After spending a few days on the Cape Peninsula during my trip to South Africa in 2011, I made my way into the wine country. The first stop was Stellenbosch.

If you travel from Cape Town to Stellenbosch you will notice that the difference between the two cities is huge. Firstly, the architecture is completely different, in the sense that Cape Town is an international and cosmopolitan city; Stellenbosch is a small town like you would find in the east of The Netherlands.

Secondly, the atmosphere is completely different. Cape Town is a busy city and Stellenbosch is very quiet and calm. Along the road there are nice places to sit outside and to enjoy a meal (with a glass of wine of course).

The best thing to do in Stellenbosch is to simply take a day and walk around the town to see the pretty buildings and take in the atmosphere of the town.  In the surrounding area you’ll find a lot of places that do wine tastings which makes Stellenbosch a nice location for day trips into the wine country.