What it is
Just under 20,000 km2 along the Mozambique border, about 350 km top to bottom. Tarred main roads and gravel loops, fenced rest camps with chalets and campsites, fuel, shops and gates that lock at sunset. On the western boundary sit private reserves such as Sabi Sand, unfenced from the park, where guided vehicles are allowed off-road.
Why go
Lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, rhino and everything beneath them, visible from your own hire car for the price of a day permit. The southern section around Skukuza and Lower Sabie has the highest densities and the most traffic. North of Olifants it is drier, quieter and better for elephant and big birds. If you want a guide who will follow a leopard off the road, that happens in the private reserves, not in the national park.
When to go
May to September. The bush drops its leaves, the grass is short and animals gather at the rivers and the remaining waterholes. Midwinter mornings are genuinely cold in an open vehicle. From November to March it is green, hot and thick: excellent birding, much harder game viewing. Book rest camps months ahead around South African school holidays.
Most people stay 3-5 nights.