The fertile green valleys of the Cape Winelands are surrounded by proud mountain ranges. Towns and villages have many historic homesteads and monuments, and every so often fruit orchards are to be seen, whose produce may be found in all corners of the world. The Mediterranean climate and winter rainfall of the south-western Cape produce some of the best wines in the country.

Just 45 minutes from Cape Town and about the same distance from Noordhoek, lies Franschhoek in one of the most beautiful wine valleys in the world, and within half an hour of the Stellenbosch, Paarl, Wellington and Somerset West wine routes. This traditionally French town is the food and wine capital of the country, where several of the country's top restaurants can be found. Franschoek's village has a wonderful collection of art and antique shops and galleries and the main streets are lined with restaurants and coffee shops.

The beautiful little town of Stellenbosch is the second oldest town in South Africa, and lies at the heart of this winemaking area. It is a gorgeous, historical university town with some of the best-preserved Victorian and Georgian buildings along Dorp Street, itself a national monument. Its oak-lined streets are home to a number of excellent restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and galleries. The university is the only one in South Africa with a viticultural department.

The town of Paarl has a unique character, not least because vineyards still grow in between residential neighbourhoods maintaining a country feel to a town virtually the size of a small city, but also because it is here that the struggle to gain recognition for Afrikaans as a written language was achieved. Today the Afrikaans Language Museum bears testament to this accomplishment and there is a monument to this unique language on the slopes of Paarl Mountain.