Things to do
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Babylonstoren
A Cape Dutch werf below Simonsberg has been turned into a working garden of several hectares, laid out in formal beds that supply the farm kitchens. Guided garden walks run in the morning and fill quickly. Entry to the garden is ticketed, the bakery and shop take casual visitors, and lunch needs a reservation.
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Dorp Street
Cape Dutch and Victorian frontages line the oldest thoroughfare in the town, shaded by oaks that stand over water furrows still running beside the pavement. Oom Samie se Winkel has traded from an 1840s shop for generations. An hour covers the street, and the Village Museum sits a block away behind it.
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Jonkershoek Nature Reserve
A horseshoe of granite peaks closes the valley behind the town, holding a circular gravel road, waterfall paths and a mountain biking network through pine and fynbos. Daily entry is capped and the gate turns cars away once the quota fills, so weekends want an early start. Rain falls heavily here in winter and the streams run hard.
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Stellenbosch Wine Route
Founded in 1971 as the first organised route of its kind in the country, this network links more than a hundred estates across the valleys around the town. Cellar doors range from thatched Cape Dutch manors to glass rooms set over the vines. Bookings are expected at the busier farms, and a driver or a bicycle tour solves the tasting problem.
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Village Museum
Four restored houses on Ryneveld Street are furnished to four different periods, from a 1709 cottage to a Victorian parlour, and walked as one route through connecting gardens. Costumed guides answer questions in the rooms themselves. It takes about an hour, which makes it a useful stop before the Cape Dutch frontages elsewhere in town.