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Neethlingshof Wine Estate
Neethlingshof lies in the very heart of the Cape’s winelands in the Stellenboschkloof, flanked by the Bottelary Hills and Papegaaiberg Mountain just outside the town of Stellenbosch.
There are many natural advantages contributing to the production of the fine, characterful wines at Neethlingshof: a variety of high potential soils derived from decomposed granite, gentle slopes and valleys offering a choice of aspects, the cooling effect of the nearby Atlantic Ocean on the vineyards during the ripening season, and an altitude which varies between 85 and 250metres. Of the Estate’s 273 hectares, 165 are under vines.
The variety of cultivars grown on Neethlingshof gives the winemaker, De Wet Viljoen, an enviable opportunity to craft fine varietal wines and exciting blends which are winners of numerous awards.
The Neethlingshof Weisser Riesling Noble Late Harvest has been awarded the trophy as the South African National Champion Noble Late Harvest for eight consecutive years - a record in the wine industry! More recently this same wine has won a Veritas Gold Medal while the Lord Neethling Pinotage has been listed in the ABSA Top Ten list of Pinotages three times in the last five years.
Neethlingshof shines as brilliantly on the international front, showing that the wines from this estate appeal to palates around the world, just as much as to those at home. Judged Best South African Wine Producer of the year at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London in 2002, Neethlingshof is fast becoming a benchmark for excellence.
The estate itself is well worth a visit. Driving up the imposing stone pine avenue, a beautiful vista unfolds complete with pristine Cape Dutch buildings, rolling green vineyards and a cosy cellar where the full range of wines may be tasted and purchased.
Van Ryn Brandy Distillery
The centuries old Van Ryn Distillery and Brandy Cellar, situated at Vlottenburg in the heart of the Stellenbosch wine lands, offers the public insight in the age-old craft of brandy-making.
This unique structure offers visitors a glimpse into the past, as little has changed in the art of making fine brandies, and gives them the opportunity to taste some of the award-winning spirits for which Van Ryn's is world-renowned.
During the guided tours, visitors also have the opportunity to see the ancient art of brandy making for themselves, including the skill of the cooper or barrel maker, who crafts the oak barrels in which the brandy is placed for years of maturation, the process that gives this unique spirit its distinctive taste.
The Van Ryn's Distillery is home to the Van Ryn Collection Reserve range of 12, 15 and 20 year old brandies and the 10 year old Vintage brandy. The Distillery is also home to the renowned Viceroy brand and the newly launched V.R which is the result of a revolutionary approach to brandy making and creating a blend of the finest brandies.
Tours take place every day except Sunday at 10 a.m., 11.30 a.m. and at 15.00 p.m, while in December, a peak month for visitors to the Cape, tours are held hourly from 10 o'clock to 12 noon, and then at 2 and 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
Moyo at Spier
Moyo is an enormous outdoor restaurant on the Spier wine estate near Stellenbosch outside Cape Town. It is designed to be both an excellent restaurant and a unique experience. The setting, the entertainment, and the amazing food all work together to make for a wonderful experience - a must for tourists.
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Zorgvliet Wine Estate
Zorgvliet is a wine estate in the beautiful Banhoek Valley near Stellenbosch. The estate overlooks the majestic Simonsberg mountains and rolling vineyards. Zorgvliet features a lodge, two restaurants, picnic restaurant, spa, and cellar tours.
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Cheetah Sanctuary at Spier
Spier wine estate (home to Moyo) has some land to a Cheetah sanctuary and conservation project. There are over 20 cheetahs at the sanctuary most of which were born in captivity and all of which could not survive in the wild. The idea is that these cheetahs are 'ambassadors' for wild cheetah. The aim is to educate and raise awareness among the public so that wild cheetahs can be conserved.
Simonsig Wine Estate
The Simonsig Wine Estate in the foothills of the Simonsberg mountains outside Stellenbosch was established in 1688 and has remarkably been in family hands since then. The farm produces a number of good wines and is open for tastings and cellar tours from Monday to Saturday.
Waldorf Organic Food Market
The Natural and Organic Farmers' Market is an established initiative of the Stellenbosch Waldorf School, situated in the classic wine lands of the Cape. Its primary purpose is to generate funds by providing a vehicle for the promotion and selling of organic and natural produce and wares.
Oom Samie se Winkel
Oom Samie se Winkel means "Uncle Samie's Shop" in Afrikaans. The shop is situated near the lower end of Dorp Street in central Stellenbosch. You will find anything South African in this shop including wines from the local wine estates, antiques, confectionary, sweets, jams, furniture and curios to take home as mementos of South Africa and the winelands town of Stellenbosch.
