To find out more about the diverse architectural styles in Stellenbosch, visit the different homes that make up the Village Museum. Their interiors illustrate various periods.

This interesting museum contains a fine collection of paintings by local artists b, as well as artwork and various objects from different places on the African continent.

From Hellshoogte Pass there is a fine view over the Stellenbosch and Franschhoek Valleys.

The Memorial Museum recounts the story of the Huguenot emigrants who settled in the valley and founded Franschhoek in the 17C. It also explains the political events in France at the time that triggered their departure to a new land. A genealogy ce..

The Overberg is an isolated area “over the (Hottentots Holland) mountains” east of the Cape at the southern tip of Africa. It features the very interesting De Hoop Nature & Marine Reserve , which protects terrestrial and marine fauna. The rocky Atla..

Rest areas along the whale route in the Overberg, between the Cape and Hermanus , offer a chance to watch the whales that come here to give birth. The string of sandy coves, beaches and seaside resorts is set against a backdrop of magnificent untame..

Vestiges of rock paintings in the Swartrugberge mountain range attest to the presence of Bushmen in the region. The term “Bushmen” designates both the San and Khoi , native peoples who lived from hunting and gathering and practised shamanism. Th..

The Eland’s Bay Rock Paintings on Baboon Point are well worth a visit. The cave contains paintings of antelopes and a large number of handprints made by pressing a hand with paint onto the walls, contrary to the stencilling technique mainly used in..

There are over 70 000ha of gorgeous untamed landscapes here for hiking buffs. The vegetation on the slopes of the Cederberg varies depending on the altitude and season, but is dominated by fynbos . A few Clanwilliam cedars still grow above 1 000m, a..

The R 62 takes you into this region. Here, north of the Langeberg, a long valley planted in vineyards and fruit trees is hemmed in between the semi-arid mountains and their blaze of colours. Ostrich farming, which gave an economic boost to the ar..

These red sandstone mountains near Oudtshoorn were shaped by water, resulting in the strange landscapes with sublime colours that you see today.

Garden of the Garden Route is the motto of Tsitsikamma National Park extending for 80km along the Indian Ocean and inland to the foothills of the Tsitsikamma Mountains. A vast primary forest with hundred-year-old trees and a bed of ferns stretches be..

In the early 20C a massive campaign was launched to eradicate the region’s elephants, seen as an obstacle to farming. In 1931, there were only 11 of them left. Then the decision was made to create the park. The trails take you through savannah, scrub..

As European settlers moved east, isolated towns and villages sprang up in this vast semi-desert area, like oases of greenery. Graaff-Reinet , an attractive agricultural hub, which mainly produces ostrich feathers and wool, acts as its capital. Tempe..

Strolling along Market Street, visitors are plunged into the atmosphere of Cradock in the mid-19C. The shops lining the street have been restored in the traditional style of the period in Karoo, with colourful wooden windows and verandahs. They now c..

Helen Martins (1897-1976), originally from Nieu Bethesda, shut herself up in her workshop for the last 30 years of her life to devote herself to a type of art similar to Art Brut . She created many cement figures and animals, and covered the walls w..

This Gothic Victorian church boasts a pulpit and great organ that are well worth seeing. The treasure, kept in the sacristy, contains a set of silver goblets. The 46m-high steeple towers above the town.

The collection includes the skull of the proto-reptile Aulacephalodon baini, over 200 million years old, as well as a coelacanth, a large fossil fish thought to be extinct, a specimen of which was found in the Indian Ocean in 1938. The Lex Bremner ..

The Graaff-Reinet Museum of Folk Art and Traditions deals with the lifestyles of local figures in the 19C. It is housed in the former presbytery designed by Louis-Michel Thibault in the early 19C. Don’t miss the amazing objects outside.

The home of the magistrate-governor, with its pediment bearing the arms of George III, was restored in 1975 after the original plans drawn by Louis-Michel Thibault , who also designed Reinet House. It is now a hotel. The rooms are in the old freed s..