Cape Country Areas, Winelands & Overberg

Between 40 and 50 km from Cape Town lies a range of mountains stretching from the coast in False Bay, past the towns of Somerset West, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, to name a few. Like Table Mountain, these are part of the Cape Fold Belt Mountain Group that stretch all the way to Port Elizabeth on the east coast and Clanwilliam and the Cederberg Mountains, inland of the coast in the west of the country. In the foothills lie the wine lands of the Cape. Both the foothills and the mountains are a hikers paradise.

There are many well trodden paths, but not many of them are well marked, if marked at all. We have a few favourites for day hikes, all within easy reach of the nearby town of Stellenbosch, Franschoek and Hermanus. Most of these are fairly easy hikes that can be done in a few hours, with time allowed to explore other highlights of the area, such as the wines of Stellenbosch, the food of Franschhoek or the coast (whales in season) of Hermanus. We call these shorter recommended walks our Walking and Wine day tours.

Of course there are longer trails and routes that will take a full day of hiking to complete. Like Table Mountain, there are too many options to list them all so we have highlighted our favourites.