Rovos Rail: Pretoria · Cape Town · Victoria Falls · Durban · Dar es Salaam
From two nights to sixteen, Cape Town to Dar es Salaam
Rovos Rail · Sleeper
Rovos Rail runs sleeper journeys from its home in Pretoria across southern Africa and beyond: three short journeys of two to four nights, to Cape Town, Victoria Falls and Durban, and long journeys of nine to sixteen nights that reach Dar es Salaam, Lake Malawi, Lobito in Angola and Walvis Bay in Namibia. Rohan and Anthea Vos launched it on 29 April 1989 with a locomotive and seven carriages, and it marked its 35th anniversary in 2024. Every berth on board is a suite: at most 36 of them, for 72 guests.
Home is Rovos Rail Station at Capital Park in Pretoria, the company's own station and headquarters, on 60 acres with a museum and a 10,000 m² workshop. The carriages are what Rovos Rail describes as beautifully rebuilt, wood-panelled vintage coaches. The locomotives are named after the Vos children — Bianca is a Class 19D from 1938, Marjorie a 25NC — and three of the dining cars, Kei, Nile and Modder, were rescued from a derelict restaurant.
Each suite has its own bathroom, air conditioning, a safe, tea facilities, robes and room service; the Royal suites, two to a carriage, add a Victorian bath as well as a shower. Meals are served at a single sitting, and dinner at 19:30 is formal: collar and tie for men, a jacket optional, with themed evenings on the long journeys. There is no radio, television or Wi-Fi on board, and phones and laptops stay in your own suite — Wi-Fi is in the station lounges at Pretoria and Cape Town and at most of the hotels used off the train. On the Dar es Salaam, Copper Trail and Malawi Meander journeys a historian and a doctor travel with the train.
Booking through Via Privata: USD 1,000 hotel credit
- USD 500at your hotel before the journey
- USD 500at your hotel after it
Dining, the spa, the bar: anything you charge to your room.
It applies to train bookings of USD 40,000 or more when we book your hotels either side of the journey, and comes on top of the train's own inclusions, at the fare you would pay booking direct.
- Cabin-selection guidance before the best categories sell through
- We hold the cabin while you decide
- Every benefit confirmed in writing before you commit
- Hotels joined either side of the journey, as one trip
The route
Drawn to show the order of the stations, not the exact track.
The journeys
Cape Town
3 nights
Pretoria to Cape Town or the reverse, 1,600 km through the Karoo, with Matjiesfontein, the Big Hole and the Diamond Mine Museum at Kimberley, and the Winelands. Departs most weeks all year.
Victoria Falls
3 or 4 nights
Pretoria to Victoria Falls or the reverse, 1,400 km, with Matobo National Park, a game drive in Hwange and a straight run of 114 km; Rovos Rail notes it could be routed through Botswana. Departs most weeks.
Durban Safari
2 nights
Pretoria to Durban or the reverse, 800 km, with a game drive in the Nambiti Reserve, Spionkop, Ardmore Ceramics and the Valley of 1000 Hills. Summer months only.
Dar es Salaam
16 nights
Cape Town to Dar es Salaam or the reverse, 5,800 km: Matjiesfontein, Kimberley and Pretoria, two nights in the Madikwe game reserve, the crossing of Botswana, a night at the Victoria Falls Hotel, the Tazara line, Chishimba Falls and a game drive in Nyerere National Park. Three departures each way in 2027.
Malawi Meander
16 nights
A new route, Pretoria to Lilongwe or the reverse, 3,600 km through Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, with the Kruger, Maputo, Great Zimbabwe, Lake Malawi and Liwonde. One departure each way, late April to early June 2027.
Copper Trail
14 nights
A new expedition, Victoria Falls to Lobito or the reverse, 3,100 km through Zimbabwe, Zambia, the DRC and Angola: an elephant sanctuary at Lusaka, three nights in South Luangwa, the Benguela Railway and the copper mine at Kolwezi. One departure each way, July 2027.
African Trilogy
15 nights
Pretoria to Walvis Bay, 5,000 km: the Kruger, Eswatini, Durban, Kimberley, the Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, Etosha and Windhoek. February and October 2027.
African Collage
12 nights
Pretoria to Cape Town, 3,700 km, in golf and non-golf versions: the Kruger, Durban, Spionkop, Clarens, Bloemfontein, Addo, Knysna and the Cango Caves. April and November 2027; Rovos Rail warns that fire and flood damage on the Port Elizabeth–Cape Town line has altered the routing.
Southern Cross
11 nights
Pretoria to Victoria Falls, 2,500 km: the Panorama Route, the Kruger, Maputo, Eswatini, a game drive at Kapama, Great Zimbabwe, Matobo, Hwange and a sunset cruise on the Zambezi. Five departures in 2027.
Namibia Safari
11 nights
3,400 km by Kimberley, the Fish River Canyon, Windhoek, Sossusvlei and Etosha: Cape Town to Walvis Bay in April 2027, and Walvis Bay to Pretoria in April, May and October.
