WHAT I FOUND ABOUT ACCOMMODATION HERE

• Variety. The ideal halfway stop on the road between Cape Town and the Garden Route, and at the crossroads into the interior (for Route 62 and the Klein Karoo), Swellendam has an extremely well-developed offering across all categories, from self-catering to hotel, town centre to farmstay.

• Excellent stock, and a lot of it. (73 listed on TripAdvisor; 56 on Booking.com, of which 36 are rated between 9 and 10; plenty of superhost-rated choices on Airbnb). Deciding on who made the final cut was difficult.

• A paradise for nature lovers. Surrounded by mountain-backed valleys that are stunningly beautiful, offering wild swimming, hiking and biking, the real gems are located outside town. I particularly loved the picturesque Hermitage Valley (about five kilometres from the centre), and three of the final eight featured are located here.

• Fabulous, generous hosts. It may be one of the most popular stopovers in the Cape, but no one is resting on their laurels.

This is particularly evident in the self-catering category – aside from the expected basics (tea, coffee, sugar, salt, pepper), most also supply complimentary wood, charcoal, firelighters, milk, rusks/biscuits and more.