Only an hour from Cape Town, a couple of nights in the winelands is an excellent add-on to a Cape Town holiday or the next stop on a Garden Route tour. We recommend staying in Franschhoek or Stellenbosch, two quaint Cape Dutch villages in the heart of the winelands and home to some of South Africa’s best restaurants.

The main attraction here is, of course, visiting vineyards and sampling the produce. There are many different ways to arrange your tour. Small groups run every day and will provide transportation between the estates where tastings will be conducted by the knowledgeable staff. We prefer private tours which give you the flexibility to visit vineyards which are not open to minibus groups and your guide will join you for the tastings. This flexibility means that your guide can get a sense of what you like and amend your itinerary as appropriate. You can also ride between tastings on horseback if you wish.

If you want a break from wine, you could visit the cheetah rehabilitation project at Spier, South Africa’s largest collection of vintage cars at the L'Ormarins Wine Estate or see Victor Verster Prison from where Nelson Mandela walked to freedom in 1990.

For information about places to stay, see Winelands accommodation. Our experienced consultants can easily build any of these experiences into a tailor-made South Africa holiday quote for you.