Would you travel to South Africa with 5 -6 year olds?

[suebfg]

or would the risk of crime put you off? I am looking at Cape Town for a day or two and then onto the Garden Route.

I don't think you'll have a problem.

We were sensible but had no problems in Cape Town - we also visited J'burg which admittedly was a little more edgy!

The downside is that children of that age are often not allowed on organised safaris - if that was part of your plan.

We loved SA - DD as an older teenager, has travelled to and from herself on a couple of occasions, and had no problems.

Just have to have your wits about you and be vigilant. It is a beautiful country

We go every year and have taken the DD's since they were tiny. They are now 3 and 5. We spend some time in Cape Town and the Winelands then down the Garden Route to Knysna area where we spend 3 weeks. They love it as do we. We spend a huge amount of time at the beach, there are lots of places to go for day visits out but they are still too young for safari's unless you book somewhere that specifically caters for children (we stayed at a place called Riverbend earlier this year). In Knysna we stay at a wonderful little place in the forest for a few days, very child friendly called Forest Edge.

Yes definitely. Would have liked to for next year but prices were very high

Yes, we took the dc when they were 3 and 11 months old and it was one of the best holidays we've ever had. Followed a similar itinerary to blueberry.

One advantage is that childcare is very cheap there, so we were able to book nannies and babysitters a couple of times and have some time on our own - one day we booked a nanny to come with us all to the beach for the day. It just meant that dh and I could relax a little more with our books knowing that someone was keeping a close eye on the dc.

We did not bother with safari as we knew that at that age the kids would not remember it, but would do that when they are older.

No problem. We took our DDs when they were 20 months. Cape Town is an amazing cosmopolitan city with loads to do, great beaches, shops etc. We did the Garden Route and Knysna on our honeymoon and it was awesome. Never felt any kinds of threat and was very comfortable driving round CT on my own to pop to the shops, spa etc. Try to stay in Camps Bay if you can.

We went to Cape Town when DS's were 9 and 11 and it was my best holiday ever.