Butterfly World
Butterfly World, one of the more unique attractions of the Western Cape Winelands, consists of a tropical garden in a 1000 m2 green house. This luxuriant paradise makes the free flying exotic butterflies feel right at home.
The Spider Room displays indigenous and exotic spiders and scorpions in locked glass terraria and teaches the public to respect and appreciate these animals. A set butterfly display in a museum room provides more information on the lives and habits of butterflies. The gift shop has butterfly related items for sale and the Jungle Leaf Café provides light meals and refreshments for those taking a break from butterfly watching.
The Giraffe House
The Giraffe House is a privately-owned wildlife awareness centre which is situated just outside Cape Town, a minutes drive off the N1 on the R304 towards Stellenbosch. Giraffe House Wildlife Awareness Centre promotes education, knowledge and respect of African wildlife. Giraffe House aims to provide a place for kids - and others - to experience and learn about animals and conservation.
Giraffe House is open to the public 7 days/week, 9am to 5pm. They have a kiosk, children’s play area, picnic areas (public can bring along a picnic) and even a Kiddies Bicycle Track for kids under 10! (opening Oct 09/kids must bring along their own bicycles)
Giraffe House hosts awesome outdoors children’s birthday parties (snake show included !!) A thatched venue provides an ideal outdoor location for functions and meetings. Giraffe House offers school tours, including a guided tour, a talk and an interactive and an educational snake/reptile show.
Daily animal encounters will be presented at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. The animals are all African and are kept in environmentally friendly enclosures. Giraffe House has the following reptiles: Angulated Tortoise, Leopard Tortoise, Nile Crocodile, snakes.
Animals: Dromedary Camel, Blue Duiker, Blue Wildebeest, Cape Buffalo, Eland, Gemsbok, Giraffe, Grysbok, Grey Duiker, Springbok, Zebra, Caracal and Bat-eared Fox.
Birds: Ostrich, Fischer's Lovebird, Black-cheeked Lovebird, Yellow-collared Lovebird, Rosy-faced lovebird, Ruppell's Parrot, Meyer's Parrot, Senegal Parrot, Orange-bellied parrot, Red-fronted Parrot, Yellow-collared Lovebird, Grey-headed Parrot, Congo Grey Parrot, Timneh Grey parrot, Cape Teal, Red-billed Teal, Yellow-billed Duck, White-faced Duck, Fulvous Duck, Egyptian Goose
Cheetah Outreach
Cheetah Outreach is an education and community-based programme created to raise awareness of the plight of the cheetah and to campaign for its survival. Founder Annie Beckhelling launched the project in January 1997 with just one hectare of land proved by Spier Wine Estate and two cheetahs.
Le Bonheur Crocodile Farm
On arrival, you are shown a short educational video on the croc's life cycle, and thereafter taken on a guided tour. You view these ancient reptiles by means of a low, narrow flyover / walkway and you realize just how close you are to them. The crocs are divided into four or five different areas. The younger ones are separated from the more mature adults, as it seems that the older ones can be typical classroom bullies. It was fairly early in the day and already many of the creatures were lying with their mouths open as a means of cooling down. The first two enclosures we saw, separated some oddities; on the left was a single crocodile that had been born without a nose, but he seemed to be surviving well enough, and the second enclosure had a pair that were tailless, who seemed to be coping just as well as they were by no means youngsters. At the end of the walkway, you get to see the Granddaddy of the farm, a gnarly old timer of enormous proportions. Whilst the majority of the other crocs had their eyes closed, this ancient chap watched our every move.
Monkey Town
Monkey Town Primate Centre was started on the 1st of December 2000 by the owner and animal lover Roseline Grobler, who met and fell in love with her first monkey Cebus a Brown Capuchin about 20 years ago. Cebus was an abused capuchin and since then Roseline has never look back. She has rescued and adopted 270 monkeys since then. She started Monkey Town Primate Centre to give the public a chance to experience the wonderful world of monkeys and to help in preserving this wonderful species for our future generations. Monkey Town Primate Centre is a privately owned Centre and your visit means a lot to us and our primate friends.
Jonkershoek Fly Fishing Club
Jonkershoek FlyWaters is a premier fly fishery in the picturesque Jonkershoek Valley, nine kilometres from Stellenbosch. The flyfishery, which specialises in rainbow trout, operates 6 still water dams and caters for the novice as well as the experienced fly fisherman. General advice on fly-fishing is freely available and private tutoring can be arranged by appointment.
