The Best of the Western Cape
9 nights from $6,118pp
Discover the very best of South Africa’s Western Cape and Garden Route on this nine-night adventure. Explore iconic Cape Town, ascend Table Mountain and taste wines across Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, before getting behind the wheel for a self-drive adventure east.
Drive the scenic Route 62 through the dramatic Klein Karoo, tour the ancient Cango Caves and cruise through the famous Knysna Heads, before exploring the ancient coastal forests of Tsitsikamma National Park. The perfect trip to explore western South Africa’s most celebrated regions in a single, seamless journey.
Highlights of Our Western Cape Wine Tour
- Privately guided tours through Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula, including Table Mountain cable car, Boulders Beach penguin visit, and Cape Point lighthouse
- Tasting at Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest wine estate
- Three days sampling award-winning wines in Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl
- Self-drive adventure (hire car included) through the Klein Karoo and Garden Route
- Visit a working ostrich farm near Oudtshoorn
- Explore the ancient limestone Cango Caves
- Boat cruise through the Knysna Heads
- Walk through the coastal woodlands of Tsitsikamma National Park and the dramatic Bloukrans Suspension Bridge
- Boutique accommodation throughout
- Private transfers and tours as described (international flights not included)
Day 1 – Welcome to Cape Town
On arrival at Cape Town International Airport, meet your private driver for the transfer into the city. Check in to your charming hotel in the heart of the V&A Waterfront, with Table Mountain rising atmospherically above the harbour as your constant backdrop for the next three nights.
The afternoon is yours to explore at leisure. The Clock Tower quarter of the Waterfront is ideal for an aperitif, or ask our team to book a table at one of the city’s excellent fresh seafood restaurants. Cape Town’s fish and crayfish are among the best reasons to eat here.
Day 2 – Private Cape Town City Tour
After breakfast, meet your private guide for a day exploring Cape Town’s contrasting faces. First stop: Table Mountain with skip-the-queue cable car tickets. When you arrive at the top, nothing prepares you for the views, which stretch for miles in every direction on a clear day. This is one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature and a must for any first-time visit to South Africa.
Your guide then takes you through the picturesque Bo-Kaap, Cape Town’s historic Malay Quarter, before carrying on along the Sea Point promenade.
Your next stop is the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, a natural showcase of endemic South African flora. Explore the 36 hectares of fynbos, proteas, cycads and laws and on the Treetop Canopy Walkway, keep an eye out for native birds that make this their home. Finish the day with a wine tasting at Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest wine estate – in continuous production since 1685 – before returning to the city for an evening at leisure.
Day 3 - Exploring the Cape Peninsula
Today begins at Hout Bay Harbour, a working fishing harbour ringed by the mountains of the Hout Bay valley, where the early morning boats and the seal colony on the harbour walls give the Cape its rougher, saltier character. Board a boat to Duiker Island to see the Cape Fur Seal colony alongside black cormorants at close quarters.
The route then continues south: Chapman’s Peak Drive above the Atlantic cliffs, and on to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve – fynbos-covered headlands at the peninsula’s tip where the two oceans converge. Next up is the world’s most powerful new lighthouse, which you’ll see after a charming funicular ride to the top of the Cape Point summit.
On the return leg, Boulders Beach introduces you to the resident African Penguin colony, followed by a drive through Simon’s Town, the Royal Navy’s historic Cape Station.
Day 4 - Into the Winelands
Enjoy a leisurely breakfast before joining your guide for your first full day in South Africa wine country. Begin in Stellenbosch where at your first estate of the day, you’ll hop into an open-sided Jeep for a tour through the vineyards, where your guide explains the terroir and farming decisions in the field rather than the tasting room. Lunch comprises a four-course seasonal menu, hailed as one of the most accomplished expressions of modern Cape cooking available in the Winelands.
The afternoon brings further tastings at a second Stellenbosch estate before your driver carries you over the Helshoogte Pass to Franschhoek. Check in to your boutique five-star hotel in the heart of Franschhoek village, which will be your Winelands base for the next three nights.
