Your Route
Cape Town → Winelands → Hex River Pass → Matjiesfontein → The Karoo → Kimberley → Highveld → Pretoria
Northbound the journey starts with a climb. Within a few hours of leaving Cape Town the train is working up 750 metres of escarpment through four tunnels, and by the following morning the Cape has been swapped for the Karoo, which is about as complete a change of scene as a railway can manage in a single night.
The northbound run leaves Cape Town Station at eleven in the morning, with check-in ninety minutes earlier at the Rovos Rail lounge at 1 Adderley Street. Lunch is served as the train trundles out through the winelands of the Western Cape towards Worcester.
The climb up the Hex River pass comes in the late afternoon and evening. Four tunnels, the last of them 13.5 kilometres long, lift the line about 750 metres onto the interior plateau. Dinner is served on the way up.
The second day is Matjiesfontein and the Karoo. The village is a preserved Victorian spa settlement founded in 1884 by a Scottish railwayman, with a museum on the station platform, the Lord Milner Hotel and a collection of historic cars and carriages. From there the train crosses the Great Karoo, a semi-desert that was once an inland sea and is now one of the richest fossil landscapes on earth.
Kimberley follows on the third morning, with the Diamond Mine Museum and the Big Hole, and the train then runs northeast across the grassland plains of the Highveld and the goldfields of the Witwatersrand. It reaches Rovos Rail Station in Pretoria at five on the fourth afternoon.
Rovos Rail crossing the Nort West Province
Journey Highlights
The Hex River Pass
The climb out of the Cape is the most dramatic railway engineering on the route: four tunnels, the last 13.5 kilometres long, lifting the line about 750 metres up the face of the escarpment. It happens over dinner on the first evening.
Matjiesfontein
A complete Victorian village preserved in the middle of the Karoo, founded in 1884 by a Scottish railwayman as a refreshment stop and barely altered since. The Lord Milner Hotel, the museum on the platform and a collection of historic cars and carriages are all a short walk from where the train stops.
The Great Karoo
A semi-desert the size of a country, and once an inland sea. The silt that settled on its bed became the Karoo system, one of the richest fossil beds on earth. The train crosses it slowly, which is the only sensible way to see a landscape this empty.
Kimberley and the Big Hole
The Big Hole at Kimberley is the largest excavation ever dug by hand, 463 metres across and sunk more than 200 metres into the earth by diggers working with picks and buckets from 1871. The Diamond Mine Museum around it tells the story of the rush that created the town, and the tour is included in the fare.
The Cape Winelands
The first few hours run out through the vineyards of the Western Cape towards Worcester, with the mountains closing in behind them. Lunch is served on board as it happens.
Capital Park Station
The journey ends at Rovos Rail's own station in Pretoria, where the vintage coaches are stripped to their frames and rebuilt. Delay your pick-up by about ninety minutes and you can take the walking tour and visit the museum.
Day by Day
Departure from Cape Town
Check in at least ninety minutes before departure at the Rovos Rail lounge, 1 Adderley Street, Cape Town. The train leaves Cape Town Station at eleven in the morning.
Lunch is served in the dining cars as the line trundles through the winelands of the Western Cape towards Worcester. Afternoon tea is taken in the lounge and observation cars as the train begins the climb of about 750 metres up the face of the escarpment.
Dinner is served as the train reaches the first of four tunnels on the pass. The last of them is 13.5 kilometres long, so take care walking through the train while you are in it. The first night is spent on board.
All meals and beverages on board from lunch. One night on board.
Matjiesfontein and the Karoo
Breakfast is served from seven, and at eight guests disembark at Matjiesfontein for a stroll through the village.
Matjiesfontein was founded in 1884 by James Douglas Logan, a Scottish railwayman who turned a Karoo refreshment stop into a Victorian spa village. It has been preserved rather than restored, which is why it works. The museum on the station platform is worth the time, and to the right of the Lord Milner Hotel there is a collection of historic cars and railway carriages.
From ten the train crosses the Great Karoo, a vast semi-desert that was once an enormous inland sea. Over millions of years volcanic matter was ground down and deposited as silt on the seabed to form the Karoo system, one of the great fossil beds of the world.
Lunch, afternoon tea and a formal dinner follow as the train runs north through the emptiest country on the route.
Guided visit to Matjiesfontein with entrance fees, all meals and beverages. One night on board.
