Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch is the second oldest town in the South Africa and can be found roughly an hour outside of Cape Town, in the Jonkershoek River Valley. There is a lot to be discovered in this beautiful little town, but it is without a doubt most famous for its wines. Stellenbosch is also known as the City of Oaks (Eikestad in Afrikaans) due to the large number of oak trees that were planted along the streets of the town.

Stellenbosch is also home to one of South Africa’s leading universities, Stellenbosch University, nicknamed Maties. Founded in 1918 the University now takes up a large amount of Stellenbosch’s town centre. The schools and university in the area are known for their prowess on the various sports fields. The university itself has produce more than 150 South African rugby players. Excellence in sports, however, is not the town’s only claim to fame with regards to education. It is also home to the South Africa’s oldest music school, the Stellenbosch Conservatoire.

Stellenbosch is a very old fashioned looking town, with some beautiful examples of Cape Dutch, Georgian and Victorian architecture. Walking the streets of the town is like taking a step into South Africa’s past. Visiting the Information Bureau in Market Street is a good place to start if you’re going to be wondering the secluded streets yourself. Here you can find out a bit about the town’s origins, as well as the places where you can see its history being preserved.

For those looking to explore some of the area surrounding Stellenbosch there are plenty of hiking and mountain biking trails in the nearby mountains. For the thrill seekers out there are you could try kloofing, a trip down a river gorge that involves climbing, boulder hopping, swimming and sometimes jumping from high cliffs into the waters below.

Stellenbosch Wine

But enough about the beautiful landscape and the history of one of South Africa’s founding towns, on to the important stuff. The Stellenbosch Wine Route is the heart of the Cape Winelands. It is made up of 44 different wine cellars, two of which are the Fleur De Cap and Spier Wine Estates. The alluvial to clay soil, well drained hills and Mediterranean climate all work together to make Stellenbosch a perfect place to grow grapes and produce wine. This is evident in the numerous award winning red and white wines that come out of the area.

Spending a day in Stellenbosch would not be complete without a visit to one of the areas many wine farms. The Spier Wine Estate, for example, can provide guests with world class wine tasting, beautiful garden picnics, a delicious and fully equipped restaurant and as an added bonus it is also home to a one of South Africa’s Cheetah Outreach programs.