The Garden Route gets the crowds, but point your car north on the N9 and the Eastern Cape opens up into something stranger and quieter. This roughly 400km tarred drive from George to Graaff-Reinet crosses four mountain passes — Outeniqua, Potjiesberg, Buyspoort and Perdepoort — before spilling out onto the open plains of the Great Karoo. It's an easy extension to a coastal holiday, and 2026 is a good excuse: Graaff-Reinet, founded in 1786, marks its 240th anniversary as South Africa's fourth-oldest town.

Willowmore is worth an early stop, partly as a gateway to the Baviaanskloof, a rugged wilderness area within the Cape Floral Region UNESCO World Heritage Site that draws hikers and 4x4 travellers. Further on, Aberdeen rewards anyone willing to poke around. Its 1898 former post office has terracotta dragons on the roof; Pagel House, an 1897 mansion from the ostrich-feather boom, was renamed after a circus strongman whose animals ended up there. The town also claims a 1954 wedding held inside a lion cage, with seven lionesses as bridesmaids. Karoo towns keep their stories close.

Graaff-Reinet itself has more than 220 heritage sites, most walkable, with Cape Dutch architecture throughout. The five-star Drostdy Hotel is a landmark in its own right — built between 1804 and 1806 as the landdrost's residence, restored and reopened in 2014 under the Rupert Family Foundation, with 48 rooms across three precincts, three pools and a restaurant serving Karoo lamb. It's also owned by a non-profit that trains young rural women in hospitality, so your stay funds something.

The surrounds justify a two- or three-night stay. Camdeboo National Park nearly rings the town, and its Valley of Desolation — 14km out — features dolerite columns up to 120m tall, best at sunset, with Cape mountain zebra and over 220 bird species. The new Karoo Origins: The Fossil Centre, opened April 2025, displays over 850 fossil skulls from the Rubidge Collection, including 107 holotypes, with evidence of the end-Permian extinction some 252 million years ago. Add a detour 50km north to Nieu-Bethesda's Owl House, where artist Helen Martins filled her home and garden with glasswork and cement owls, camels and figures.

Practically, a sensible itinerary runs George–Uniondale–Willowmore–Aberdeen, then Graaff-Reinet, and onward about 250km to Addo Elephant National Park and Gqeberha. Spring and autumn bring milder temperatures and clear skies; drive in daylight, refuel in towns, and take a high-clearance vehicle if you're heading into the Baviaanskloof.

For self-drive travellers who've done the Garden Route and want more space, fewer tour buses and genuinely odd roadside history, the N9 delivers.