Our rates are inclusive of Dinner, Bed and Breakfast.

The Best Gates to Use When Travelling to the Kruger National Park

The Kruger National Park welcomes visitors. There are plenty of picnic places, rest stations, and day visitor areas. At the entry gates, a map shows all of these stops. Before your vacation, plan how much you can travel and see in a day.

The park has tight speed restrictions and large distances between locations. Know the opening and closing hours of gates and which picnic spot or waterhole you’ll visit. Each park gate offers different amenities. Game viewing highlights vary by gate, so prepare beforehand.

How to Get to the Kruger National Park

There are three main ways to reach the Kruger National Park namely:

  •  By plane to Johannesburg, followed by an almost four-hour drive to the park
  •  By domestic flight from Johannesburg to Kruger Mpumalanga airport, followed by an hour’s drive
  •  By internal aircraft from Johannesburg to Skukuza directly

Which Gates to Use When Travelling to the Kruger

Before embarking on your trip, take note of the following opening and closing times of the Kruger National Park Gates:

  • Nov-Jan 05:30 – 18:30
  • Feb 05:30 – 18:30
  • Mar & Oct 05:30 – 18:00
  • Apr 06:00 – 17:30
  • May-July 06:00 – 17:30
  • Aug-Sept 06:00 – 18:00

There are 10 entrance gates at the Kruger National Park. The best gates to use when travelling to the Kruger National Park are the Paul Kruger, Malelane, and Phabeni Gates.

  • Paul Kruger Gate: The Paul Kruger Gate is the nearest entry point to Skukuza from Kruger’s capital.
  • Malelane Gate: The Malelane Gate is the only camp on the Kruger National Park’s southern border, with fewer people than the other major camps, it makes for a more personal wilderness experience.
  • Phabeni Gate: Built in 2002, the Phabeni Gate, with its modern indigenous inspired rondavels, allows travellers from Johannesburg or Pretoria via Hazyview to easily access the Kruger.

Where to Stay

Discover a unique Kruger Safari Experience at the Kruger Gate Hotel. The Kruger Gate Hotel is situated just beyond the Paul Kruger Gate, overlooking the breathtaking Sabie River. Enjoy all of the conveniences of a luxurious 4-star hotel at the Kruger Gate Hotel. Elegant lodging options vary from Deluxe to Family rooms, Luxury suites, and our Nkanyi presidential suite.

Where to Find Us

Find us on the banks of the Sabi River, a stone throw away from the Kruger National Park’s Paul Kruger Gate, R536 in Skukuza, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

We encourage our guests to use the Paul Kruger, Malelane, and Phabeni Gates to access and leave the park.

Directions to the Kruger Gate Hotel:

Book Your Stay

Book accommodation close to the Paul Kruger Gate at the Kruger Gate Hotel, where you’re sure to experience the best of what the Kruger has to offer

Guest Reviews

I was at this location for a wedding. Spectacular views, wonderful food and atmosphere!

Posted on 20/11/2025 by Google

Spent there 4 days with my partner. Extremely good experience, the hotel is very nice, well decorated, well located and their games are extremely good!
Really recommend them!

Posted on 19/11/2025 by Google

We phoned Reception at 16h00 on 20 Nov and requested a top sheet and light weight blanket for the night; on return after a sunset gamedrive and supper at the Boma we were disappointed that it was not delivered.

I had a headache, the shop was closed and I asked the Hostess at the Boma, Debra if she knew if there is some assistance. She went out of her way to find me 2 panado\'s! Thank you Debra!

