Hi, I had not been considering South Africa until I came across Sun City while browsing the web last night. I must say it looks very appealing, especially The Palace. I suppose it depends on what type of holiday you are looking for and what your budget is. If you want to do a safari and want to stay somewhere "special" then Sabi Sabi or Ulusaba would be perfect. Sun City looks ideal in as much as you have the 3 different hotels there with everything you could hope to have- luxury resorts beautiful lanscapes/scenery, golf courses and the chance to do a safari. Hope that helps. We too would be thinking of going around Easter time next year.

I was thinking more along the lines of Cape Town tbh.

For me Sun City would be terrible, not my scene at all.

We are hopefully going to Cape Town next Easter and flying up to Durban to see the Zulu sites. We have also looked at hiring a car and going to the Winelands but won't manage this if we do go to Durban.( well, we might!)

We visited South Africa a couple of years ago now, and had the greatest time ever, the people were just lovely, food was fabulous, the weather was wonderful.

We did this trip independently, starting off in Cape Town the Marine Life Aquatic centre was great (you get a stamp on your hand as your ticket, which is only visible under ultraviolet light, and this enables you to go into the centre all day - so in case you miss the penguin/shark feeding, they'll give you the next feeding time details to go back later in the day), it has two areas giving you the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean marine life.

Obviously, it goes without saying that a trip up Table Mountain is spectacular. Even if it's a beautiful day, always take a jacket or fleece as the weather can change in the blink of an eye and get very cold.

On arrival in Cape Town, and you want to visit Robben Island, you will have to book and this is very popular, and not just with tourists, when we visited there were a lot of South Africans on the Robben Island tour. People may think it's not a very "holiday thing" to do, however, it is an experience I wouldn't have missed and not only thought provoking but very humbling.

A visit to Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach (for the penguins) Simon's Town (Naval) are all "do-able" in a day. We travelled up through the wine regions to Ooudtshorn (not sure of spelling), which we used as a stopover point in order to visit the Cango Caves, very much worth a visit, truly spectacular.

We then drove back down the Garden Route, stopping off in Mosel Bay for a couple of nights in order to go Shark cage diving and then back to Cape Town for a couple of nights. You will find everything your heart desires in shopping experiences at the V&A Waterfront. ( I personally found a great pair diamond earrings and very reasonable RayBans!!!!).

We then flew to Johannesburg (for a friends wedding) and then onto Sun City (we went the whole hog and stayed at the Palace) for two nights and then stayed in Pilanesburg National Park for two nights doing a safari (both by jeep and walking with a guide).

Whilst Sun City isn't going to be everyones cup of tea, if the chance is there to visit just for a day (which many people do) I believe it's worth visiting just for the jaw dropping experience of oppulance and 'over the top' stuff that's there.

Anyone who has the opportunity to go to South Africa, DO IT, it's a great country.

Thanks for the report Scoya. I have saved it. We are, in the next month, about to get our free flights from Amex so I am hoping we will be able to redeem them for flights to Cape Town next Easter, although I know it is a popular "redemption" choice.

We visited South Africa a couple of years ago now, and had the greatest time ever, the people were just lovely, food was fabulous, the weather was wonderful.

We did this trip independently, starting off in Cape Town the Marine Life Aquatic centre was great (you get a stamp on your hand as your ticket, which is only visible under ultraviolet light, and this enables you to go into the centre all day - so in case you miss the penguin/shark feeding, they'll give you the next feeding time details to go back later in the day), it has two areas giving you the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean marine life.

Obviously, it goes without saying that a trip up Table Mountain is spectacular. Even if it's a beautiful day, always take a jacket or fleece as the weather can change in the blink of an eye and get very cold.

On arrival in Cape Town, and you want to visit Robben Island, you will have to book and this is very popular, and not just with tourists, when we visited there were a lot of South Africans on the Robben Island tour. People may think it's not a very "holiday thing" to do, however, it is an experience I wouldn't have missed and not only thought provoking but very humbling.

A visit to Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach (for the penguins) Simon's Town (Naval) are all "do-able" in a day. We travelled up through the wine regions to Ooudtshorn (not sure of spelling), which we used as a stopover point in order to visit the Cango Caves, very much worth a visit, truly spectacular.

We then drove back down the Garden Route, stopping off in Mosel Bay for a couple of nights in order to go Shark cage diving and then back to Cape Town for a couple of nights. You will find everything your heart desires in shopping experiences at the V&A Waterfront. ( I personally found a great pair diamond earrings and very reasonable RayBans!!!!).

We then flew to Johannesburg (for a friends wedding) and then onto Sun City (we went the whole hog and stayed at the Palace) for two nights and then stayed in Pilanesburg National Park for two nights doing a safari (both by jeep and walking with a guide).

Whilst Sun City isn't going to be everyones cup of tea, if the chance is there to visit just for a day (which many people do) I believe it's worth visiting just for the jaw dropping experience of oppulance and 'over the top' stuff that's there.

Anyone who has the opportunity to go to South Africa, DO IT, it's a great country.

Is it true that there are "no go" areas in Capetown. We are still planing our trip to South Africa on a fly drive but now I think it would be safer on an escorted trip. What do you think? We want to visit Cape Town and the Garden Route, addo Elephant Park, nature reserves etc. Should we hire a car and go it alone?