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Rovos Rail, Dar Es Salaam Luxury Train: Tanzania to Cape Town, South Africa

Rovos Rail Train: Dar Es Salaam to Cape Town (2025)

Rovos Rail Dar Es Salaam Luxury Train Tanzania Cape Town South Africa

21 NIGHTS FROM:

$12,762

Per person sharing

Scheduled flights quoted separately

9TYA21D

• Rovos Rail Dar Es Salaam, Luxury Train

• Selous Game Reserve

• Great Rift Valley

• Luxury Train, Tanzania

• Lusaka, Zambia

• Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

• Gaborone, Botswana

• Pretoria & Kimberley

• Madikwe Game Reserve

• Cape Town, South Africa

This epic Rovos Rail, Dar Es Salaam luxury train journey starts in Tanzania and travels across the continent to beautiful Cape Town in South Africa. Travel through the great Selous Game Reserve & Zambia, before stopping at the spectacular Victoria Falls, continuing through Zimbabwe to South Africa. Two departures per year in each direction (Pullman, Deluxe or Royal cabin). Early booking essential.

Detailed itinerary ▶

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Day 1

You will be met at Dar Es Salaam Airport and transferred to your hotel.

Check in, settle in and relax in your warm East African surroundings.

Day 2

At leisure to relax and explore vibrant Dar Es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania.

Meaning "House of Peace" Dar Es Salaam boasts a rich and internationally diverse cuisine, with many fine restaurants. Interesting tours include the National Museum, the Village Museum and the Botanical Gardens. There is also a lively music scene.

Day 3

Check in at the Serena Hotel (Kivukoni Room) by 09.30 then take the shared transfer to Tazara Station in Dar Es Salaam arriving by 10.00, in good time to board the luxury Rovos Rail Pride of Africa departing at 12.00 for Cape Town.

Enjoy the elegance of luxury 5-star train travel of a bygone age as you settle in to your wood-panelled coach for your epic 14-night rail journey. You will experience the finest cuisine and outstanding personal service, as you travel in luxury through Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa to Cape Town – making this one of the most famous train journeys in the world.

Note: Dress code on the train during the day is smart casual, with comfortable walking shoes for the off-train excursion. Evenings are generally more formal, with most guests enjoying the opportunity to dress up (gentlemen are asked to wear a collar & tie, but jackets are optional).

Please be aware you may experience delays on your journey, due to issues with the local railway network. Rovos Rail will do its best to mitigate these, but they do sometimes occur. For this reason you should not book your flight home on the day your journey ends.

Day 4

Relax and unwind as you enjoy another day of luxury train travel, as we head southwards through Nyerere National Park, previously known as Selous Game Reserve, the largest wildlife reserve in Africa.

Disembark to enjoy a morning game drive in this vast park, before returning to the train.

Our journey continues as we pass the Udzungwa Mountains. Enjoy spectacular scenery as the train negotiates the tunnels, switchbacks and viaducts of the Great Rift Valley escarpment and heads towards Mlimba.

Day 5

Today we ascend the pass at Mlimba at almost the midpoint between Africa’s two Great Rift Lakes and travel towards Makambako.

Time permitting, we can disembark at Makambako and enjoy a stroll through the town (time permitting), with rest of the day on board the train enjoying lectures by our on-board historian. You will see many unusual baobab trees today.

Please put your watches back by an hour, before retiring for the night.

Day 6

We pass through the highland valley of Mbeya, the 'Scotland of Africa' at 1,700 m above sea level, before descending to the plains below and arriving in Tunduma, for the border crossing from Tanzania into Zambia.

Enjoy the spectacular descent into northern Zambia and disembark at Kasama for an off-train excursion to Chisimba Falls.

We then continue overnight through central Zambia, travelling towards Mununga.

Day 7

Enjoy lectures on the train with the on-board historian, as we travel through Mpika and Serenje in central Zambia, towards the capital of Lusaka.

Tea is served in the midway lounge car and observation car at the rear of the train, with lunch and dinner served in the dining car. The train is turned in Kapiri Mposhi, at the end of the TAZARA railway line, before we continue to Ngwerere.

Day 8

From Lusaka the train heads southwest, travelling across the Kafue Bridge - a 477-metre long steel girder truss bridge of 13 spans, each at 33 metres, supported on concrete piers.

Enjoy lectures in the morning and/or afternoon in the lounge car, as we continue southwards towards Livingstone and the mighty Victoria Falls - the largest waterfall in the world situated on the great Zambezi River.

Day 9

We arrive in Livingstone for Zimbabwean border formalities and continue across the famous Victoria Falls iron bridge, viewing the magnificent Smoke That Thunders first discovered by Dr. David Livingstone and still one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. The flow of water over the Victoria Falls is greatest from February to June following the summer rains, but they are a magnificent sight at any time of year.

Arrive at Victoria Falls Station and walk across the road to your hotel. In the late afternoon enjoy a Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi River where you can see hippos, crocodiles and abundant bird life, followed by dinner.

Please pack a small overnight bag for your stay at Victoria Falls. Lunch and dinner today and breakfast and lunch tomorrow are included and taken at the Jungle Junction Restaurant. All alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, or any meals taken in other venues, are for your own account.

Day 10

This morning is at leisure to explore Victoria Falls on foot or participate in optional local activities such as a helicopter flight over the falls, golf or adrenalin-filled white water rafting.

