George is more a launching pad than a destination, and that is not a criticism — the beaches, mountains, and forests within easy reach make it one of the best-positioned towns on the Garden Route. Victoria Bay, 20 kilometres to the southwest, is a small cove with one of the finest beach breaks in South Africa and a loyal community of surfers who have been coming for decades. Wilderness, just east, has a long uncrowded beach and the Touws River estuary behind it, which is worth paddling by canoe. The Outeniqua Pass road north over the mountains to Oudtshoorn is genuinely spectacular: 15 kilometres of switchbacks through indigenous forest before dropping into the Klein Karoo.
Within George itself, the Garden Route Botanical Garden on the edge of town is an undervisited gem: 14 hectares of fynbos, indigenous forest, and water features that give a good introduction to the unique plant life of the Cape Floristic Region. The St Mark's Cathedral on Cathedral Square is the Anglican seat of the Diocese of George and worth a quick look for its Victorian stonework. The Outeniqua Transport Museum, near the old station, houses the rolling stock from the legendary Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe steam train that once ran the coastal route to Knysna — the train no longer runs, but the museum keeps the spirit of the route alive.