There’s something deeply luxurious about doing absolutely nothing except turning the page of a good book while cicadas buzz and waves lap at the shore.
Jessica Hearn / Unsplash
In a world obsessed with motion, a readaway is the kind of holiday that invites stillness. South Africa, with its endless coastline, hidden mountain cottages, and shaded wine farm verandas, offers countless corners to lose yourself in both a landscape and a novel. Here’s where to escape this summer, book in hand and stress far behind.
For beach readers: Noordhoek to Nature’s Valley
If your idea of heaven is salt in your hair and a paperback speckled with sand, the Cape coast is your ideal bookmark between chapters. Noordhoek’s long, quiet beach and pastel sunsets make it perfect for slow, contemplative reads — think Chigozie Obioma’s The Fishermen or Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. Stay in a rustic beach house with sea views and a hammock, where the only sounds are wind and waves.
Or, if you’re chasing that endless-summer feeling, travel further up the West Coast, where quiet towns like Paternoster, Yzerfontein, and Elands Bay invite lazy days and lighthearted reads. This is where you reach for Beach Read by Emily Henry, Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, or any novel that feels like sunshine and salt air, stories best read with sandy toes and an ice-cold cider in hand.
Further east, Nature’s Valley on the Garden Route offers a more secluded stretch of paradise. Between the forest and the sea, it’s easy to lose hours beneath the trees, swapping between swimming and reading. Pack an adventure novel and let the landscape mirror the wildness of the story.
For mountain dreamers: the Cederberg and the Drakensberg
There’s a special serenity in the high places. The Cederberg, all ochre cliffs and ancient rock art, feels like stepping out of time. At dusk, the sky burns orange and pink — the perfect light for a glass of wine and a good Sherlock Holmes novel. Many eco-lodges here have no cellphone signal, making it a rare place where silence feels full rather than empty.
Across the country, the Drakensberg offers a different kind of retreat — lush and green, with mist pooling in the valleys. Hike in the morning, then curl up with Cry, the Beloved Country or a modern South African memoir in the afternoon. A stone cottage with a fireplace, a wool blanket, and a well-thumbed book can turn even a thunderstorm into bliss.
For countryside escapists: The Karoo and the Winelands
If the beach and mountains are already claimed by crowds, the Karoo’s wide-open stillness might be your ideal escape. Time slows here and days stretch long and golden, and the air feels like honey. Towns like Prince Albert or Nieu-Bethesda hum softly with creative energy. Writers’ festivals and art studios abound, yet you can easily find solitude in a cottage surrounded by veld. Read under the stoep while swallows flit overhead. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah makes a perfect companion here — its mix of humour, heart, and social insight feels right at home in a landscape that holds both grit and grace.
For a more indulgent version of the readaway, head to the Cape Winelands. Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and Paarl are dotted with boutique guesthouses and shady gardens perfect for a lazy afternoon. Pair your book with a crisp Chenin Blanc and a cheese platter. The rhythm here is unhurried — pages turn between sips, and somehow every chapter feels like it deserves to be savoured.
For forest wanderers: Knysna and Hogsback
There’s a magic to forest reading, the dappling of light through leaves, the scent of damp moss and pine. Knysna’s indigenous forests, home to elephants and folklore, create a natural cocoon for introspective reads. Choose something immersive and mythic. Maybe Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Mia Couto’s Sleepwalking Land or Dalene Matthee’s Fiela se Kind, a South African classic set right here among these very trees.
In Hogsback, said to have inspired Tolkien’s Middle-earth, the mist and mossy cottages make it easy to believe in stories again. Many guesthouses have woodburning stoves, cats that curl at your feet, and window views of waterfalls. It’s the kind of place that reminds you reading isn’t just an escape — it’s a way back to yourself.
Packing for the perfect readaway
Bring more books than you think you’ll read, the mark of a true bibliophile’s holiday. Mix genres: one novel that challenges you, one comfort read, and one you’ve always meant to finish. Add a sun hat, a light throw for cooler evenings, and a notebook for stray thoughts inspired by the scenery.
Above all, give yourself permission to do nothing “productive.” A South African summer has its own rhythm: hot afternoons, long twilights, and nights filled with stars. The perfect readaway isn’t about getting through a reading list; it’s about letting life and literature unfold together, one page at a time.
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