CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

BE THE FIRST TO HEAR ABOUT NEW OFFERS

When things get back on track we're expecting hotels and airlines to be offering amazing deals from later this year. Be the first to hear about these by adding your contact details below. Or ask about our new Flexifares which are available now.

What 3214 customers think of DialAFlight customer service

Gavin has been excellent! Plus Callum and Ted.

Good support in difficult times

A usual an excellent service and it's great to have a helpful agent at the end of the phone when flight changes are needed.

I want to thank Bruno for going the extra mile to get me back to the UK before the lockdown in South Africa. He answered all my questions and concerns. I have been using DAF for many years

Thank you so much Stafford for an amazing itinerary, hotels and locations. All jaw dropping good. Also thank you for coming up trumps when BA cancelled our return flight. Unlike some people travelling with other travel companies who were left stranded, you seamlessly re-arranged everything and kept us notified - a fantastic service in trying times!

Jerry was very helpful when we needed to come home early due to Coronavirus. When we need flights we can always rely on him.

The young man who sorted my flight was very helpful. He did a great job and luckily I got back safe during this very difficult time.

Whenever I emailed for information you always responded which was a great help and gave me peace of mind while I was trying to get back home to my family.

DialAFlight are just the best. And Ryan pulls out all the stops for us. Very many thanks

With a very difficult situation all members and especially Niall were brilliant. Flights changed and constantly keeping us informed

Thanks for very efficiently arranging to change my flight back given my decision to cut short my trip

Thank you Lincoln, Luke and colleagues for all your help in getting us speedily back to the UK

Jacob was wonderful as were the other members of staff I spoke to in trying to get early flights out of South Africa. They have forged our loyalty for future bookings.

Lucas kept me up to date. Always receive an excellent service from him

So impressed with friendly and efficient service especially during this virus outbreak. App easy to use. Will be my go to booking agent from now on

Stan was an absolute star! Even my wife noticed.

Went above and beyond when our flight was cancelled

You were accessible, helpful and efficient.

Fantastic service especially when flights had to be changed at the last minute. Thank you Chris and Sally

Roger was very helpful when I needed to bring my return flight forward from Cape Town.

Flights to and from George in South Africa went like clockwork with no delays or problems. Your team including Roray were brilliant in every respect especially given the pressure they are under due to CV. DAF are our new travel agent!

Fab support and advice from Mason while we were in South Africa awaiting lockdown due to Corona Virus.

I always recommend you to my friends

Devina and her colleagues were very professional. I appreciated Devina leaving me a voicemail a week before my flight wishing me a good trip. I will recommend your company to family and friends. I hope you and yours stay corona-free!

Shane was able to help me in changing my flight home. Very efficient

Under present situation I would like to express my gratitude to Rosie on your help line and Isaac on your day team. They have been exceptional. I tried to get help from insurance, British embassy, local agents to get info about when and how to get home from Cape Town. No-one would answer the phone or sent a message saying they would get back in 48 hours. Our flights were booked for the 25th March and Rosie changed our flights for no extra cost. She was helpful, unflappable, calming and friendly and answered the phone immediately.

All fine despite last minute re-arrangement.

You were so helpful in the current crisis. I was anxious about getting home from South Africa but I felt I could rely on you to help me.

Philip was fantastic - he kept us informed and we got home safely. I wouldn’t fly without using him again.

My son's cancelled flight had no influence on your service - you did what you could for me, and I am very grateful

Spectacular scenery

Great escape to the Cape

The city's buzzing like never before – even the penguins have a spring in their step, says Mark Palmer

When the French astronomer Abbe Louis de la Caille made it to the top of Table Mountain in 1750, he observed no fewer than 10,000 stars and was so impressed that he named a whole constellation (Mons Mensae) after this iconic slab of stone.

Today, you're likely to see almost as many tourists coming and going on the cable car or huffing and puffing on foot. But that's no excuse not to join them – because once you get there the crowds become insignificant in such an exhilarating setting.

Cable car to the top of Table Mountain

We had allocated 45 minutes to wander about on the massive plateau, but it soon became almost two hours – and still, like Moses, we were reluctant to come down from the mountain.

