The Stellenbosch winelands

Stellenbosch is a university town about 50 km east of Cape Town, founded in 1679, and it gives its name to one of the best-known wine-growing areas in South Africa. The official Stellenbosch Wine Routes organisation represents more than 200 wine and grape producers in the area and groups them into five sub-routes: Stellenbosch Valley, Stellenbosch Berg, Greater Simonsberg, Bottelary Hills and Helderberg. Because the producers are spread across several valleys, it makes sense to choose one sub-route for the day rather than trying to cross the whole region.

A visit usually means moving between tasting rooms and cellars, with the vineyards and the surrounding mountains as the backdrop. The Wine Routes website has a section on tours and itineraries, and the town itself can be walked, with guided tours of historic Stellenbosch and of the Kayamandi township listed on the South African Tourism website. We have not named individual estates here because we could not confirm each one's current opening and tasting arrangements, so the Stellenbosch Wine Routes site is the best place to check what is open and what it costs.

One hop-on, hop-off minibus operator, the Vine Hopper run by Adventureshop in Stellenbosch, lists northern, southern and eastern routes that each run on set days of the week, and its booking page offers a pass covering two routes over two days.