Knysna: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Knysna sits on a lagoon that opens to the ocean through a single gap between two sandstone cliffs, the Heads. Timber and gold built the town, oysters and holidays keep it going, and almost everything worth seeing lies around the water. This route takes about half a day by car with short walks, ending at the Heads in the late afternoon. Bring a windbreaker — the wind off the sea can be cold even in summer — and good shoes for the paths at the Heads.
A short history of Knysna
Knysna sits on a large lagoon that opens to the sea between two sandstone cliffs known as "the Heads". In 1804 George Rex bought a large estate here, and he is regarded as the town's founder. In the 19th century a timber industry grew up based on the nearby forests, which were also home to elephants, and after 1869 the Thesen family, of Norwegian origin, ran a large share of the business. In June 2017 huge fires destroyed hundreds of homes in the town and the surrounding area.
The ten best sights in Knysna
1Holy Trinity Church, BelvidereA tiny stone church across the lagoon; go in the late afternoon light
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2Knysna Heads
Drive up to the East Head viewpoint first, then walk down to the water
3Featherbed Nature ReserveFerry, a tractor ride up and a walk down past sea caves; half a day
4Leisure IsleFlat lanes for a walk or a bike, and lagoon beaches facing the Heads
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5Thesen Island
Old timber-mill island turned marina; park once and walk the bridges
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6Noetzie
A steep path down to a beach of stone castles; don't swim when the sea is rough
7Diepwalle ForestThe elephant walks start here; you will see dung, rarely an elephant
8King Edward TreeA giant yellowwood two minutes from the road; an easy stop on the way to Diepwalle
9Robberg Nature ReserveCheck the tide: parts of the full loop are dangerous at high tide and in big swell
10Plettenberg BayHalf an hour east; whale and dolphin boats leave from Central Beach
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Knysna →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Knysna:
Free walking tours in Knysna
The town on the lagoon
Knysna sits on a lagoon that opens to the ocean through a single gap between two sandstone cliffs, the Heads. Timber and gold built the town, oysters and holidays keep it going, and almost everything worth seeing lies around the water. This route takes about half a day by car with short walks, ending at the Heads in the late afternoon. Bring a windbreaker — the wind off the sea can be cold even in summer — and good shoes for the paths at the Heads.
- Thesen Island · In July 1869 the Thesen family left Stavanger in Norway for New Zealand on the ship Albatros. Storms damaged the ship and forced it back to Cape Town, and the family settled in Knysna instead, where they built a timber empire with its sawmill on this island.
- Knysna Waterfront · Knysna calls itself the oyster capital of South Africa, and every July the town holds an oyster festival in the middle of winter. The oysters at the bars here come from farms in the lagoon itself.
- Holy Trinity Church, Belvidere · Thomas Duthie, a Scottish officer who married into the family of George Rex, the town's legendary founder, built this small Norman-style stone church on his estate; it was consecrated in 1855.
- Leisure Isle · The eelgrass beds in the shallows around the island are home to the Knysna seahorse, which lives in only a few estuaries on this coast and is one of the most endangered seahorses in the world.
- Featherbed Nature Reserve · The Western Head is a privately owned reserve that has no road access: the only way in is the ferry across the lagoon. Visitors are driven up the cliff and walk back down past sea caves to the water, facing the Eastern Head across the channel.
- Knysna Heads · On 18 October 1903 the barque Paquita, which had brought coal for the Thesens, was wrecked at the Eastern Head — very likely on purpose, for the insurance. Its remains still lie near the Heads and are a well-known dive site.
Castles, sanctuaries and Plett
Knysna sits inside the largest stretch of indigenous forest in South Africa, home to the last of the wild Cape elephants, and east of it the coast runs to the long beaches of Plettenberg Bay. This route runs east along the coast: down to a beach of castles, past sanctuaries for rescued elephants, primates and birds, and on to Plett and the Robberg peninsula. A full day by car; Tsitsikamma and Storms River are another hour beyond Plett, best kept for the drive onwards. Wear walking shoes for Robberg, and check the tide before the full loop.
- Noetzie · The castles on this beach are private holiday homes, not medieval forts: the first was built in the 1930s by a Knysna family who liked the idea, and others followed in the same style of local stone.
- Knysna Elephant Park · The park opened in 1994 to care for orphaned elephant calves, the first of its kind in South Africa. Its elephants come from culls and rescues elsewhere, not from the wild Knysna herd, which has never been captured.
- Monkeyland · Opened in 1998, Monkeyland was among the first sanctuaries anywhere where many species of primates, rescued from zoos and the pet trade, live free together in a forest rather than in cages. Its rope bridge, some 128 metres long, crosses the forest canopy.
- Birds of Eden · A mesh dome stretched over some two hectares of forested gorge makes this one of the largest free-flight aviaries in the world. Many of its birds were once caged pets, handed over by their owners.
- Plettenberg Bay · The Portuguese called it Bahia Formosa, the beautiful bay. In 1778 the Dutch governor Joachim van Plettenberg visited, set up a stone with the company's mark and gave the bay his own name.
- Robberg Nature Reserve · Nelson Bay Cave, on the peninsula's north side, was lived in by people on and off for well over 100,000 years. The name Robberg means seal mountain, and a colony of Cape fur seals has returned to the rocks at its tip.
