Rovos Rail 101 – What to know before you book

There are journeys where the goal is simply to get from one destination to another. And then there is Rovos Rail. Travelling aboard Rovos Rail means deliberately slowing things down. Instead of flying over Southern Africa, you watch the landscape change outside your window, broken up by carefully selected stops along the way: a game drive, a historic town, desert dunes. Dinner is a dressed-up occasion in a wood-panelled dining car, and afternoons disappear in the observation car as another corner of the continent rolls past. But what is travelling on Rovos Rail actually like? Which route should you choose? And is it worth including in your itinerary?

First, a little history

Rovos Rail set out on its first journey on 29 April 1989, with four paying passengers aboard, along with friends and press. It was started by South African businessman Rohan Vos, who went to an auction in 1985 to buy a coach or two, intending to restore four carriages as a family caravan. The collection grew from there, with deteriorated dining cars from a country club and decommissioned railway carriages, all restored to run again.

Most journeys now start from Capital Park, a railway yard in Pretoria that Rovos leased in 1997 and built into its own station. Carriages are still rebuilt in the workshop there, and guests can tour the station and its museum before departure.

Inside, it still feels like a different century, with wood-panelled coaches and polished teak furniture. The comforts are modern, though: air conditioning, an ensuite bathroom, a fridge and a butler available 24 hours a day. Rovos Rail still owns steam locomotives, named after members of the Vos family, but they now work only around the station. With water and coaling facilities scrapped over the years, diesel and electric locomotives now pull the trains.

In 2010, Rovos Rail opened St James Manor, its first guesthouse in Cape Town, where guests can stay before or after their trip.

What it’s actually like onboard

Every journey begins with a welcome reception. Your luggage is tagged and placed in your suite, where a full itinerary pack is waiting for you. Every train carries a maximum of 72 passengers, which keeps the experience intimate. There are three suite categories, all with a private bathroom, air conditioning, a safe and daily servicing.

Pullman Suites, at 7 square metres, are the most compact. They have a sofa arrangement during the day that converts into a double bed or a bunk bed at night. On longer journeys, you will usually get a Pullman Gold Suite instead. It is the same size, but with no bunks, just two single beds that serve as sofas by day and can be made up as a double.
Deluxe Suites, at 10 square metres, have double or twin beds and a small lounge area.
The Royal Suite takes up half a train car. At 16 square metres, it is as close to a private apartment as a train compartment gets. It has a private lounge area and a bathroom with both a Victorian bath and a separate shower.

The communal spaces do a lot of the work too. There is a main lounge car, plus a smaller lounge where smoking is permitted. At the very back is the observation car, with an open-air balcony where most people end up standing at sunset, watching the line disappear behind the train. Meals get their own stage too: a gong sounds, and the dining car turns the occasion into a proper sit-down event. Meals are served in one sitting: breakfast between 7:00 and 10:00, lunch at 13:00, afternoon tea at 16:30 and dinner at 19:30. Ingredients are locally sourced where possible, and the wine list showcases South African estates.

There are deliberately no televisions, radios or WiFi aboard, so the experience encourages you to disconnect instead of filling every spare moment (WiFi is available at Rovos Rail’s Cape Town and Pretoria lounges). Guests read, play cards or board games, talk to other travellers, have a drink, or simply watch a part of Southern Africa that most visitors would normally fly over. On the Copper Trail, Dar es Salaam and Malawi Meander journeys, an onboard historian travels with you.

You also get to step off the train

Several routes build in stops where the train empties out for a few hours, sometimes overnight: a game drive, a walk through a historic town, time at a canyon, desert dunes, or a national park, before everyone is back aboard and the journey continues. That changing rhythm, train, landscape, excursion, back to the train, is a big part of why three or four days aboard goes by faster than it sounds.

Rovos Rail journeys at a glance

Rovos Rail runs a mix of short escapes and multi-country expeditions, most departing from Pretoria’s Capital Park Station and available in reverse.

Route	What it covers
Durban Safari	2 nights from Pretoria to Durban, summer months only, with a Big Five game drive, a Spionkop battlefield tale or reserve drive, and a visit to Ardmore Ceramics
Cape Town Journey	3 nights from Pretoria to Cape Town, with stops at Kimberley’s Big Hole and the Victorian village of Matjiesfontein
Victoria Falls Journey	3 nights from Pretoria to Victoria Falls with a game drive in Hwange, or 4 nights adding a visit to Matobo National Park
Golf Safari	9 nights round trip from Pretoria built around golf in South Africa and Eswatini, with game drives and other excursions
Namibia Safari	11 nights from Pretoria to Walvis Bay, with stops at Fish River Canyon, Kolmanskop and Windhoek, and overnights at Sossusvlei and Etosha National Park
Southern Cross	11 nights from Pretoria to Victoria Falls, with game drives, stops in Eswatini, Maputo and Great Zimbabwe, and a Zambezi sunset cruise
African Collage	12 nights from Pretoria to Cape Town, with game drives in Kruger, Hluhluwe and Addo, stops at Durban, Knysna and the Cango Caves, and golf for players
Copper Trail	14 nights from Victoria Falls to Lobito in Angola, with a visit to an elephant sanctuary in Lusaka, a safari in South Luangwa National Park and a Lubumbashi city tour
African Trilogy	15 nights from Pretoria to Walvis Bay, starting with Kruger, Eswatini and Durban before the Namibia stretch
Malawi Meander	16 nights from Pretoria to Lilongwe, with stops at Eswatini, Maputo, Great Zimbabwe and Antelope Park, a night on Lake Malawi and a Shire River boat cruise
Dar es Salaam Journey	16 nights from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam, with stops at Madikwe Game Reserve and Victoria Falls

Routes, durations and inclusions are current as of October 2026 but may change.