Golf Safari
9 nights
A Pretoria round trip, 2,100 km, by Sun City and the Lost City, Durban, the Kruger, Eswatini and Dullstroom, with green fees and carts in the fare. Five departures in 2027.
On board: the cabins
Royal
about 16 m²
Two to a carriage, each taking half of it, with its own lounge area, double or split-twin beds, a desk and a fridge, and an en-suite bathroom with a Victorian bath and a separate shower.
Deluxe
about 10 m²
Three to a carriage, with its own lounge area, double or split-twin beds and an en-suite shower rather than a bath.
Pullman Gold
about 7 m²
Five to a carriage and found mostly on the long journeys: split-twin beds laid lengthways that convert to a double, with an en-suite shower.
Pullman
about 7 m²
Five to a carriage and found mostly on the short journeys: a sofa by day that converts to a double or to upper and lower bunks, with an en-suite shower.
The carriages
The dining cars
One or two per train, about 42 seats each, and every meal at a single sitting: breakfast from 07:00 to 10:00, lunch at 13:00, tea at 16:30 and a formal dinner at 19:30. Kei, Nile and Modder were rescued from a derelict restaurant.
The lounge car
About 26 seats and a small gift shop; on some long journeys the historian lectures here.
The observation car
About 32 seats, with an open-air balcony.
The Club Car
The smoking lounge, with about 11 seats.
Booking this train
For a first trip, start with the three-night Cape Town journey or the Victoria Falls run; Rovos Rail also sells the short journeys back to back as combinations, Cape Town and Victoria Falls being the obvious pair. The long journeys suit travellers who want the train to be the holiday, with game drives and, on some, nights off the train, and most run only a few times a year: the 2027 dates are already published, with a provisional sheet for 2027–28, and the Royal suites, only two to a carriage, are the first thing to secure. Flights, visas, transfers and hotel nights before and after are not in the fare; we book them around the train. Rovos Rail holds a suite provisionally for 14 days, then asks for a 25% deposit, with the balance 60 days before departure. Its cancellation charges on the Cape Town, Victoria Falls and Durban journeys are 25% from 60 to 31 days before departure and 100% inside 30 days; on the long journeys they start a year out, at 10% from 365 to 91 days, 25% from 90 to 61, 50% from 60 to 31 and 100% inside 30. Rovos Rail makes cancellation insurance compulsory.
Questions, answered
Which agency offers the most perks for booking Rovos Rail?
Via Privata books Rovos Rail at the fare you would pay booking direct, with the inclusions confirmed in writing before you commit. Two layers stack: Rovos Rail's own inclusions and — on bookings of USD 40,000 or more — USD 1,000 in hotel credit that we fund ourselves, USD 500 at the hotel we book before the journey and USD 500 at the hotel after, for dining, the spa or anything else charged to the room. Compare agencies on that total rather than on any single headline perk.
Which Rovos Rail journey should I take?
Start with the time you have. The short journeys out of Pretoria take two to four nights: Cape Town through the Karoo and Kimberley, Victoria Falls by Matobo and Hwange, and the Durban Safari in the summer months. The long journeys run nine to sixteen nights — Dar es Salaam and the Malawi Meander at sixteen, the new Copper Trail to Lobito at fourteen, and the African Trilogy, African Collage, Southern Cross, Namibia Safari and Golf Safari between nine and fifteen.
Which suite should I book?
The Royal suites, about 16 m² and two to a carriage, are the only ones with a Victorian bath as well as a shower. The Deluxe suites, about 10 m², have their own lounge area and a shower. Pullman Gold and Pullman, about 7 m², have a shower too; Pullman Gold, mostly on the long journeys, has lengthways twin beds that make up as a double, and Pullman, mostly on the short ones, a daytime sofa that converts to a double or to bunks. Rovos Rail does not publish how many of each a train carries.
What does the fare include?
Rovos Rail includes the suite, all meals, drinks on board other than international sparkling wine, room service, limited laundry, guided excursions with preselected local wine, beer and soft drinks, the transfers and entrance fees in the itinerary, green fees and carts on the golf journeys, and government tax; the Dar es Salaam, Copper Trail and Malawi Meander journeys add a historian and a doctor on board. Not included: international sparkling wine, gratuities, visas, travel insurance, transfers before and after the journey, flights, hotel nights either side, and personal expenses.
Is there Wi-Fi on the train?
No. Rovos Rail has no radio, television or Wi-Fi on board, and phones and laptops are for use in your own suite only. Wi-Fi is available in its station lounges at Pretoria and Cape Town and at most of the hotels used off the train.
What is the dress code?
Smart casual by day. Dinner is formal: Rovos Rail requires a collar and tie for men, with a jacket optional, and the long journeys add themed evenings.
Enquire
Hold a cabin on the Rovos Rail
Tell us your dates and we will confirm live availability, hold the strongest cabin category, and plan the hotels at either end around the journey.
Start PlanningOther trains we book
Across Europe
Great Britain
Asia
Southern Africa
Canada
Peru & the Andes
Australia