Cape Winelands - Franschheok, Stellenbosch and Paarl: much more to them than wine

It isn’t hard to see why Franschheok, Stellenbosh and Paarl are the part of the Cape wine region most tourists visit. It must be one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world. You can enjoy the highlights on a day trip or do things at a more leisurely pace and base yourself in the area for part of your holiday. There are a wide range of accommodation types from hugely expensive (we are talking four figures a night) to cheap and simple. You also get plenty of fine dining opportunities, especially in the Franschheok area, which has some of the country’s best restaurants. Paarl is the largest town in the Cape Winelands and boasts a huge granite outcrop. Stellenbosch is a University town so is more vibrant and youthful, where as Franschheok is pretty and quaint. Much of the area has French connections and as its name suggests Franschheok (French corner) has strongest links with France. French Huguenots established vineyards here in the seventeenth century and they were welcomed by the Dutch who gave them land rights. When I think of this part of the Western Cape, I think of big blue skies, dramatic mountain backdrops, Cape Dutch architecture and of course wine.

Companies such as Day Trippers organise a small group trip, which means there are about eight of you in a mini-van http://www.daytrippers.co.za/ . This is good value and good fun. You have some scope to influence where you go, get a chance to share travel tales with others and sharing the trip with them cuts costs. On a couple of occasions I have been the designated driver for DIY trips, so visited vineyards but not tasted; even though I love the grape, I still enjoyed the day. If you want to visit particular vineyards and no one wants to miss out on the tasting, then hire a driver for the day. Although more expensive than the group trips, it represents good value for what you get and means you have total control over where to go. I would organise this through Randy’s a thoroughly professional outfit who specialise in airport transfers and private tours http://www.randystours.com/index.html.

My favourite vineyard visits in this area include:

Villiera http://www.villiera.com/ which isn’t as pretty as some other vineyards, but has a fabulous range of Methode Cape Classique wine (this uses Champagne technique to produce some great fizz).

Graham Beck http://www.grahambeckwines.co.za/ also does some great bubbly and the range of wine in general is consistently good.

Fairview http://www.fairview.co.za/ is a highly commercial operation and attracts lots of tourists with its gift shop, cheeses, eatery and goat herd.

Solms-Delta http://www.solms-delta.co.za/ is of interest as it has a strong community empowerment focus and interesting museum, they produce a red fizzy wine called Cape Jazz Shiraz, not a fine wine, but a fun one and a great choice to quaff at a braai (South African barbecue).

A typical view

Huguenot memorial at Franschhoek

Offerings from Graham Beck

Resident goats at Fairview