Stellenbosch

Each estate walks visitors through the cellar and pours several for comparison. The estates lie far apart, so one person is chosen to drive.

This street carries the longest unbroken run of Dutch style buildings anywhere. Old oaks line both sides and hold the shade.

Four houses from different periods were kept and filled with furnishings of their time. The gardens were replanted the way each period would have had them.

A ring road and walking trails run through a valley closed in by mountains. Native scrub rather than pine covers the slopes.

The oldest university garden in the country is also a small one. Its glasshouses separate the insect eating plants from the desert ones.

Oaks planted in the 1800s roof the streets of the centre. Their roots have lifted the pavement into a rough surface.

A pass links one valley to the next with the vineyards spread out below. A pull in is cut at each bend.

Injured cheetahs are cared for and bred animals are returned to the wild. Viewing happens without glass, though a set distance is kept.

Large works stand among the vines and are seen on foot. A few change each season, so no two visits look the same.

Standing on the crest opens both vineyard valleys together. Morning mist lies low between the rows.

The Dutch Reformed mother church, rebuilt neo-Gothic in 1863. Its pointed spire rises above the low white houses, so you can steer by it from any street. Its shape is so unlike the Cape Dutch buildings round it that it stands out at once in photos.

An open green left unbuilt in central Stellenbosch, once a parade ground and fair site. Around it stand the VOC powder magazine of 1777 and two churches. The magazine now houses a small military display.

A general dealer trading on Dorp Street since 1904, stacked to the ceiling. Jams, sweets, old-style enamelware and souvenirs are jumbled together under one roof. The further back the rooms go, the older the stock, so walk all the way through.

Founded in 1692, the estate hands out picnic baskets for lunch on its riverside lawns. Beyond the tasting room, a hotel, restaurants and an art collection share the one farm. Close to town, it is among the easiest wine farms to fit into half a day.

An estate founded in 1700 by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, out at Somerset West. Five camphor trees planted around that time still stand before the homestead and are a national monument. Its walled octagonal garden is split into rose and herb beds.