Self Guided Franschhoek Wine Tour GPS Audio Guide

Drive Franschhoek yourself, with a GPS audio guide that plays automatically as you go. Your booking unlocks the whole valley in the free Wine Trails app: pick your date and starting point, Franschhoek village, Groot Drakenstein, Simondium or Paarl, choose the estates you want from the 34 mapped between the pass and the Simonsberg, and the app builds your personal route with turn-by-turn narration. Narrated stories cover the people behind the gates: the Huguenot refugees of 1688 whose farm names are still on the signs, Paulina Pepler at Rickety Bridge, the Rupert family's three estates, Charles Back's arrival from Lithuania in 1902, and the cellars that make Cap Classique and nothing else. No group, no schedule, no guide; pause for a long lunch in the village, ride a Wine Tram line, replay anything, and the audio keeps working when the signal drops on the pass, because everything downloads offline. You'll need a car and a designated driver; tastings are paid directly at each estate.

1. 1

   The Huguenot Memorial Monument

   30 min

   Three white arches at the head of the village, unveiled in 1948 for the refugees of 1688; the museum beside it tells the story of the edict that drove them out of France.

2. 2

   Haute Cabriere

   45 min

   Family-run cellar on the pass road above the village, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay only, led today by cellar master Takuan von Arnim under the creed that wine is grown, not made.

3. 3

   Le Lude Estate

   45 min

   Cap Classique house making nothing else, from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier; claims the first Agrafe Cap Classique in the Cape, fermented under cork and clip.

4. 4

   Colmant Cap Classique

   45 min

   One thing, two grapes: Cap Classique from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, more than half the Chardonnay from its own farm; Brut Reserve, Blanc de Blancs and Brut Rosé on the counter.

5. 5

   Chamonix

   45 min

   Founded in 1991 with what it calls South Africa’s first underground maturation cellar; 36 hectares of vines planted high on the valley slopes between 400 and 600 metres.

6. 6

   Stop 6

   1 hour

   One of the farms acquired by Huguenot Pierre Joubert after he arrived in 1694; manor house, gallery and restaurant at the village end of the R45.

7. 7

   Rickety Bridge Winery

   45 min

   Land granted to Huguenot farmers in 1694 and owned in the 1830s by Paulina Pepler, one of South Africa’s first female landowners; tastings at the bridge on the R45.

8. 8

   Leopard's Leap

   45 min

   Food, literature and conservation on the valley’s main road: rotisserie restaurant, family tables, a shop and sponsor of the Cape Leopard Trust.

9. 9

   La Motte Wine Estate

   1 hour

   Named in 1709 by Huguenot Pierre Joubert for his Provençal village; manor from the 1750s, owned by the Rupert family since 1970, with a bakery, farm shop and concert programme.

10. 10

    Anthonij Rupert Wyne Estate & Terra del Capo Tasting Room

    45 min

    L’Ormarins, named for the Huguenot village of Lourmarin, the farm on which Rupert Wines was founded; a large estate at the heart of the family’s valley.

11. 11

    Stop 11

    1 hour

    A story that begins in 1685 with Jean le Long; Cape Dutch manor now a national monument, 1,900 hectares of working farm with the Werf and the Cellar Door for tasting.

12. 12

    Vrede en Lust Winery

    45 min

    Allocated in 1688 to Flemish merchant Jacques de Savoye off the ship Oosterland and named peace and delight; the Buys family has farmed it since 1996.

13. 13

    Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons Tasting Centre

    45 min

    A 1997 partnership between Dr Anton Rupert and Baron Edmond de Rothschild, whose family has owned Château Lafite since 1868; on the Simondium side under the Simonsberg.

14. 14

    Babylonstoren

    1 hour

    One of the oldest working Cape Dutch farms, at the foot of the Simonsberg, where the garden leads everything: menus, hotel rooms and a Cap Classique called Sprankel.

15. 15

    Glen Carlou Vineyards

    45 min

    Among the first Cape producers of Chardonnay, from 1988, on 145 hectares of the Simonsberg-Paarl hills along the Simondium road.

16. 16

    Backsberg Family Wines

    45 min

    Bought in 1916 by Charles Louis Back, who arrived from Lithuania in 1902 with nothing; four generations of Backs later the name is still on the gate.

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.