Gold, timber and beer
Behind the holiday town is a harder history: a gold rush that came and went in a few years, and a century of woodcutters who lived poor in the forest while the timber made merchants rich. This route follows them inland on forest roads, then comes back past town for a beer at the country's oldest small brewery and ends on the empty beach to the west. Half a day by car, much of it on gravel that is fine when dry; after heavy rain ask locally first. Wear long trousers and closed shoes in the forest, where ticks and wet leaves are common.
- Millwood Goldfields · In 1876 a farmer, James Hooper, picked a gold nugget out of a riverbed while gathering grit for his ostriches. By 1888 some 1,000 people were digging here, about 400 of them in Millwood village — and within months the gold gave out and they began to leave.
- Jubilee Creek · The creek was named on 20 June 1887, in the week of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, when the diggers were still sure of their fortune. Today a shaded walk follows the stream past old diggings to a pool.
- Diepwalle Forest · In 1870 the forest conservator estimated some 400 elephants in the southern Cape. By 1980 foresters believed only two survived around Knysna, a cow and her calf; the herd is still unfenced, and how many remain is disputed.
- King Edward Tree · Dalene Matthee's novel Circles in a Forest, about the woodcutter Saul Barnard and the old elephant Ou Poot, is set in these forests, and its 1989 film revived interest in the last elephants here. The woodcutters it describes sold their logs to merchants who set the prices, and many families lived their whole lives in debt.
- Mitchell's Brewery · Lex Mitchell opened this brewery in Knysna in 1983, when South Africa's beer market belonged almost entirely to one giant, and it is counted as the country's oldest microbrewery.
- Brenton-on-Sea · The village is named after Sir Jahleel Brenton, the naval commissioner at Simon's Town who declared Knysna a harbour in 1818. The dunes behind it are home to the Brenton blue, a tiny butterfly so endangered that a reserve was created for one colony.
Getting to Knysna and getting around
- Plettenberg Bay Airport · A small airfield 30 minutes east; check whether scheduled flights are running before relying on it
- Featherbed Ferry · The only way to the Western Head reserve; book the morning trip in summer
- Knysna Bus Stop · Long-distance coaches along the Garden Route stop on Main Road; book ahead
Cheap eats in Knysna
Knysna eats from the lagoon: oysters are the local pride, sold by the half-dozen at bars on the water, along with fish and chips, calamari and smoked snoek. The lagoon breakfast spots and bakeries on Thesen Island fill up early on weekends. Food here is good value by European standards, card payments work almost everywhere, and the best tables face the water, so lunch outside in the sun.
- Waterfront oyster bars · Half a dozen oysters about R120-180
- Freshline Fisheries · Fish and chips about R90-140
- Île de Pain · Bakery-café on Thesen Island; breakfast and sourdough about R80-160
- East Head Café · Breakfast and light lunch at the Heads, about R90-170
- 34° South · Deli and seafood on the waterfront; a platter or wrap about R120-200
- Wild Oats Market stalls · Saturday only; pies, coffee and boerewors rolls about R40-90
- Mitchell's Brewery · A tasting tray and pub food, about R100-180
Museums in Knysna
- Thesen Island heritage · Old mill buildings among the marina; free to walk
- Holy Trinity Church, Belvidere · A stone church from 1855 in a quiet garden
- Mitchell's Brewery · Tours of the brewhouse when running; check ahead
- Millwood Goldfields · An open-air museum: ruins, a restored mine and a tea room
Nature and day trips near Knysna
- Featherbed Nature Reserve · Half a day with the ferry; booking needed
- Robberg Nature Reserve · Short, medium or full loops on a peninsula of cliffs and seals
- Diepwalle Forest · Marked loops of a few hours; start in the morning
- Garden of Eden · A short boardwalk through tall forest beside the N2, wheelchair-friendly
- Brenton-on-Sea · A long empty beach west of the Heads; strong currents
Things to do in Knysna with kids
- Monkeyland · Guided walks about an hour; combine with Birds of Eden
- Birds of Eden · Self-guided; an hour or more
- Knysna Elephant Park · Walk beside the elephants with a keeper; set times
- Leisure Isle beaches · Calm, shallow lagoon water for small children
- Lagoon ferry · A boat ride to the Heads; the easiest outing with children
Where to eat in Knysna
- Drydock Food & Co · Seafood on the waterfront with lagoon views
- Sirocco · Relaxed dinner on Thesen Island; pizza and grills
- Tapas & Oysters · Oysters and small plates by the water
- 34° South · Seafood and wine on the waterfront jetty
- East Head Café · Early dinner at the Heads; closes early
- Mitchell's Brewery · Beer garden and pub dinner by the lagoon
Frequently asked questions about Knysna
What is there to see in Knysna?
The top sights in Knysna are Holy Trinity Church, Belvidere, Knysna Heads and Featherbed Nature Reserve. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Knysna?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Knysna without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Knysna?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Knysna, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The town on the lagoon.
How do you get to Knysna and get around?
The main ways are Plettenberg Bay Airport, Featherbed Ferry and Knysna Bus Stop. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Knysna, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Knysna that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Knysna for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.