes from season to season and popular dates fill early.
Planning Your Trip
Most of our guests fly into Johannesburg, spend a night near Pretoria, and finish with a few days in Cape Town. Irene Country Lodge, where check-in takes place, is an easy choice for the night before; see our Pretoria hotels and Cape Town hotels for ideas at each end. You can read more about the suites on the Blue Train suites page, and there is practical advice on luggage, dress and check-in on General Information.
Prefer to travel the other way? The Cape Town to Pretoria journey visits Kimberley in the afternoon rather than the morning. And if you are weighing up South Africa's two great trains, our Rovos Rail pages cover the three-night alternative. Back to the Blue Train overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
For the latest travel advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, including safety, local laws, passports and visas, please see gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.