The basics
Kruger is enormous. Roughly the size of Israel. You won't "do" it. Pick a region. Most first-timers go southern or central, where wildlife density is highest and the camps, Skukuza, Lower Sabie, and Satara, are easiest to work from. The far north, Pafuri, is beautiful and quiet but thin on animals and far from everything else.
Self-drive or lodge
Self-drive plus SANParks camps is the bargain. Your own car, roughly R1,500 to R2,500 per person per night all-in, and you're inside the park at dawn without a transfer. You drive the gravel roads at your own pace, you eat what you packed, and you find what you find.
Private lodges, Sabi Sand and Timbavati on the western boundary, are all-inclusive with off-road driving and night safaris. Roughly R5,000 to R15,000-plus per person per night. These are different products; one isn't a failed version of the other. See Kruger or a private reserve? for the full comparison.
How long
Three nights minimum. Two is a taster: roughly three drives, one of them spent packing. The sweet spot is four nights, ideally split between two camps, one southern and one central, so you see different country without driving all day.
When
Dry winter, May to September, is easy. Thin bush, animals at the waterholes, cool mornings. Summer, November to February, is green, lush, full of birds and young animals, but the bush is thick and viewing is harder. Avoid South African school holidays if you can. The park gets busy and the camps book out months ahead.
How the days actually run
You're up before the gate opens, which in summer is around five-thirty. You drive until the heat sends the animals to shade, usually around ten. You come back to camp, eat, sleep through the middle of the day. At three you go back out, and you stay until the gate closes at six-thirty or sunset. The camp gates close on the dot and the fines are real, so set an alarm for when to turn back.
What to book
SANParks rest camps open bookings eleven months ahead and the southern camps, Lower Sabie and Skukuza especially, book out fast for school holidays. If your dates are fixed, book the day the window opens. If you're flexible, there's usually something. Bungalows with their own bathroom and kitchenette are the sweet spot between the budget huts and the guesthouses.
What to bring
Your own breakfast and lunch food if you want to self-cater; the camp shops have the basics but run out of the good bread. A cooler. Binoculars, which most people borrow and then wish they'd owned the whole trip. Neutral clothes you can layer, because the dawn drive is cold and the midday is hot. A good hat. And a tank of fuel, because the nearest fuel to some camps is the camp itself.