There are a few types of budget Kruger tour that you can do in the game reserve that won’t cost a packet.
On this page we’ll cover the act of going around the park under your own steam on a self-drive tour and/or on an organised game drive.
If you’re looking for information about all aspects of budget travel to and in Kruger National Park, including accommodation, see our budget safari page.
Travelling around the Park on Self-Drive Tours
One of the best value for money ways of seeing Kruger National Park is to drive yourself around it. If you’re staying in the park, you have every chance of doing this yourself anyway, but some people visit the park as day visitors and would like this option.
If you’re on a self-drive tour, the cost of this will be the park conservation fee for the day (people staying overnight also need to pay this for every day they’re in the park) and the petrol that you use (and hire car fees if that’s the kind of vehicle you’ve got).
If you’re in the park for the whole day, you’ll also need something to eat. There are cafes at the rest camps and some of the picnic spots which sell competitively priced food. Alternatively, you could bring your own food into the park which might save you a bit of money. Towns nearby Kruger National Park all have supermarkets which you could buy a few things at.
Organised Tours
If you want to go on an organised tour, the best bet for your budget is one of the game drives led by a ranger. They’re 3-4 hour drives which take you around sections of the park.
Part of these drives are at times when the rest camp gates are shut. This means your tour vehicle is the only traffic on the road and you could see a special wildlife scene that only your fellow tour mates have the privilege of experiencing!
These kind of budget game drives run from several rest camps in Kruger National Park. The only catch to these drives is that you must be staying at the particular rest camp that the tour leaves from.
So what can you do if you want to go on an organsied safari tour, but you’re not staying in the park? You’ve got two options.
Firstly, ask at the reception of your accommodation if they run budget tours to Kruger Park. They may run full or half-day game drives into the reserve. However, if your accommodation is relatively more expensive, so accordingly may the tour cost be.
The other option is to book on one of the Park and Ride game drives which leave from a selection of the southern and central Kruger Park gates. These drives leave either early in the morning or in the afternoon.
Depending on which country you’re travelling from, you may find the prices in South Africa relatively cheap and particularly budget friendly. If this is the case with you and you’re travelling on a budget, you may be able to splash out a bit more or have your budget last well with something left over!