Visiting Boschendal or Babylonstoren

Boschendal

Boschendal has one of the most delightful approaches of any of the historic Cape Dutch homesteads built in 1812. It is one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms and lies between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. So, it is easily visited from most places in the Cape Winelands.

It has a choice of a wonderful restaurant overlooking the gardens or a more casual eatery. You can even opt for a picnic to enjoy in the gardens or you can purchase items from the farm shop to enjoy.

It is also a working wine estate, so wine-tasting under the oak trees is also on offer, as well as cellar tours. In recent years, the Garden has been resurrected and is full of impact. They now also offer daily guided tours of their garden.

Visit Boschendal’s website for more information and directions.

Babylonstoren

Alternatively, we recommend a visit to Babylonstoren. Though ideally not on a weekend, as it is very popular with Captonians. The formal French garden at Babylonstoren is divided into multiple ‘rooms’ – a unique mix of Villandry in France and the Old Company Gardens of Cape Town.

You can enjoy wine-tasting and dining at a choice of three options (Babel Restaurant, The Wine Room or the popular greenery in the garden).

You can also enjoy a cellar and olive-tasting tour, as well as their famous scheduled garden tours every morning.

The Garden Tour – Spanning eight acres, the Babylonstoren garden is formal in structure. Every one of 300 varieties of plants in the garden is edible and it is grown as biologically as possible. Fruit and vegetables are harvested year-round for use in the farm’s restaurant. The garden is divided into fifteen clusters, spanning vegetable areas, berries, bees, indigenous plants, ducks and chickens, and a prickly pear maze. Gravity feeds water from a stream into waterways into the garden, as it was done for 300 years. It is laid out according to a systematic grid, with three axis points.

Visit Babylonstoren’s website for more information and directions.