Rods are available for hire from the kiosk. Other basic tackle and accessories are for sale from the Coffee Shop. Day visitors to the flyfishery may fish for a full day at R100 per person. We also have a sundowner special after 4pm of R75. Trout are R50 per kilogram with trophy fish of over 2kg being R90 per kg. Parent Child combos are available at R150 per pair and scholars and Pensioners may fish for R75 for a full day during weekdays (Mon – Fri). To make the enjoyment of flyfishing in Jonkershoek more affordable for the regular visitor, the Jonkershoek Flyfishing Club allows for annual membership. This membership includes eight fishing sessions per month and one kilogram of free fish per month. An annual membership for an adult costs R1500 and R1000 for pensioners and scholars.
In March of 2004 Jonkershoek FlyWaters took over the management of the Jonkershoek Freshwater Aquarium. A bit of “redecorating” and the installation of a decent pump and filter system has seen these nine tanks turned into the homes of twenty different types of freshwater fish, a few Mud-Skippers from Natal’s mangrove swamps, a couple of frogs and our cleaning staff, the crabs. Of the fish on display thirteen are indigenous to South Africa and seven of those are rare and endangered. The aquarium was set up with the help and guidance of The Two Oceans Aquarium’s freshwater aquaculturist Neil Major and Cape Nature’s fish specialist Dean Impson. The display is ideal for educating the public about the importance of conserving our indigenous fish populations.
Jonkershoek Flyfishing is the ideal venue for a weekend family outing, team building exercise or small conferences, meetings and birthday parties.
Wine Valley Horse Trails
Whether it is a luxury hourly trip or a romantic sunset wine tasting ride. Enjoy a horseback riding trail along and over one of the most beautiful mountains in South Africa ...
Wine Valley Horse Trails was started 18 years ago in Stellenbosch, South Africa, by Michelle Mazurkiewicz, who is a SANEF qualified instructor. Michelle has been a competitive showjumper and eventer since 1980 and has experience in most equestrian sports and activities.
In 1998, Michelle moved Wine Valley Horse Trails to the beautiful Rhebokskloof Wine Estate, in Paarl. Here, her clients are able to ride, then relax and enjoy first class wines, lunches and meals at the estates’ restaurant and wine cellar. Rhebokskloof caters for weddings too and Wine Valley Horse Trails often provides a horse drawn wedding carriage for these and other events.
Also in 1998, Michelle met Gavin Mey of Movie Horses & Stunt Services. They formed a partnership and now service the local and international film and commercial industry with trained horses and mules. Both Michelle and Gavin have there South African Animal Trainers Licenses.
Botanical Garden University of Stellenbosch
This magnificent (compact) Botanical Garden is situated in the historical core of Stellenbosch, a town full of character and old world charm. The Garden enables one to view, within the span of an hour, an enormous variety of plants from across the globe. Exotic foreign plants share the garden with indigenous varieties in a tranquil atmosphere. It is the oldest University garden in South Africa and operates independently from the national network of Botanical Gardens.
As the main function of the Garden is education, all kinds of interesting plants are being cultivated. Among the many plants that visitors can enjoy are: exotic aquatics, tropical orchids, fascinating insectivores species, amazing cacti, succulents from the Karoo and Namaqualand, economic and medicinal plants, Welwitschias from the Namib desert, some of the oldest Bonsai trees in South Africa and many others. The Garden covers only 1,8 ha but has an exceptionally rich concentration of plant species, all arranged and landscaped in a aesthetic pleasing way.
Because of limited space, the Garden concentrates mainly on dwarf plant varieties. A framework of larger trees and shrubs dominate the landscape, giving it a very special ambience and atmosphere. It is therefore a wonderful cool haven to escape to during the Cape’s hot summer days. The Botanical Garden also provides the ideal setting for professional photography, small conferences, functions etc.
Drakenstein Lion Park
Drakenstein Lion Park was established in 1998 to provide lions in distress with sanctuary, where they could live in safety, free from abuse and persecution, and be treated with the compassion and respect they deserved.
The Park is situated in the scenic Cape Winelands and comprises of 50 acres of sprawling lion habitat.
The Park is actively involved in improving the quality of life of lions in captivity, locally as well as internationally, either by offering these animals a lifetime home or working in conjunction with other animal welfare organizations to secure a safe future for individual animals in dire need.
