I visited the area in early April this year. If it's any help, we did day trips in different directions from Cape Town, as far as Cape Agulhas. There is nothing really interesting on the Garden Route (as it's identified on maps) until you get to Mossel Bay. To get to Mossel Bay, we drove from Cape Town up to Worcester, and took the route across the Klein Karoo to around Oudtshoorn, then down over a mountain road to Mossel Bay. Going through the Klein Karoo was a nice drive (a bit of high desert, high plains, small towns, etc.), and the pass to the coast was great (we took the smaller winding road).

If you like B&Bs then you're in luck, as that seems to be what most of the accomodations are in this area. We stayed at Whale's Way in Wilderness, run by a very delightful couple who are a bit New-Agey, and were really enjoying what they were doing. It has a great setting, on a bluff overlooking the Indian Ocean. I actually don't like B&Bs, but this place was nicely done and very comfortable, and they have a elevated deck overlooking the ocean on which they serve an over the top breakfast (included in the rate). I wish we could have stayed longer. The other place we stayed was at the Southern Cross in Plettenburg Bay. It was pretty, but I thought that Whale's Way was a much better value, was friendlier/felt less a number, etc. Southern Cross looked better online...just don't know what you're getting until you get there sometimes.

We drove from Plett to the PE airport (flew from there to JNB and back to the States), and I thought that much of the best scenery was between these two points. Very unspoiled. However, I really didn't see much in the way of places to stay, aside from camping and rudimentary cabins. Storms River Mouth is worth a detour and has some easy hiking trails. (I'm not a hiker, but it was pretty.) We didn't have time for game parks, but several people recommended going up to Addo Elephant Park. It's north of PE, so you can't really stay on the Garden Route and do a day trip up there.