Winelands, South Africa

Luxury holidays & hotels to Stellenbosch, Franschhoek & Paarl

· wine-tasting and buying on one of the many well-mapped wine routes
· Take a cellar tour to see the world of modern wine-making at first hand
· Enjoy one of the excellent Winelands restaurants for an alfresco lunch or dinner
· Picnic and walk in the vineyards
· Browse in the attractive galleries and boutiques of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek
· Enjoy world-class golf courses at Erinvale, Paarl, De Zalze, Stellenbosch or Boschenmeer
· Watch champagne bottles opened with a sword at the Haute Cabriere wine estate
· Mountain biking, hiking and horse trails through the vineyards
· Gliding over the vineyards in hot air balloon ride as the sun rises

Reasons to visit Winelands

Family Travel in the Winelands & Family Attractions

Though you may not instantly associate the Winelands with family travel, the Cape Winelands has loads on offer for children. You can visit the cheetah cubs at the Cheetah Outreach Centre at Spier Estate, or visit the Birds of Prey rehabilation centre also at Spier. You can watch hundreds of butterflies; get lost (and hopefully found) in a maze as well as taking a fascinating cellar tour which will impress both the young and old. Finally lots of the wine estates offer picnic lunches in their grounds which are perfect for families or you opt for a relaxed family lunch alfresco. We can also arrange specialist private family tours to the Winelands focusing on the family-friendly wine estates.

Wine-tasting in the Cape Winelands

Wine-making is a 300 year tradition in the Cape Winelands. A combination of the favourable effects of the two major ocean currents meeting off the Cape makes the climate in the area perfect for the acres of vineyards. Here is the perfect opportunity to sample and buy Cape wine. Many of the world-class wine estates welcome visitors and few people leave the Cape Winelands without a couple of bottles to sample during their holiday. You can even visit a number of the cellars to learn how the wine is made. Choose between visiting the estates under your own steam with a rental car or joining a private wine tour. Each town has its own Wine Route with helpful maps of how to get to each wine estate so its easy to get around. However if you are into your wines, we recommend taking one of our wine connoisseur tours with a specialist wine guide.

Cape Dutch architecture

One of the Cape Wineland’s most charming features is the Cape Dutch architecture still very much in evidence. Cape Dutch architecture is indigenous to South Africa. Dutch colonists took the Dutch architectural fashions of ornate gables and high roofs and adapted it to the Cape climate - the thick white washed walls and small-paned shuttered windows are designed to keep out the summer heat whilst the thatched roofs with their elegant gables kept the houses cool in summer and warm in the cold Cape winters. Many of the wine estates that you visit have beautiful old Cape Dutch homesteads. Some such as Boschendal and Vergelegen are open to visitors. You can also opt to stay in some venerable old Cape Dutch homesteads which have been converted into hotels. Prime examples are the Lanzerac Hotel & Spa, Steenberg Hotel & Spa and Roggeland Country House.

Roggeland Country House

History

The Cape Governor Simon van der Stel visited the Eerste river valley in 1679 and decided the area was suitable for colonization. The charming town of Stellenbosch was established in 1685, South Africa’s second oldest town, and still contains a number of well-preserved Cape Dutch streets from that era. The origins of the charming and beautifully situated village of Franschhoek date back to 1688 when some of the French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution settled in the valley, then known as Elephants Corner. As the settlers increased, the elephants ceased their annual migration to the valley, which later became known as French Corner, or 'Franschhoek' in Afrikaans. With the French Huguenots, wine-making and viticulture came to South Africa. The town of Paarl was established in 1720 and rapidly became the centre for wagon building due to its proximity to the towering Boland mountains. This further assisted the colonization of the interior as the wagons were increasingly able to traverse the mountains surrounding the Cape.