24 HOURS IN STELLENBOSCH
I love Stellenbosch: the wine, the food, the markets, the
boets: it has everything. So when Cape Country Routes invited me to spend a day in Stellies, of course I said yes!
We spent the night at Evergreen Manor & Spa, a quaint hotel in the old part of town, where owners Riel and
Christina welcomed us with bubbly and open arms. The Victorian manor was built in 1904 and lovingly restored by Riel and Christina. Each room is pretty spacious (I’ve lived in apartments that could fit inside one of those rooms) and is individually decorated with period and antique furnishings. There’s a pool, and a wellness centre that offers treatments and therapeutic reflexology. We freshened up in our rooms and hit the town, and by that I mean walked to De Warenmarkt nearby for waterblommetjiebredie!
After a good night’s sleep and a light breakfast at Evergreen it was time to explore Stellenbosch with a guided bicycle tour. They have e-bikes and there’s wine! At Adventure Shop Stellenbosch we were kitted out and headed off on the Historical Guided Bicycle Tour, during which Sevo took us through the history of Stellenbosch.
After that we pedalled through the scenic Jonkershoek Valley (here’s where that e-bike comes in handy) to Stark-Condé Wines (do yourself a favour and get a bottle of their rosé!), then to Lanzerac Wine Estate for a wine-and-chocolate tasting and a cellar tour.
It’s a lot of fun and, technically, exercise, so you don’t have to feel guilty about the wine, chocolate or the lunch you’ll treat yourself to afterwards at Katjiepiering Restaurant in the Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden.
Now more than ever it’s important to support local tourism and businesses. Visit evergreenmanor.co.za and adventureshop.co.za for more information. – Charis