Any journey · Driving Namibia
Driving Solitaire to Swakopmund
293 km and about 4h 40m on the C14, then the C34, via Walvis Bay. 260 km of that is gravel — 89% of the drive — which is why it takes longer than the distance suggests.
Rather have a driver?
Book a private transfer for this route. The fare is fixed for the whole vehicle before you commit.
N$4,200 per vehicle
What the road is like
- Distance
- 293 km
- Driving time
- 4h 40m
- On gravel
- 260 km
- Roads
- C14 · C34
High clearance is essential here — this is most of a day on gravel, and it is where hire cars get damaged.
The time above is not a map-app estimate. It is computed at 100 km/h on tar and 65 km/h on gravel with a rest stop included — the speeds a careful driver actually sustains over a whole leg, tested against published driving times.
What the rains can close on this route
- The Gaub Pass closes when the Gaub River runs.
These are on the specific segments this route crosses, not a general warning about the country. They matter between about January and April, and a crossing reached in the morning is rarely the problem the same crossing is at five in the afternoon. How to plan around them.
What it costs to be driven
A fixed price for the whole vehicle — the same whether one of you travels or the car is full — agreed before you commit.
The two directions are not the same price, and the N$1,100 between them is real rather than a rounding artefact. A car finishing its day at Swakopmund can pick up another fare; one sent out to Solitaire usually drives home empty, and that empty return is in the fare. If your itinerary can run this leg in the Solitaire-to-Swakopmund direction, it is the cheaper way round.
Worth driving yourself?
It is a manageable drive if you are comfortable on gravel — 4h 40m, with 260 km unsealed. The question is whether you would rather be looking at it than managing it.
Getting to either end
What it takes to reach each of these places from every gateway, not just from this one.
Legs that join this one
Every figure on this page is computed from our road network model — the length and surface of each segment this route crosses — rather than copied from a map app. How we compute our numbers.