Getting to South Africa is much easier than most people think.  Most of the airlines do actually fly to South Africa. Almost all fly into O.R. Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg airport, or Cape Town international Airport or both.

The following International airlines fly to South Africa regularly

• United
• American Airlines
• South African Airways
• Virgin Atlantic
• Air Canada
• British Airways
• KLM
• Air France
• Cathay Pafic
• Quantas
• Malaysia Airlines
• Etihad
• Singapore Airlines
• Emirates
• Qatar Airways
• Lufthansa
• Iberia
• BMI
• Turkish Airlines
• And numerous other European and eastern airlines also fly to South Africa.

If your county’s airline does not fly to South Africa the best places to get connecting flights from are the major European cities like London, Paris, Hamburg and Holland. Many people are under the false impression that if you cannot get a direct flight the best place to connect would be in Africa. This is not the case. There are fewer African than European airlines flying to south Africa and it is far more comfortable with usually a far shorter layover in a European country than an African one.

Travel within South Africa

Within South African there are only a few ways to get around at present. Flying is usually best because the distances are quite a lot larger than many people think. There are a few domestic airline and some low cost airlines too. The two main domestic airlines are SAA (South African Airways) and BA (British Airways). There are also three low-cost airlines although I personally often find that BA and SAA are around the same price. The three low cost airlines are Kulua.com, 1time and Mango.

Once you get to your destination the best form of transport is to hire a car because at present the public transport system is undergoing a huge overhaul but this has not yet been complete. (this should be complete by June 2010). Hopefully when it is complete, busses and trains will become the kind of transport option a tourist can use.