There are so many vista\'s and various offerings at this hotel; I feel like so spoilt when visiting and the Boma is just beyond words! Thank you 😊

Posted on 23/11/2025 by TripAdvisor

This hotel is perfectly located just outside the Paul Kruger Gate by the Sabie River. We flew into Skukuza airport which is extremely small and booked the hotel transfer to collect us. The driver was very helpful, guiding us through paperwork needed for the park and giving us a mini safari on the way to the hotel.
Stayed for 3 nights and had 2 rooms. A lovely hotel with lots of different seating areas connected by wooden walkways, surrounded by trees with a stream running through it. It was well staffed and clean. There were viewing huts over the waterhole and Sabie River where we saw hippos and buffalo and a family of 3 bushbuck in the grounds.
The infinity pool was great, also overlooking the river and the pool bar/restaurant had a good range of food and drink and friendly staff. Just be careful not to leave food/drink unattended on the table as the monkeys come in.
Dinner at the outside Lapa Restaurant was fabulous - so much choice from their buffet and always some singing, often by the staff. The bushbabies patrol around the fence and occasionally come down looking for scraps, which the guests all found entertaining.
Breakfast was another huge buffet with a choice of inside or outside seating. There was also a bar, coffee shop and gift shop, plus a spa which we had treatments at, including extremely firm massages.
We booked 2 morning safari\'s with the hotel (I pre-booked these before we went) and they pointed out that it was fractionally cheaper for us to have a private tour as there were 4 of us. The vehicles can take 9-10 people but I\'m so glad we had the private tour and not the shared vehicle as it meant we could slide across the seats and see so much more and it was much more personalised. (We also did a sunset safari which we had to use SanParks for as private vehicles aren\'t allowed into the park in the evening, but it wasn\'t as good as a much bigger vehicle and less information).
The hotel used Kurt Safari for our morning tours and would thoroughly recommend. We had the same driver/guide, Karabo, each morning so he took us in 2 different directions and we saw an incredible variety of animals and he was very knowledgeable. It was a totally amazing experience!
The morning safari\'s start very early, and you have to fill in some indemnity forms before leaving (you need your passport numbers for this), so we had to be ready about 45 mins before entry to the park at 5.30am. We pre-ordered packed breakfast from the hotel and we stopped at a camp between 8.30-9am to eat - drink, sandwich, apple, yoghurt, biltong, snack. The camps we stopped at also had cafes and shops. The morning safari was about 6 hours, which is long enough really and gave some time in the afternoon to relax and catch up on sleep after a very early start.
We would love to visit Kruger again and if we did, I would stay at this hotel and I would definitely book the private vehicle safari.

Posted on 24/11/2025 by TripAdvisor

I had an amazing time with my sister and our friends. Beautiful accommodations, amazing food, excellent service!! A must visit!!

Posted on 23/11/2025 by TripAdvisor

Nous avons beaucoup aimé le cadre de l hôtel avec la gentillesse du personnel .
L hôtel est juste à côté du parc national donc très pratique pour les safari ( on recommande fortement les safari proposés par l hôtel )

Il y a de nombreuses activités dans l hôtel ( exemple : mini golf, spa/massage , piscine avec vue sur la rivière , belle salle de musculation …)
Et les petits déjeuners et dîners étaient tout simplement excellents !

Posted on 27/11/2025 by Booking.com

Sehr schön gestaltetes grosses Hotel in einem dschungelähnlichen Garten.
Wir hatten ein Deluxzimmer sehr gross und schön gestaltet. Bequeme Betten, 2 Waschtische im Bad, separate Toilette. Essen gab’s abends in der Booma obwohl gross sehr schön und romantisch!

Posted on 26/11/2025 by Booking.com

Pool

Posted on 26/11/2025 by Booking.com

O café da manhã e o jantar foram excelentes! Um buffet completo, muita variedade, funcionários muito simpáticos e prestativos. Valeu muito a pena!

Posted on 25/11/2025 by Booking.com

O hotel é muito confortável e tem funcionários fantásticos. A comida é muito boa. E ainda podemos desfrutar da experiência de estar na piscina e ver os animais bem na frente. Nós vimos Hipopótamos e Elefantes.

Posted on 22/11/2025 by Booking.com

Tudo perfeito!

Posted on 26/11/2025 by Booking.com

Best Hotel ever!

Posted on 25/11/2025 by Booking.com