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Cape Town Winelands: Franschhoek Wine Tram & Stellenbosch Tour

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/24

Duration9h–10h

GroupUp to 12

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Two Wine Estates & a Tram Ride Through Franschhoek Valley

You get picked up from your Cape Town hotel and driven to Stellenbosch for a walk through the town's historic streets, then visit two wine estates — Lanzerac for wine and chocolate pairing, Tokara for five classic wines with views to Table Mountain. After lunch in Franschhoek, you board the wine tram and choose two farm stops for tastings or food. The drive back includes a stop at Mandela's prison before hotel drop-off. The whole day runs around ten hours with a qualified guide, tram tickets and bottled water included.

9h–10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Pickup from Cape Town hotel
Drive to Stellenbosch with guide commentary
Explore Stellenbosch town on foot
Chocolate and wine tasting at Lanzerac estate
Drive to Tokara for wine tasting
Travel to Franschhoek via Pniel town
Lunch and explore Franschhoek town
Receive tram tickets and instructions
Take wine tram to Rickety Bridge farm
Wine tasting or relax at Paulina's restaurant
Visit Franschhoek cellar for wine and chocolate pairing
Return to tram terminals and meet guide
Stop at Nelson Mandela prison statue
Drive back to Cape Town hotel for drop off

The Experience

The N2 motorway stretches ahead, Cape flats giving way to mountains, and your guide is already talking about the landmarks sliding past the window. You're heading to Stellenbosch first — a town of Cape Dutch buildings and 150-year-old water furrows that still run beneath leafy streets. When the van stops, you walk it on foot, grab a coffee if you want, let the place settle into you before the wine starts. It's small and cozy in a way that doesn't feel staged, and that's the whole point of starting here instead of jumping straight into the estates.

Lanzerac comes first — one of the oldest wine estates in Stellenbosch, sitting at the foothills of Jonkershoek Mountains on about 200 hectares. The Manor House dates back to the 1830s and has the kind of Cape Dutch architecture people actually come to see, not just photograph. Your tasting here pairs five premium wines with artisanal chocolates, and the chocolates aren't decoration; they're meant to shift how the wine tastes on your tongue, showing you angles you'd miss alone. After that, you drive the winding Hell's Heights pass to Tokara, which looks nothing like Lanzerac — modern, with views stretching to Table Mountain and an olive grove that produces some of the best oils in the region. The Tokara advisor walks you through five classic wines, including a Cabernet Sauvignon that's been carefully aged for two decades. If time allows, you can try the olive oils or a cheese platter.

Lunch happens in Franschhoek, the town the French farmers named in the 1680s when they arrived and were granted land to grow vineyards. It's surrounded by mountains and manicured vineyards, and the Leeu estate — with its art galleries, hotel and restaurants — makes you want to stay longer than you can. You explore the shops, eat, then head to the tram terminals. The tram itself takes about eight minutes between farms, and you can hop off at two stops, maybe three if time permits. Rickety Bridge is the first female-owned farm in Franschhoek; a tractor picks you up from the tram terminal and takes you to the tasting area, or you can skip the wine and sit at Paulina's restaurant with a coffee and mountain views instead. Franschhoek Cellar is the closest stop to the terminals and offers wine paired with handmade Belgian chocolate made down the road, or wine alone if that's what you want.

On the drive back to Cape Town, there's one more stop — the prison where Nelson Mandela spent the last two years of his 27 years in incarceration. A life-size bronze statue stands outside the gates, his fist raised. Your guide gives a brief summary of the prison's history and Mandela's release before you head back to your hotel. It's not a long stop, but it lands differently after a day of wine and architecture and vineyards.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off in an air-conditioned vehicle with complimentary bottled water, a qualified tour guide for the full day, wine tram tickets for the Franschhoek leg, and tastings at two estates — Lanzerac (five wines paired with artisanal chocolate) and Tokara (five classic wines). You also get two or three farm stops by tram in Franschhoek where you choose between wine tastings or food, plus time to walk and explore both Stellenbosch and Franschhoek towns, and a brief stop at Nelson Mandela's prison on the return journey.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availableNot for heart conditions

Operated by Cape Archives Tours

Is this one for you?This works well if you want to see two different wine regions and taste at multiple estates without arranging transport, tram tickets or timing yourself — the fixed itinerary handles all three, and the small group format means you're not herded through a dozen stops in a day.