Depart Victoria Falls in the late afternoon, travelling southwards through beautiful scenery towards Bulawayo.

Day 11

Enjoy another day of luxury train travel as we travel through Zimbabwe.

After border formalities at Plumtree, we cross the border into Botswana and head south through Francistown and Serule. After crossing the Tropic of Capricorn, we pass Mahalapye and continue towards Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.

Day 12

We disembark in Gaborone this morning and transfer to our luxury game lodge in Madikwe Game Reserve.

In the afternoon, enjoy an open-top game drive in the beautiful malaria free Madikwe Game Reserve.

Please pack the small overnight bag you will find in your suite for your two-night stay at the game lodge. Bottled water and a limited wine selection will be available free of charge during lunch and dinner. Please note that beverages, phone calls and laundry will be for your own account. Wi-Fi is available in the main house & there are spa facilities.The time of your game drives will be confirmed on arrival.

Day 13

Awake early this morning for a dawn open top game drive with your lodge ranger, to take advantage of the best game viewing conditions of the day.

Madikwe Game Reserve is home to all the Big Five – elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo – as well as many other interesting species, so outstanding game viewing is assured. The rest of the morning is free for relaxing beside the swimming pool.

In the afternoon enjoy another open top game drive with your ranger and in the evening dine under the pristine stars of the southern sky.

Day 14

This morning enjoy another game drive in Madikwe Game Reserve before breakfast at your lodge. Please ensure your bags are ready for collection by 10.00

We then transfer to Zeerust where we re-board the train travel alongside the Magaliesberg, a range of low hills stretching 120 km east-west from Rustenberg to Pretoria.

Day 15

This morning we arrive at the gracious colonial-style Capital Park Railway Station in Pretoria.

We disembark for a short city tour, followed by lunch on the Rovos Rail platform and a walking tour of the station and locomotive workshops (weather permitting)

In the afternoon we depart from Pretoria and continue southwards through the farmlands of the Free State towards Kimberley.

Day 16

Shortly before arriving in the diamond town of Kimberley, we travel past Kamfers Dam - a shallow a lake that is home to a spectacular flock of lesser flamingos (over 20,000),

In Kimberley we disembark for a tour of the famous Big Hole and Open Mine Museum. With a surface area of over 40 acres and a perimeter of over 1 mile, this open-pit area was mined to a depth of over 3,000 feet at the height of the diamond rush – the largest hand-dug excavation in the world. At the Village Museum you can also view Eureka, the first recorded diamond discovered in South Africa.

We depart Kimberley around midday and continue travelling through the Northern Cape and the Great Karoo towards De Aar, Beaufort West and Matjiesfontein.

Day 17

This morning we travel towards Matjiesfontein, where after lunch you can disembark at Whitehill Siding for a 5-km guided walk into Matjiesfontein, or alternatively disembark at Matjiesfontein and visit this quaintly preserved Victorian village, founded in 1884 by an energetic Scottish railwayman called James Logan.

Once a fashionable Victorian spa, this town played a key role in the Anglo Boer War of 1899, as it was situated on the main railway line between Cape Town and Johannesburg. It was also the home of the famous author and anti-war campaigner, Olive Schreiner, who wrote 'The Story of an African Farm'. Of special interest is the museum on the station platform and a collection of historic cars and railway carriages to the right of the Lord Milner Hotel.

After leaving Matjiesfontein the train proceed through Touws River, before descending the Hex River Pass which consists of four tunnels, one of which is an impressive 13.5 km long. We continue through De Doorns and Worcester, travelling through the beautiful mountains and vineyards of the Cape Winelands.

Note: Wear comfortable walking shoes today.

Day 18

After breakfast we complete our journey to the beautiful city of Cape Town.

View imposing Table Mountain before arriving at Cape Town Station around 10.00. Here you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Day 19

Today is free for independent sightseeing in Cape Town.

To orientate yourself, use your pre-paid pass for the Red Route Hop-Off Bus, which stops at all Cape Town’s key sights and attractions, including the Table Mountain (a Fast Track cable car ticket is also included). Here you can ascend and enjoy one of the world's most famous views.

Continue to trendy Camps Bay beach and the many attractions of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.

Note: Don't let the colour of the bus confuse you. All buses are red, but they run two different routes - the Red City Route and the Blue Kirstenbosch Route.

Table Mountain cable car is closed for annual maintenance from mid July to end August.

Day 20

Today we recommend an optional full day shared tour to the beautiful Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, where you may see baboons, ostrich and perhaps even dolphins or whales in season (July/November).

Your tour travels through Hout Bay and along spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive to the Cape Point peninsula, before returning via Simons Town and Fish Hoek. This is a scenic tour of the whole Cape Peninsula, with the optional opportunity of visiting the penguin colony at Boulders Beach.

Note: Lunch is for your own account today. Group size is minimum 2 / maximum 15.

Day 21

Today we recommend an optional full day shared tour to the renowned Stellenbosch Winelands, travelling through the scenic Franschhoek Valley where a handful of French Huguenot refugees started South Africa’s now famous wine industry.

Explore the historic university town of Stellenbosch and several wine estates on this famous wine route, which stretched from Paarl through to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. Enjoy a cellar tour and some wine tasting, before returning to Cape Town in the late afternoon.

Note: Lunch is for your own account today. Group size is minimum 2 / maximum 15.

Day 22

Transfer to Cape Town Airport for your flight home.

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