South Africans have long suspected it and now the world has officially recognised it: the Garden Route is among the most scenic stretches of road on the planet.
A new survey released by popular international travel website virtualtourist.com has ranked the Garden Route sixth overall in its "Top 10 Coastal Drives" online poll.
The website, which has more than 1.3 million subscribers, recognised the "Garden Route" for its abundance of wild flowers, secluded bays and quaint villages and towns like Plettenberg Bay, Knysna, Wilderness and Sedgefield.
VirtualTourist members also suggested Cape Town's Chapman's Peak drive as fun driving, as it has over 114 curves and spectacular cliffside views.
The Garden Route placed directly behind Australia's Great Ocean Road, which winds alongside the Southern Ocean from Torquay to Portland and was created by soldiers returning from the First World War.
However it managed to beat Iceland's famous Ring Road and Norway's astonishing Atlantic Road, which is located among the fjords and connects a series of islands along the Western coast of the country.
Eden District acting head of economic development and tourism Fatima Watson said the ranking was a "phenomenal achievement".
"This accolade will be an excellent marketing tool for the region, both internationally and domestically. We have always striven to market our sparkling coastline, which has no fewer than 11 Blue Flag beaches, and this has paid off for all the tourism authorities on the Garden Route with this accolade," she said.
"We are very proud of this"
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Plettenberg Bay Tourism spokesman Jofre Lottering said the ranking was a "great achievement" for the area.
"This is a tremendous accolade for the whole region and hopefully it will further boost us as a tourism destination," he said.
"It is superb that the world has recognised us in this way."
It came as little surprise that the US's Pacific Coast Highway was ranked first, as most of Virtual Tourist's subscribers hail from America.
At around 730km, California's Pacific Coast Highway is probably the most well-known coastal drive in the United States. This drive includes Point Lobos State Reserve, Point Sur State Historic Park, and the highly-recognisable, oft photographed Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
Top 10: 1. Pacific Coast Highway; 2. Kuhio Highway - Kauai, Hawaii; 3. Overseas Highway (Hwy 1) - Florida Keys; 4. Cabot Trail - Nova Scotia, Canada; 5. Great Ocean Road - Victoria, Australia; 6. The Garden Route - Western Cape Province, South Africa; 7. Ring Road - Iceland; 8. The Atlantic Road, Norway; 9. Northeast Loop - Phuket, Thailand; 10. Kotor to Sveti Stephan - Montenegro
Article; John Harvey
Picture: Ewald Stander