There's so much to do up there. You can hike, picnic, study the rock rabbits (hyraxes), admire the spiky plants that thrive with little in the way of soil, practise yoga, grow tipsy on the champagne air and even abseil down it if you dare. And, of course, you can survey the scene from every angle: oceans to the left, oceans to the right, beaches down below, cloudless skies up above, Cape Point somewhere in the distance.

I was last here 21 years ago, a few months before the first democratic elections were held – and the transformation is astonishing.

The waterfront, buzzing with shops and restaurants, is a little too California for me, but it's one of the city's great success stories. By comparison, the town centre is still sleepy during the day and has largely avoided a full chi-chi makeover. When our guide said we were off to the bus terminal not far from the impressive old City Hall building, it was a case of following on trust.

After dark, head to lively Long Street, home to the Mother City's party scene

Our reward was an introduction to a chef called David, one of several who run kitchens housed in cramped wooden shacks. Lunch here is ten times cheaper than on the waterfront and, somehow, ten times more atmospheric.

But perhaps our best meal was at trendy Test Kitchen, presided over by Luke Dale-Roberts, probably South Africa's most celebrated chef. We stayed 30 minutes out of town for our first two nights, at Steenberg Farm in Constantia, the oldest vineyard (1682).

The whole place – its lush golf course, excellent bistro (wine tastings aplenty), intimate spa, manor house and colonial-style rooms – exudes charm and calm. Cape Town is a bubble compared with the rest of the country – and locals of every creed and colour seem to know that.

I detected no smugness, no sense of entitlement. Rather, an acute awareness that this is a work in progress. And just as the physical backdrop plays such a huge part here, so too does the political backdrop.

I couldn’t find anyone with a good word to say about President Jacob Zuma. Some think he could be gone within 12 months, despite his term officially having almost four more years to run.

Visiting a country that remains on a political knife-edge is exhilarating – and I was very much struck by how Nelson Mandela still has such a powerful influence; always will. His presence is everywhere: on street names, on billboards and, crucially, within the hearts of all South Africans.

Bright future: The colourful Bo Kaap district is worth a visit

We made the pilgrimage to Robben Island, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in captivity, joining a tour led by a fellow former inmate. It could be so much more interesting than it is, but if you've never done it, you must.

Visiting the penguins at Boulders Beach in Simon's Town is a good idea, too. Then head back to the city via the False Bay villages of Kalk Bay (lunch at Harbour House was sensational and we loved the ramshackle shops), St James and Muizenburg, the latter described as the St Tropez of Cape Town, which may or may not be a compliment.

Fascinating nature: Watch the penguins interacting on Boulders Beach

The swimming is colder on the west side of the Cape, but the views better. We stayed at the fabulous Cape View Clifton, which opened two years ago and has only seven rooms, all facing the ocean, all whites and greys, with soulful art and comforts of every kind.

It's a glorious spot high above the beach, with Camps Bay round the corner. A beach house that feels more like a home than hotel. You help yourself to drinks and jot it down; guests wander about in the kitchen chatting to the cheerful staff; no one wears shoes.
The sunset on our last night was the colour of the rosé swishing about in our huge wine glasses. We drank deeply on both counts, painfully aware that the morning would bring a hangover made worse by the thought of flying home.

Why our customers love us

Amazingly, it is simple old-fashioned service that sets us apart from other travel firms. And yes, we really do answer the phone within 5 seconds!

Check out the reviews on Trustpilot and the word ‘service’ appears again and again. And you’ll find many reviews from customers saying they wasted hours trying to plan a holiday themselves before calling us - often on the advice of a friend - only to find we could offer numerous options not available online, which also saved them money.

Our team of 300 travel managers has been arranging tailor-made holidays for almost 40 years and we believe no one does it better. Judge for yourself.

020·7962·9933

Live in Five
Calls answered in 5 seconds *

SEE WHAT TRAVEL WRITERS’ RECOMMEND. WHERE TO STAY AND WHAT TO DO.