5-star hotel guide to the Western Cape

The dramatic and scenic landscape and seascape of the Western Cape has been a draw card for travellers and settlers alike for centuries. It’s here that you will find the impossibly stunning Winelands, the glorious stretches of mountains, verdant valleys, roaring rivers and of course the outstanding stretch of coastline.  You could spend an entire month visiting different parts of the Western Cape and still feel you needed to return for more.

Cape Town itself is not very big; the skyline dominated business district is only one square kilometer. It is to many, the most spectacular coastal city in the world, and it’s easy to see why. The inner city suburbs encroach inland but their advance is soon thwarted by the steep rise of South Africa’s most iconic mountains namely Table Mountain, Devil’s Peak, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill. It is here that you will visit Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated), visit the Cape of Good Hope and get up close and personal with the penguins in Simon’s Town.

We strongly recommend a circular journey styarting in Cape Town and  taking in Hermanus and The Walker Bay Nature Reserve, where you will find both Birkenhead House and Grootbos, before an exquisite drive to the beautiful wine valley of Franschhoek and Liz Biden's La Residence. Exploring Cape Town's winelands is a must for anyone interested in wine or stunning landscapes and we recommend staying in Constantia at lovely Steenberg.

Within 3 hours of Cape Town you can be in the bush, on safari observing the most majestic animals on the planet at stunning Sanbona Wildlife Reserve.

A visit to South Africa should most definitely include a stay in Cape Town, a base even, and here we recommend the 'Nellie',  Belmond Mount Nelson beneath Table Mountain.