5 things to do around Knysna

  • by Jana Meyer
  • 30 Jan, 2020

Embracing an exquisitely beautiful lagoon and surrounded by ancient forests, Knysna (pronounced ny-znah) is probably the most famous town on the Garden Route. Formerly the centre of the timber industry, supplying yellowwood and stinkwood for railway lines, shipping and house-building, it still has several shops specialising in woodwork and traditional furniture.


There's really a lot going on in and around beautiful Knysna and we've put together the top 5 attractions you should explore and visit:


1. Featherbed Experience

Featherbed Co. gives travellers to the Garden Route ‘an unforgettable experience on the Knysna Lagoon’. The Lagoon, more accurately defined as an estuary, has five fresh water rivers flowing in from the surrounding Outeniqua Mountains meeting with the surge of sea water from the Indian Ocean through the mighty headlands – known as the ‘Knysna Heads’ - the grand sandstone cliffs towering above the entrance to the Knysna Lagoon.

Whether you decide to visit the Featherbed Nature Reserve or have a sunset cruise with a catamaran and a delicious dinner – the featherbed & co offers something for everyone: the range of activities include cruising the lagoon, nature trails, hiking the Knysna Heads, hosting private functions, conferences and weddings at any of their venues.

2. Buffelsbaai beach

Almost midway between Knysna and Sedgefield, Buffelsbaai as it is best known, is considered one of the safest and best beaches on the Garden Route for all the normal popular beach activities that people enjoy. People can wander around everywhere bare-foot, enjoy the wide sandy beach, the sunshine and listen to the sound of the waves. The perfect beach for families, couples and single travellers.

3. Sedgefield Market

Every Saturday, the Sedgefield market opens its doors with vintage pieces, books, clothes and a farmer’s market. It’s around an half hour drive from Knysna, but so worth it. The market is so big, you can spend hours there to look around and try their delicious food.


The market is divided into the following 3 markets:

  • Wild Oats Community Farmer’s Market

  • Mosaic Village & Outdoor Market

  • Scarab Village


A lot of locals visit these markets to meet up with friends or spend some quality time with their family. You will absolutely enjoy the ambiance and it should not be difficult to find something memorable to purchase as a reminder of your holiday on the Garden Route!

Source: https://knysnawayside.co.za/event/wild-oats-farmers-market/

4. Leisure Isle

Surrounded on all sides by the waters of the tidal Knysna estuary, which is ringed by a chain of hills, Leisure Isle is linked to the mainland by a narrow causeway. It is a lovely place to live for Knysna residents, who don’t want the hustle of the city centre and for travellers who just want to enjoy a few days (or more) of peace and tranquility with a kind of Floridienne charm (walking around there reminds one of Florida ;))

5. Tsitsikamma 

After a 1,5 hours drive lies an adventurous and diverse national park – the Tsitsikamma National Park. It is situated at the heart of the picturesque Garden Route and incorporates 80 km of rocky coastline with spectacular sea and landscapes, a remote mountainous region with secluded valleys covered in mountain Fynbos and temperate high forests with deep river gorges leading down to the sea. It’s a paradise for nature lovers and hiking enthusiasts. Tsitsikamma National Park protects a wonderland of inter-tidal and marine life. This is one of the largest single unit ‘no take’ (including fishing) Marine Protected Areas in the world, conserving 11% of South Africa’s Temperate South Coast rocky shoreline and provides a 'laboratory' for fisheries baseline research on endangered fish species. In 1964 it became the first Marine National Park to be proclaimed in Africa.


A 77m-long suspension bridge (which is one of the main attractions of the park) spans the Storms River Mouth near the rest camp of the same name (not to be confused with the village of Storms River), where several walking trails pass thickets of ferns, lilies, orchids, coastal and mountain fynbos (fine bush), and yellowwood and milkwood trees, some hundreds of years old. Millennia-old sandstone and quartz rock formations line the gorges and rocky shoreline, and southern right whales and dolphins are visible out in the ocean.