Cape Town and the Winelands

Helicopter flights: 12 Apostles - 12 minute flight

Cape Town

Take to the skies on a thrilling helicopter flight over Cape Town. This 12-minute flight is the perfect introduction to the city.

Taking off from the V&A Waterfront you will fly for 12 minutes over the Atlantic, passing Green Point Stadium and the City Bowl. Along the way, your pilot will point out the city's famous landmarks including Table Mountain, the Twelve Apostles range and Robben Island.

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Cape Town City Walking Tour

Cape Town

Take a private guided walking tour of Cape Town to learn about the Mother City's complex past. The tour is a great way to get under the skin of this beautiful city; there’s so much variety from the Waterfront to the Central Business District, historical landmarks and Table Mountain. It’s good to do this tour when you first arrive in Cape Town so you can get your bearings and gain an overview of the city’s history.

Begin in the Dutch East India Company’s Gardens, a green oasis that began as a vegetable patch in the 1650s. Here you’ll also get to see the Houses of Parliament, which have decorative porticos and a dome. Other key sites you will visit include Church Square and the Slave Lodge, where your guide will explain about the long, challenging history of slavery in South Africa. You’ll also see St George’s Cathedral, which is the oldest in Southern Africa and known as the ‘People’s Cathedral’ as it played an important role in the struggle against apartheid.

This tour is private and personalised to suit your interests. If you have Jewish heritage you may want to visit the Jewish Museum, or maybe you’ve seen pictures of the colourful houses in Bo-Kaap, where Muslim-majority slaves were once segregated under apartheid and want to visit this area. Not only will the guides explain about Cape Town’s history, but they can also point you in the right direction for the best restaurants and shopping areas.

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Sidecar tour of the city

Cape Town

Experience a tour of Cape Town like no other – in the sidecar of a decommissioned military bike. Strap in for this mid-peninsula 3-hour ride along the wondrous landscape of the Chapman's Peak Drive via the Atlantic Seaboard, where you'll pass by the scenic sights of Camps Bay, Hout Bay and the Constantia Winelands in this unique adventure.

Suitable for all ages, there are also longer sidecar tours available with the option to tailor-make your own two, four or eight-hour routes.

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Walk to Freedom and Robben Island

Cape Town

Learn about apartheid in South Africa on this unique Walk to Freedom tour. You’ll hear Nelson Mandela’s story on Robben Island and visit the townships where residents were gravely affected by apartheid laws. You'll also get the chance to talk to the people who live in these communities today.

This full-day tour starts at 9.00am on the site of District Six, one of the old residential areas of the city. This once busy, multi-racial community was destroyed during apartheid when the government ordered mass evictions and sent people to townships miles outside of the city centre. Next, visit Langa, a typical black African township where you’ll be greeted by a community site guide who lives here and will show you around, perhaps even introducing you to their family.

The tour continues with a visit to Bonteheuwel, a former mixed heritage township where you’ll learn how people were classified as ‘non-white’ during apartheid and separated into different areas. The final stop is at Gugulethu, where you will visit the Gugulethu Seven Memorial which commemorates the deaths of seven young black activists killed by police in 1986 and the Amy Biehl Memorial, who was a young American student and anti-apartheid activist who was murdered here.

At about midday, you will be dropped at the V&A Waterfront where you can grab a bite to eat before boarding the boat to Robben Island. This part of the trip is run by the official Robben Island Museum and is split into two legs, a one-hour bus tour of the island and a tour of what used to be the maximum-security prison, led by a former political prisoner. You’ll get to see Nelson Mandela’s cell representing an incredibly important moment in South Africa’s history.

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Wine Tram - Hop on & off

Franschhoek

Immerse yourself in the stunning landscapes of the Franschhoek Valley on the elegant Wine Tram. On rails where trains once carried farm produce to market, reproduction double-decker trams based on a 1920s design from Blackpool now carry passengers through lush vineyards against a backdrop of mountains to long-celebrated wine estates.

The Hop-on Hop-off Experience gives you a choice of eight lines served by tram and open-air tram-bus, which opens at 9.30am, each connecting eight estates. Once you’ve picked your line, the next decision is which and how many estates to stop at: visitors say four is the ideal number. Within the limits of the timetable, you’re free to stay for as long as you like at each one, enjoying everything from wine tastings and cellar tours to art galleries and family-friendly gardens, depending on the particular stop, not forgetting a long lunch at one of the many fabulous restaurants.

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Franschhoek Wine Tram - Curated Wine Experience

Franschhoek

Perfect for foodies and wine lovers, learn about South Africa’s wine industry from an experienced wine expert as you visit three private estates for tastings and a three-course lunch. You will travel onboard a reproduction double-decker tram through the beautiful Franschhoek valleys.

The Curated Wine Experience is a grown-ups-only treat for the senses. Starting at 10.30am, your gourmet adventure includes visits to three world-renowned estates accompanied by a specialist wine guide and a three-course lunch at a top restaurant. Along the way, you’ll enjoy premium tastings and pairings, a cellar tour and an enjoyably informative stroll among the vines and end the day (at around 5pm) with a far better understanding of Franschhoek’s wine culture.

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Bikes and Wine Experience

Cape Winelands

Spend the day soaking up the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the Winelands, stopping for three wine tastings and lunch en route. These Vineyard Meander tours operate from both Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. The estates are carefully handpicked and you will be incredibly privileged to be able to cycle through their private farmland. The tours are relatively easy-going in terms of distance and cycling expectations, and they’re fully guided the entire way.

On any given tour, 80 per cent or more of the riding is through the vineyards and on gravel roads, not just on the main road in between the estates; it’s the sort of exclusive access you’d never be able to get if you were to rent a bike and try to do it yourself. Cycle right past where the farm workers might be harvesting, where the guys are working with the tractors, where they’re doing the daily manual tasks of a working wine estate. At the right season, from January and April, you could potentially help with the harvest, picking grapes and then 15 or 20 minutes later tasting wines made from that same varietal.

It’s a sensory experience all round. You will be encouraged to stop and smell the roses, literally, and to dip your toes in the farm dams. Take in the beautiful views of the Western Cape, with towering mountains as a backdrop to the green of the vineyards – and if you’re not looking at the mountains, you’re looking over the ocean. If you’re limited for time, you needn’t miss out as there are half-day tours that go to two estates. E-bike tours are also available.

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