Car hire in George

George Airport is small and easy. The rental counters are in the arrivals area, the collection bays are metres away, and pickup is usually a matter of minutes rather than the queue you get at the big city airports.

Because the airport is the arrival point for most Garden Route holidays, demand is very seasonal. December, January and the Easter period sell out, and it is common for the cheaper groups to be gone entirely if you book late. If your dates are in high season, book as far ahead as you can.

There are also branches in George town itself, which are useful for locals and for anyone extending a hire. Many visitors collect at George and drop off in Cape Town, or the reverse, so ask for the one way fee upfront.

The remaining brands on this site do not reliably have a George presence. If you want a specific brand here, check availability for your dates rather than assuming a counter exists, and remember that Knysna, Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay are usually served from George rather than by their own branches.

George is a seasonal market rather than a cheap or expensive one. Out of season it is good value, in December it is not.

These figures come from Discover Cars and Cheapflights. Most are national, not George quotes. A "from" price is the cheapest car found on the day; an average includes bigger cars and longer rentals, which is why the two sites differ so much. Discover Cars puts December at about R474 a day against about R387 in September, so holiday dates cost more.

If you are pricing a Garden Route trip, compare collecting at George against collecting at Cape Town International and driving the four and a half hours. The one way fee, the extra fuel and the extra day of hire usually decide it.

The N2 through the Garden Route is a well maintained road and the driving is genuinely pleasant. A few things to know:

• The Outeniqua Pass over the mountains to Oudtshoorn is tarred and safe, but it gets mist and low cloud, and it can be slow behind trucks. Take it in daylight the first time.
• The Bloukrans and Storms River bridges east of Plettenberg Bay are worth stopping for. Use the designated viewpoints, not the shoulder.
• The Swartberg Pass beyond Oudtshoorn is gravel, spectacular, and closed in bad weather. Most standard rental agreements do not cover damage on unsurfaced roads, so check before you attempt it and consider the tarred alternative through Meiringspoort.
• Wildlife and livestock appear on the smaller inland roads, particularly at dusk. Avoid driving the back roads at night.

George and the coast get rain year round, so wet roads are normal rather than exceptional. Tyre condition is worth a quick look at collection.

Approximate one way driving times:

The classic Garden Route itinerary treats George as a base for the first few days and then moves east. Because everything is close together, you can also stay in one place and day trip the whole route.

A hatchback is fine for the entire coastal route. The N2 is tarred, the passes are tarred, and the towns are small and easy to park in.

Think about something larger only in two cases. If you are four adults with luggage for a week, the boot space of a small hatchback becomes the problem long before the engine does. And if you are heading inland to the Little Karoo, staying on farms, or planning gravel passes, then a higher vehicle with tougher tyres is genuinely more comfortable, though you still need the rental company's permission for unsurfaced roads.

A 4x4 is not required anywhere on the standard Garden Route. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling you an upgrade you do not need.

Parking along the Garden Route is easy and usually free or cheap. Town centres in Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Mossel Bay have street parking with car guards, and the malls have free parkades.

Fuel stops are frequent on the N2 but thin out inland, so fill up before heading over the Outeniqua Pass or into the Karoo. Many smaller stations are cash or card at the pump with an attendant, since South Africa does not have self service fuel.

If you are hiking at Tsitsikamma or on the Knysna trails, leave nothing visible in the car at the trailhead. It is a quiet region but parked cars at remote trailheads are the obvious target anywhere in the country.