Day 5 – Franschhoek & Paarl
After breakfast, the day moves through Franschhoek and across to Paarl. Begin in Franschhoek village, exploring French Huguenot heritage before your first estate visit of the day. From here, visit Babylonstoren, where the meticulously planted kitchen garden and the farm restaurant are as much the draw as the wine itself. Here you’ll enjoy a down-to-earth tasting of six of their award-winning wines.
The afternoon crosses to Paarl for a visit to your next wine estate, with a legacy spanning over a century. They have a variety of plantings including Chenin Blanc, Pinotage and Shiraz, which you will enjoy during a premium tasting.
Return to Franschhoek for an evening at leisure, enjoying the ambiance of the valley. Be sure to visit ‘Pigcasso’, the estate’s renowned painting pig!
Day 6 – Franschhoek Wine Tram
Today is entirely yours on the Franschhoek Wine Tram. The tram covers the full length of the valley and stops at a rotating selection of its finest estates – hop on and off wherever the wine earns a longer visit.
Ask our team to reserve a table at one of the valley’s finest restaurants for lunch.
Day 7 – Collect Hire Car & Drive to Oudtshoorn
Today your self-drive adventure begins. You’ll be collected by a private driver in the morning to collect your hire car before heading east on Route 62 – a scenic drive that takes you through charming small towns and past towering cliffs, with scenery of indigenous flora and sparkling streams. The Huguenot Tunnel carries you out of the Cape mountains into the Klein Karoo, where the landscape opens and the sky gets considerably larger.
Stop en route at Oudtshoorn, known as the ostrich capital of the world, for a visit to a working ostrich farm. Here you’ll discover firsthand about the industry that made this small Karoo town famous in the late nineteenth century.
Later that afternoon, check into a Victorian manor house turned boutique hotel on a working farm at the edge of town, with the Swartberg Mountains in the background. Enjoy a relaxing dip in the salt water swimming pool before dinner.
Day 8 – Cango Caves & Drive to Knysna
After a delicious English-style breakfast, head north to the Cango Caves, an extraordinary network of ancient limestone caverns carved into the Swartberg foothills. If you’re feeling intrepid, we can book you onto the optional adventure tour deeper into the caves – its an unforgettable experience, but you might have to crawl!
From the caves, drive over the Outeniqua Pass and down into the Garden Route. The shift from dry Karoo scrub to subtropical green feels like stepping into a technicolour film. Arrive in Knysna in the late afternoon. This evening, a cruise through the famous Knysna Heads – the narrow passage between the sandstone cliffs at the mouth of the lagoon – is the best possible introduction to the town.
Check in to your boutique hotel, complete with balcony views across the water.
Day 9 – Tsitsikamma National Park
Head east to the Tsitsikamma National Park, which in 1964 became the first Marine National Park on the African continent. With over 80km (50 miles) of rocky coastline, here the Storms River pushes through a narrow gorge of ancient coastal forest before meeting the Indian Ocean. Be sure to walk the Storms River Mouth trail, as it dramatically crosses a suspension bridge above the water and out to the headland cliffs.
Some options for what we can include depending on your interest:
- For the views, take a skywalk tour over the bridge, where you can appreciate the astonishing construction and scenery beyond.
- For the adventurous, the Bloukrans Bridge bungee jump off the bridge itself. At 216 metres, it is the world’s highest commercial bridge bungee.
- For the animal lovers, spend the afternoon at nearby Monkeyland and Birds of Eden. The former is the world’s first free-roaming primate sanctuary, while the latter is the largest free-flight bird aviary with over 280 species.
Day 10 – Departure from George
Enjoy a final breakfast and leisurely stroll through the harbour and waterfront of Knysna, perhaps dipping into one of the many colourful cafes for some traditional South African koeksisters – traditional sweet and sticky donuts.
Return your hire car at George Airport for your onward domestic or international connection. If you’d like to stay longer and add a safari before flying home, simply let us know and our Travel designers can happily arrange the rest from here.
We craft each itinerary just for you. Contact our Travel Designers to plan your own unforgettable adventure through Cape Town, the Winelands and Garden Route.
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