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This route is only really worthwhile in spring usually from late August to Early September. You need to book ahead if youre hoping to find a place to stay in flower season. What follows is a great itinerary and covers far more than most people will need its worth doing if you are a botanist or just absolutely dead keen on flowers. But remember almost anywhere you go in the flower area in season is bound to be amazing. Many of these roads are dirt. You can still have a good flower experience without driving on dirt roads. Just visit Darling, Langebaan, Clanwilliam, Niewoudtville or Vanrynsdorp, and you dont have to go far from the N7. Day 1 Leave Cape Town travelling north to Darling. Visit the Tienie Versveld Flower Reserve. Day 2 Explore the area, going a little further afield. You?ll find you can?t travel very far as, every few hundred metres you need to stop to look at some lovely new flower on the side of the road. Spend the night in Darling again. Day 3 Drive out towards Langebaan. Spend time in the Postberg section of the West Coast National Park, where you will see carpets of daisies. Spend the night in Langebaan. Day 4 Drive slowly north along the coast road, through the Sandveld, admiring the small stands of particularly pretty flowers. Spend the night in Elands Bay or Lambert?s Bay. Day 5 Head off to Clanwilliam. Visit the Ramskop Wildflower Garden, and explore the surroundings. Day 6 Drive over the Pakhuis Pass and, turning left on the R27 (which is not continuous with the R27 between Cape Town and Langebaan), go to Nieuwoudtville. Visit Waterval Aleen, a beautiful waterfall. Explore the area, which is well known for some unusual bulbs. Make a point of seeing the enormous fields of endemic orange bulbinellas. Spend the night in Niewoudtville. Day 7 Drive through the Knersvlakte, where you will see carpets of iridescent vygies. (mesembryanthemums) to Goegap Nature Reserve, where you could spend the night. Day 8 Go for a walk in the Nature Reserve. Day 9 Head back towards Cape Town on the N7, via Springbok. You could do it in one day but, as you?ll be stopping to look at flowers, its probably best to overnight in Clanwilliam or Citrusdal
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