How we fit Rovos Rail into a trip

One of the best ways to experience Rovos Rail is to make it one chapter of a larger journey. A couple of our itineraries show exactly how this plays out.

One was a 15-day trip through Cape Town, the Sabi Sands, the Blyde River Canyon and Victoria Falls, with a day in Chobe. Instead of flying back from Victoria Falls, the travellers took 3 nights aboard Rovos Rail, including a game drive in Hwange National Park, before a final safari in Pilanesberg. The other was a 19-day circuit through Cape Town, St Lucia, Eswatini, Kruger, the Panorama Route and Victoria Falls, again with a day in Chobe. It ended with 4 nights aboard, with time off the train at both Hwange and Matobo National Parks.

If this sounds like your kind of trip, a word on timing. Rovos Rail runs on fixed departure dates, so keep that in mind when mapping out your itinerary.

Victoria Falls with Rovos Rail

Talk to Us About It

Whether it’s a few nights aboard as a trip in itself, or a few days of rail woven into a longer safari, we can help you work out where it fits. Get in touch and we will build the route around it.

All images used in this article are the property of Rovos Rail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to book? Before you embark on your journey, find answers to common questions about this unique experience.

What should I pack?

Daytime dress is smart casual. Dinner is formal: for men, a collar and tie are mandatory and a jacket is optional, and for women, a cocktail or evening dress or suit is suggested. On longer journeys there are also themed evenings, such as an “Africa” night or a “1920s” night, where you can dress up or keep it smart casual. For excursions, bring comfortable walking shoes, a hat and sun lotion. Game drives are in open vehicles, where mornings can be cool and afternoons warm, so pack a layer.

Is Rovos Rail all-inclusive?

Close to it. Your fare covers your suite, all meals, all drinks on board, room service and limited laundry. Guided excursions are included too, with entrance fees and a selection of local wines, beers and soft drinks. Where an itinerary features lodge stays or flights, those are built into the fare. Golf, green fees and carts are part of the Golf Safari and African Collage fares. The Copper Trail, Dar es Salaam and Malawi Meander also include an onboard doctor and historian.

What’s extra? International sparkling wine, any other drinks and gratuities. Travel insurance with cancellation cover isn’t part of the price either, and it’s required, since cancellation fees aren’t waived without it.

Is there a luggage limit?

No strict weight limit on board, and the suites have more storage than you’d expect from a train, with space under the bed and an overhead rack running the length of the room. The general guidance, though, is no more than 2 large suitcases. If your trip also includes a safari leg with its own luggage restrictions, light aircraft transfers typically cap it around 15kg with a soft-sided bag preferred.

How far in advance should I book?

As early as your dates allow, since departures are on fixed dates and each train carries a maximum of 72 passengers. A provisional booking can be held for 14 days before a deposit is needed.

Can I travel solo?

Yes. On short journeys, a single traveller pays the sharing fare plus 50%, and long journeys have their own single fares. In the dining car, you can eat on your own or join other guests.

What about visas for a multi-country route?

Several Rovos Rail journeys cross into neighbouring countries, so passports need at least 5 blank visa pages and 6 months of validity from your return-home date. Visas for Zimbabwe, the DRC and Angola must be arranged before you travel, and it’s best to arrange all others in advance too, to avoid delays at the border. Zimbabwe also requires an online Electronic Travel Authorisation, even at its rail borders, which should be applied for 60 to 20 days before departure. Carry at least US$200 in cash.

Should I tip the crew?

Gratuities are discretionary. The suggested guideline is around ZAR450 (about US$25) per guest per night on board, left in an envelope in your suite for the Train Manager to distribute among the staff. The same rough guideline applies to guides and lodge staff on any safari days built into your itinerary.

What about medical care on board?

Each train carries a standard medical kit, oxygen, an automated external defibrillator and a wheelchair, and onboard management are trained in First Aid up to Level 3. A doctor travels on the Copper Trail, Malawi Meander and Dar es Salaam journeys specifically, not on every route. Anti-malarial precautions are recommended for several of the regions these journeys pass through, including Eswatini, Kruger Park, Etosha, northern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, the DRC and Angola. Rovos Rail can arrange evacuation by road or air if needed, at the guest’s own cost, which is why comprehensive travel insurance matters.

What if I have dietary requirements?

Food allergies are catered for if a request is made when booking. Without prior notice, the chefs will do their best with the ingredients available on board. Meals requiring strict religious observance in the preparation cannot be provided.

What currency should I bring?

It depends which country you’re in on a given day. In South Africa it’s Rand cash only. Namibia and Eswatini also accept Rand. Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam specifically), the DRC and Angola use US Dollars instead, so a Rovos Rail journey that crosses borders means carrying both at different points. Credit cards, though, are accepted on the train. Older or worn US bills, anything printed before 2017, often won’t be accepted, so newer notes are worth bringing.

Can I bring children?

Yes, with the expectation that parents keep young travellers respectful of the train’s adult atmosphere. Please note that children aged 0 to 2 are not permitted aboard, and long journeys are not recommended for under 13s. There are no child-minding services or children’s activities on board.

Is Rovos Rail eco-friendly?

Yes. Wherever possible, the products on board are sustainable and locally made. Bathroom amenities are biodegradable or recyclable, drinking water comes in compostable plant-based bottles, and some suites have vacuum toilets that use 80% less water. At the Pretoria station, a sorting facility recycles what it can, wet waste is composted, and food that can’t be used is donated to local charities, schools and hospitals. As a Travelife-certified company, we look closely at how the experiences we recommend treat the environment and local communities, and these efforts are part of why we’re happy to include Rovos Rail in our trips.