Western Cape

Venturing inland and upwards from Cape Town you’ll find the Boland, meaning ‘upland’. It’s a superb wine-producing area, and indeed the best known in South Africa. The magnificent mountain ranges around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek provide ideal microclimates for the vines.

There’s been colonial settlement here since the latter half of the 17th century, when the Dutch first founded Stellenbosch and the French Huguenots settled in Franschhoek. Both towns pride themselves on their innovative young chefs, many based at wine estates, and the region has become the mainspring of South African cuisine. Along with Paarl, these towns make up the core of the Winelands, but there are many more wine-producing places to explore. Pretty Tulbagh, with its many historical buildings, is known for MCC (Méthode Cap Classique – the local version of Champagne), and Robertson's scattered wineries offer unpretentious, family-friendly places to taste.

As you drive, bike or hike through the bizarre-shaped, weathered-sandstone formations, glowing ochre in the fabulous Cederberg light, you'd be forgiven for whistling the soundtrack to an old Western movie. The 830-sq-km wilderness area boasts San rock art, craggy mountains, clear streams and bumpy dirt roads perfect for 4WD fanatics. The peaks and valleys extend roughly north–south for 100km, with the highest point reaching 2027m.

The name says it all: dense old-growth forests and steep hills run down to a beautiful stretch of coastline of rolling breakers, kilometres of white sand, bird-rich estuaries and sheltered lagoons. All this has made Wilderness very popular, but thankfully it doesn’t show – the myriad holiday homes blend into the verdant green hills, and the town centre is compact and unobtrusive. Beach bums beware: the beach here is beautiful, but a strong rip tide means swimming is not advised. The only other drawback is that everything is quite widely scattered, making life difficult if you don’t have a vehicle.

Hermanus is generally considered the best land-based whale-watching destination in the world. From June to December, the bay becomes the swimming grounds for a large number of southern right whales. So what might have otherwise just been a small fishing village is today a large, bustling town with an excellent range of accommodation, restaurants and shops.

The town stretches over a long main road but the centre is easily navigable on foot. There’s a superb cliff-path walk and plenty of other hikes in the hills around the town, as well as good wine tasting, and the Hermanus Whale Festival in September. The town gets very crowded at this time and during the December and January school holidays.

Only 122km from Cape Town, Hermanus is also perfect for a day trip.

Embracing an exquisitely beautiful lagoon and surrounded by ancient forests, Knysna (pronounced ny-znah) is probably the most famous town on the Garden Route. Formerly the centre of the timber industry, supplying yellowwood and stinkwood for railway lines, shipping and house-building, it still has several shops specialising in woodwork and traditional furniture. The lagoon is popular with sailing enthusiasts, and there are plenty of boat trips on offer.

With its serene setting, arty and gay-friendly vibe, excellent places to stay, eat and drink, and wide range of activities, Knysna has plenty going for it. But if you’re after something quiet and undeveloped, you might like to look elsewhere – particularly in high season.

In June 2017, a massive wildfire ravaged the area, destroying more than 1000 homes and devastating the landscape. It will take decades for the forests to recover, though the town was welcoming tourists back within a couple of weeks.

The windswept coastline and desolate mountains on the western side of Western Cape are a peaceful, largely undeveloped paradise. You’ll find whitewashed fishing villages, fascinating country towns, unspoilt beaches, a lagoon and wetlands teeming with birds, plus one of the best hiking regions in the country.

The West Coast National Park is a must for birdwatchers and lovers of seascapes, while inland lies the richly fertile Olifants River Valley, where citrus orchards and vineyards sit at the foot of the Cederberg Mountains – a hiker’s heaven. This remote area has spectacular rock formations and a wealth of San rock paintings.

Between the coast and the mountains lies the Swartland, undulating hills of wheat and vineyards. Swartland (black land) received its name from renosterveld, a threatened indigenous vegetation that turns dark grey in summer.

To many urban-dwelling South African people, Prince Albert – a charming village dating back to 1762 – represents an idyllic life in the Karoo. Victorian, art deco and traditional Karoo buildings rub shoulders in the pretty streets, their residents intent on preserving the town's architecture. Despite being surrounded by harsh country, the town is green and fertile (producing peaches, apricots, grapes and olives), thanks to the run-off from the mountain springs. It's something of a foodie town and there’s an Olive Festival each April.

