Welcome to Ilkley Manor Houses.  Our Lodge is located in the Greater Kruger National Park. Forming an ideal bush base to access the Kruger National Park through the Orpen gate.  Settle into your bush experience with a evening sundowner as the sun sets over the Drakesberg Mountains on the horizon before a heart meal prepared by our friendly staff.  The following days can be spent exploring Kruger NP or just lazing by the pool.  Get away from the frantic pace of city life,  come and visit the bush. We are waiting to welcome you.  ​​

The lodge comprises 3 recently renovated adjacent white-washed thatch houses with airy covered patio / stoep areas overlooking lush buffalo grass lawns dotted with acacias, fever trees, a massive fig tree and a sparkling pool to defy the hot bushveld summers.

Beyond the lawns and fenced out is the Ilkley Manor’s private reserve, home to buffalo, zebra, nyala, kudu and other plains game…with the occasional leopard, wild dog and lion evident in the vicinity. Complementing the bushveld feel are the purpose designed manor houses.

Along with these manor houses, Ilkley Manor has an open and airy central lodge designed for entertaining in the bush. This open plan kitchen / entertainment area leads onto the enclosed patio, just up from the boma area, shaded by the huge fig making the lodge ideal for you to share a relaxed bushveld dining with modern and simplistic comfort. Options abound for private events, intimate dining or family get-togethers, it is your lodge in the bush.

The white washed brick walls under the double volume thatch allow for airy and light open spaces conducive to maintaining the cool in the summer and retain the heat in the winter. Generous white mosquito nets hark to a bygone era and the simplistic décor in blacks and whites complement the high-quality linen and towels in the en-suite bathrooms of every unit. Rounding off the rooms are more covered patios, well placed to spot any wildlife at home beyond the lush lawns while sipping on a refreshing sundowner.

Ilkley Manor Houses is the ideal bush base to access the Kruger National Park through the Orpen gate.  Home to some of the best game the KNP has to offer (s100 road near Satara Camp – famous for its predator sightings), with established game reserves as neighbours, being ensconced within the prime South African bushveld is affordable, practical and comfortable as the full board rate includes daily forays into this prime wildlife region.

Activities available

From Johannesburg / Pretoria:

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Take the N4 highway towards Witbank / Middelburg.

Continue on past Witbank were you will take the R540 / Belfast turnoff to your left. Travel through Belfast and continue on to Dullstroom, then Lydenburg.

After travelling straight through Lydenburg you will then be on the R36 to Ohrigstad. Continue  over the Abel Erasmus pass, through the JG Strydom tunnel and continue on until you get to the Khamai reptile park on your left. Here you turn right on to the R531 towards Orpen. Continue straight until you get to the R531 / Orpen turnoff to your left, which you will take. We are then 15 kilometres down this road on the left hand side.

Turn into the Avoca Road, the main gate - it’s a thatched structure. The guard will let you in - tell them you are going to Ilkley Manor. Take an immediate left to second gate which the guard will open for you. From there, follow the Ilkley signs on the network of sandy roads.

From Hoedspruit:

Exit Hoedspruit on the R40 (Klaserie Road) and travel in a southerly direction (towards White River/Hazyview) for 23 km until reaching a T-Junction. Here, turn left on the R40 and continue for 2km before turning left onto the R531 towards Orpen. We are then 15 kilometres down this road on the left hand side.

Turn into the Avoca Road, the main gate  - it’s a thatched structure. The guard will let you in - tell them you are going to Ilkley Manor. Take an immediate left to second gate which the guard will open for you. From there, follow the Ilkley signs on the network of sandy roads.