The Park is not involved in commercial breeding or trade and offers lifetime care to all of it's animals. All the animals brought to the Park are captive bred / hand reared and cannot be rehabilitated to the wild. The animals at the Park are assured a chance of living out their natural lives in an enriched and safe environment.
Tygerberg Zoo
Tygerberg Zoo is Cape Town’s only zoo. With 24 hectares of land it is situated roughly 40 minutes from Cape Town central. The Tygerberg Zoo is home to lions, tigers, zebra, cheetah, chimpanzees and marmosets. The types of animals include: 61 mammal species, 160 bird species and 63 reptile species.
A visit to the zoo is definitely worth it; with a wide range of animals to view the zoo offers a great day of entertainment.
The zoo also specialises in the breeding of rare and endangered species so you will have the opportunity to see animals you would seldom see in the wild.
For younger children there is the children’s farmyard and there is a shop where you can purchase refreshments.
Wiesenhof Wildpark
Wiesenhof Wildpark is a private game reserve situated near Stellenbosch on the foothills of the Simonsberg mountains. Our mission is to provide an outdoor experience for the nature lover in a particulary spectacular natural surrounding.
Our Wildpark's activities include a day picnic area for those who want to BBQ and swim, game viewing, fishing, mountain biking, bird watching, 4x4 track with spectacular views or a relaxing stay at our chalets. Being centrally located between Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek and only 30min from Cape Town, our chalet guests have the perfect base for exploring the Western Cape Winelands.
Strawberry Picking
Mooiberg Farm Stall. Strawberry picking in Cape Town is only available in season. The season begins in November which is characterised by warm weather, perfect for spending time in the outdoors. Mooiberg Farm is situated in-between Stellenbosch and Somerset West on the R44. With the backdrop of the scenic mountains and surrounded by vineyards the strawberry farm is placed in a very beautiful part of the Cape. When you arrive at the farm you collect your basket and are pointed in the direction of where you can start your picking. You may spend as much time as you like picking strawberries and you are charged per kilogram that you pick.
Have a fantastic time enjoying the summer sun and the fresh, delicious, juicy strawberries hand picked by you/your family and your friends.
SAFCOL Jonkershoek Pine Plantation
Offers hiking, fly fishing and picnic spots.
Adventure Centre
We cover the extremes, from abseiling 112m down the face of Table Mountain in Cape Town to climbing 5895m to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya. We will face, with you, the Great White Shark while Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai or the Gorilla in Rwanda. Experience Africa and it’s Game Reserves like Kruger National Park, Etosha National Park, Chobe National Park, Moremi National Park or the Okavango Delta on any of the Overland safari options that we provide. From a day Safari to a 52 day Overland trip, all is possible!!
Stellenbosch Golf Course
Stellenbosch Golf Club has already celebrated its centenary, but it was only in 1953 that it grew from a 9-hole course into 18 holes. It has a championship layout that has hosted many prestigious tournaments in the past. Amongst others, the South African Open and South African Masters were hosted at this picturesque 18-hole layout. The 1999 SA Open at Stellenbosch Golf Club proved to be one of the toughest Opens in the last decade.
Toy and miniature museum
The Toy and Miniature Museum in Stellenbosch is a world of enchantment you must not miss.
The museum houses a collection of 1:12 scale miniatures, room boxes, miniature houses, antique dolls, cars, cuddly toys and others!
A extremely detailed and lifelike miniature of South Africa 's famous Blue train - the only one of its kind in Africa, is on show, the train travels from a miniature Stellenbosch, through the Cape Winelands and the mountains to the Karoo where it passes Matjiesfontein before it returns back to Stellenbosch.
The Museum has a small shop where the Doll's House furniture, accessories and many other gifts and treats are offered for sale.
Rupert Art Museum
The Rupert Museum showcases the unique private art collection of Anton and Huberte Rupert.
Located in the historical town of Stellenbosch, the art museum is set amongst picturesque vineyards and oak trees on the banks of the Eersterivier (First River)
The elegant building, which was commissioned by Huberte Rupert in 2003, complements the architectural history, natural beauty and wine culture of the Stellenbosch area
Village Museum
The Stellenbosch Village Museum currently comprises of four houses of historical interest and their gardens. Each of these beautiful homes represents a different period in the architectural development of Stellenbosch. The houses, their interiors and their gardens have been wonderfully restored, furnished, planted and decorated to illustrate the particular style and taste of the time. Below is some more information on each of the houses in the Stellenbosch Village Museum complex.
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