It's also a great base to explore the mountains, either on foot, by mountain bike or, if it's just too hot for exertion, by driving the spectacular Swartberg and Meiringspoort Passes.

If you have your own transport, you can easily visit Prince Albert on a day trip from Oudtshoorn or even from the coast, but once you're here you're guaranteed to want to stay for a few days.

• Start Robertson
• End Oudtshoorn
• Length 260km; three to four days

If you're heading east towards the Garden Route, Route 62 makes for a marvellous drive and a great alternative to taking the N2 both there and back. The route begins in Robertson, a farming town on the Breede River, where you can spend a day or two riding horses, rafting on the river or hopping between unpretentious wineries before heading out to enjoy Route 62.

After about 15km you pass through the untidy town of Ashton with its sizeable wine cellar. There's not much to hold you here, but once you leave Ashton the route quickly takes a turn for the scenic as you near the Langeberg range. The road twists and turns towards Cogmanskloof (Cogmans Gorge). Here you'll see a sign denoting the Old English Fort. Built in 1899 in anticipation of the Anglo-Boer War, the fort sits above the road – keep an eye out for it as you pass through an archway in the mountains.

This archway heralds your arrival in Montagu, an adorable town with good restaurants, superlative rock climbing and a cheery hot springs resort. Once you leave Montagu, the road straightens out and passes by orchards – the area is known for its fruit, particularly dried fruit.

This is perhaps the least interesting stretch of the trip, but do keep an eye out for Joubert-Tradauw after about 50km. The winery makes for a lovely lunch stop and offers tastings – grab a bottle of its R62 red blend as a memento of your drive. From here it's only 12km to Barrydale. Most people drive straight past, but if you veer off the main road, the town has some interesting galleries and restaurants and a very pretty church.

Some 27km east of Barrydale, you can't miss the tatty whitewashed building on the right, with fluttering flags and untidy lettering proclaiming that you have reached 'Ronnies Sex Shop'. Ronnies has become one of the most famous spots on Route 62. It began life as a simple shop and the owner, struggling to get customers in, painted 'Ronnies Shop' on the facade. Some prankster pals added the word 'sex' and suggested he start a bar rather than sticking with the road stall idea. Today Ronnies is a dingy biker bar and most don't stick around longer than it takes to snap a few photos of the bar, endowed with row upon row of bras and knickers. Nearby there is a spa with warm water pumped from underground springs.

The scenery remains the same – undulating semidesert scrubland typical of the Little Karoo – until you pass Ladismith, a pleasant town with a couple of decent farm stalls, and Zoar, a small farming settlement. Suddenly the mountains begin to rise and you reach the highly scenic Huisrivier Pass, which counts two river crossings along its 13km of dips and hills. This is the prettiest part of the drive, so take time to stop at one of the lay-bys set up for view-hunters.

On the other side of the pass is Calitzdorp, best known for its port-style wines. The main road isn't the most relaxing place to pause, but turn right onto Van Riebeek St and you'll find a higgledy-piggledy maze of roads lined with handsome old buildings. There are wineries within walking distance of the town, including Boplaas and De Krans. Sample the various dessert wines or pop into Porto Deli for a lunch inspired by Portuguese and Mozambican cuisine.

The road once again flattens out as you leave Calitzdorp and soon enough you start to see the first ostrich farms. Oudtshoorn likes to call itself the 'ostrich capital of the world', with its industry that dates back to Victorian times. The town lies 55km east of Calitzdorp and is home to a number of ostrich farms where you can learn about the industry and meet the birds. This is also the home of the impressive Cango Caves, the interesting CP Nel Museum and a much-loved meerkat experience.

It is also the end of the trip, although Route 62 actually stretches all the way to Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Celebrate the drive with an ostrich dinner and some local red wine in one of Oudtshoorn's restaurants, then wave goodbye to Route 62 and make for the N12, which connects Oudtshoorn with the Garden Route.