Cape Town Winelands – Franschhoek Wine Tram & Stellenbosch Tour

After you have been picked up from your accommodation in Cape Town. You will travel on the N2 motorway through the Cape flats to the Mountainous town of Stellenbosch. While you drive, your tour guide will give a commentary about the important landmarks that you will drive past. Upon Arrival in Stellenbosch town, you will have a chance to get off the vehicle and discover the quaint and cozy town on foot. Endemic Cape Dutch style buildings flows parallel to the leafy streets of Stellenbosch and over a 150-year-old water furrows makes a headway for the town's north-eastern gentle slope. Old and new shops trade in art, antiques, jewelry and carved wood. You may also want to take this opportunity to grab a coffee and absorb the town's vibrant energy before you move on to your first wine tasting experience of the day.

After the quick exploration of Stellenbosch town, the next stop will be at Lanzerac wine estate for your chocolate and wine tasting pairing experience. Lanzerac is one of the oldest wine estates in Stellenbosch and covers about 200 hectares of land at the foothills of Jonkershoek Mountains. The beautiful wine estate is known amongst many attributes, for having the best examples of the endemic Cape Dutch Architectural buildings in the world. The Manor House which dates back to the 1830s has a provincial heritage status and together with the vineyards and wine cellar, creates a typical French tradition of fusing a country hotel and a wine estate. It is at Lanzerac that Pinotage was first bottled. However, your experience here will not have anything to do with the only South African wine but a unique tasting of 5 Premium wines paired perfectly with a selection of artisanal chocolates. The chocolates are meant to expose to you the different angles of the wine's texture before and after.

From Lanzerac, you will drive up and down the hilly and winding Hell's heights pass to Tokara. Unlike the historic Lanzerac, Tokara is known for its modern look, Views that stretches as far as Table Mountain and an olive groove that produces some of the best olive oils in the area. The wine tasting here consist of 5 classic wines including a Rose and one of the best Carbert Sauvignon in the area that has been closely natured for 2 decades since the turn of the century. The deep rich soils consisting of decomposed granite, weathered sandstone affords Tokara the privilege to grow individual batches that are then blended to make top tier wines. The Tokara wine advisor will share with all the information of the wines as you taste them individually and should you have time, you might also want to try the olive oils or even a cheese platter.

After your second wine tasting experience, the journey will take us to Franschhoek town via the historic town of Pniel. A great many farmers hailing from France showed up at the Cape in the 1680s and were subsequently granted land here to grow vineyards and thus the town became known as Franschhoek, meaning the French's corner. Surrounded by mountains and manicured vineyards on all sides, Franschhoek gives one a beautiful correlation of nature and man's work. The beautifully done Leeu estate consisting of art galleries, hotel and restaurants leaves one with a burning desire to stay here for much longer. We will have a lunch break here and you may also want to take this opportunity to explore the shops, this town would not disappoint. Same as in Stellenbosch, here one may find art stores, jewelry stores, fine leather stores, clothing stores or even fine chocolate factories!

Soon after the lunch break and the exploration of Franschhoek, the tour will make a headway for the Franschhoek terminals for your second leg of the wine tasting experience by tram. Your tour guide will give you your tram tickets and explain to you how to read the tram's timetable. It usually takes about 8 minutes for the tram to travel between farms and you may hope off at farm of your choice among the list of farms provided on your route. Two would be the maximum number of farms that you can visit by tram but you may also do a third one, time permitting.

Your first possible stop by tram would be at the first female owned farm in Franschhoek, Rickety bridge. The tram will drop you off at the Rickety Bridge terminals where you will be picked up by a farm tractor with comfortable seats and transported to the wine tasting area. Here you will be more than welcome to choose any of the available wine tasting options. You may also opt out of the wine tasting and instead seat at Paulina's restaurant where you can grab a snack, coffee or order a glass of wine and enjoy the panoramic views of the mountains and the vineyards of the Franschhoek valley.

Franschhoek cellar is one of the farms in the winelands of Cape Town that offers the unique wine and cheese or handmade Belgian chocolate pairings. The Belgian chocolate are made down the road in the same town and so is the wine. A traditional wine only tasting is also available should that be a better choice for you. The Franschhoek cellar is also the closest to the tram terminals and should you like to stretch your legs after a full day of multiple wine tasting, you could actually walk to the terminals to meet with your tour guide and the rest of the group.

On our way back to Cape Town, you will have an opportunity to stop at a prison where Nelson Mandela spent the last 2 years of his 27 years in incarceration. A lifesize bronze statue of this great man stands just outside the prison gates with his fist clenched into the air as if to symbolize strength and courage. Your guide will give you a brief summary about the prison's past, present and the release of Nelson Mandela before proceeding on to Cape Town for drop off at your hotel.