Afternoon tea in the lounge car, taken at half past four every day
Kimberley and the Big Hole
An early start: breakfast from six until half past eight, and the Kimberley excursion at half past eight.
Kimberley is the capital of the Northern Cape and the town diamonds built. The find of 1871 brought fifty thousand diggers to a low hill, and by the time the hand digging stopped in 1914 they had removed 22 million tonnes of rock and left a crater 463 metres across, the largest excavation ever dug by hand. The Diamond Mine Museum on the rim tells the story properly.
Lunch is served as the train travels northeast towards Klerksdorp and the broad grassland plains of the Highveld. Afternoon tea and a last formal dinner follow, and the third night is spent on board.
Guided tour of the Kimberley Diamond Mine Museum and the Big Hole, entrance fees, all meals and beverages. One night on board.
The Witwatersrand and Pretoria
Breakfast is served until ten as the train crosses the goldfields of the Witwatersrand, the reef that built Johannesburg. Lunch is served on board. Have your luggage ready fifteen minutes before arrival.
The train arrives at Rovos Rail Station on Transnet Avenue in Pretoria at five in the afternoon. If you would like to join the station tour and visit the museum, delay your pick-up by about ninety minutes. The workshops here rebuild the vintage coaches from bare frames and the tour is one of the more genuinely interesting hours available in Pretoria.
Breakfast and lunch on board. Onward transfers and Pretoria or Johannesburg hotels can be arranged by us.
Pretoria, where the journey ends at Rovos Rail's own station at Capital Park
What Is Included
All Accommodation
Three nights on board in your chosen suite, each with an en-suite bathroom, air conditioning, a safe and a dedicated host or hostess.
All Meals
Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner throughout, served in the wood-panelled dining cars. Dinner is a formal affair and the kitchen works from fresh South African produce.
All Beverages On Board
A curated selection of local and international wine, beer, cider, spirits, liqueurs, mixers, soft drinks and a cocktail menu. International sparkling wine may be pre-ordered at extra cost.
Guided Excursions
A guided tour of the Kimberley Diamond Mine Museum and the Big Hole, and a walking visit to the historic Victorian village of Matjiesfontein, both with entrance fees.
Room Service and Laundry
Twenty-four hour room service and a limited laundry service, both included in the fare. Each suite has a dedicated host or hostess who services it daily.
Entrance Fees and Taxes
Entrance fees as set out in the itinerary, preselected local wines, beers and soft drinks on excursions, and government tax.
Not included: all other beverages, international sparkling wine, gratuities, personal expenses, visas, travel insurance, and pre and post tour transfers, accommodation and flights.
Fares and Departures
We price every journey in sterling once your dates and suite are confirmed. The table below shows the suite category guide prices, but these are subject to fluid pricing and currency fluctuations. Call or email us for a confirmed sterling price.
| Suite | Per person sharing |
|---|---|
| Royal Suite | from £5,480 |
| Deluxe Suite | from £4,120 |
| Pullman Suite | from £2,850 |
Fares are per person, one way, and include everything listed above. Single occupancy carries a supplement. Please call for a confirmed sterling price for your chosen departure.
2026 Departures
| Month | Departure dates |
|---|---|
| October | 13, 20 |
| November | 2*, 3, 13*, 17 |
| December | 1, 15, 21*, 29 |
2027 Departures
| Month | Departure dates |
|---|---|
| January | 12, 26 |
| February | 2, 15*, 16, 23* |
| March | 5*, 9, 16* |
| April | 5*, 19*, 20 |
| May | 4, 18 |
| June | 1, 15, 29 |
| July | 13, 27 |
| August | 9*, 10, 24 |
| September | 7, 14, 27* |
| October | 5, 19 |
| November | 2, 15, 16, 30 |
| December | 13, 14, 27 |
2028 Departures
| Month | Departure dates |
|---|---|
| January | 18 |
| February | 1, 8, 15, 22 |
| March | 7, 21, 28 |
| April | 4, 11, 18, 25 |
| May | 15, 30 |
| June | 6, 27 |
| July | 11, 25 |
| August | 8, 15, 29 |
| September | 12, 19, 26 |
Departure dates are taken from Rovos Rail's published 2026 to 2028 schedules and are subject to change. Dates marked with an asterisk are sold in Pullman Gold, Deluxe and Royal Suites only. Please confirm your chosen date with us before booking flights.