Over Three Hours Drive

The following destinations are more than three hours away from Johannesburg by car, but are ideal to visit for a few days if you hire a car.

Kruger National Park

Mpumalanga, South Africa

Kruger National Park covers a vast area (nearly 2,000, 000 hectares), so you will need to hire a car, not only to get to the park from Johannesburg, but also in order to make your way around it. There are a number of rest camps in the park for you to choose from, and you can stay in anything from a safari tent right through to a luxury lodge. There are fuel pumps at the main camps (these don't accept credit cards), so you can fill up your hire car and set off on a safari adventure.

If you want to explore the gaming trails, it's best to hire a 4x4 vehicle. This will give you the most flexibility, and the best chance of spotting "the big five"; lions, leopards, rhino, elephants and buffalo. There are four off-road Adventure Trails that you can follow in Kruger National Park:

• Madlabantu (which can be booked at the Pretoriuskop camp)
• Mananga (which can be booked at the Satara camp)
• Nonokani (which can be booked at the Phalaborwa Gate camp)
• the Northern Plains trail (which can be booked at the Shingwedzi or Punda Maria camps).

The trails aren't difficult to negotiate, but check with your car hire company before booking to make sure that the hire agreement's terms and conditions allow you to drive off-road.

If you fancy a break from your hire car, you can try one of the amazing walking trails. You can choose from a number of 3 or 4 night Wilderness Trail and Hiking Trail adventures, or simply enjoy an early morning guided walk. There are also a number of mountain bike trails within the park.

To really experience the atmosphere of Kruger National Park, you need to take part in one of the evening or early morning activities, such as the Bush Braais or Bush Breakfasts, where you can dine in the depths of the park whilst listening to the calls of the animals and birds, or the Olifants Astronomy Game Drive, where you can watch the sunset, and learn about the stars and African legends about the sky.

You can also use your Johannesburg hire car to drive to some of Kruger National Park's historical sites, such as the Albasini Ruins, the remains of a trading post from the 1800s, which are located at the Phabeni gate. Another place of archaeological interest is the Iron Age Thulamela site, where excavations have revealed the remains of huts together with farming implements, potshards and two graves containing skeletons.

Don't miss the Masorini Ruins, where you can see reconstructions of Iron Age huts and clay furnaces, which were used to smelt the iron ore that was mined at the site. There is also a museum, where you can see and learn more about the people who once lived here.

It will take you about four hours to drive from Johannesburg to the Southern gates of Kruger National Park in your hire car.

Opening hours: Kruger National Park has nine gates: Crocodile Bridge Gate, Kruger Gate, Malelane Gate, Numbi Gate, Orpen Gate, Pafuri Gate, Phabeni Gate, Phalaborwa Gate and Punda Maria Gate. These gates open at 5.30am or 6am, and close between 5.30pm and 6.30pm, depending on the season. Try to avoid visiting the park on public holidays, as it is particularly busy.

Directions: To get to Kruger National Park from Johannesburg International Airport by car, turn right to get onto the R21. Follow this road until you reach Boksburg. At the N12 split, take the N12 to Witbank, and then follow the N4 to Middelburg and then on to Nelspruit. At the first major intersection in Nelspruit, turn left to get onto the N40, and follow this through White River. Turn right to get onto the R569, which will take you to Kruger National Park's Numbi Gate.