A view of the Blyde River Canyon

The Panorama Route, one of the highest and most dramatically scenic routes in South Africa, takes you to several splendid natural wonders as it traces the Blyde River.

The views from the 26km-long Blyde River Canyon, the world’s third-largest canyon (after the Grand Canyon in USA and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia), are superb, both from the bottom and the top, and are easily accessible by road or on foot.

A good way to take in as much as possible is an easy half-day’s drive on which you’ll see the Pinnacle – an enormous quartzite pillar; God’s Window – with seemingly unending views of the surrounding countryside (and a good place to buy curios); Bourke’s Luck Potholes, curious, deep rock pools named after an early gold prospector; and, at the end of the route, the Three Rondavels – massive rock formations resembling beehive huts with the Blyde River swirling hundreds of metres below. The view here is awesome in the full sense of the word.