Self Guided Franschhoek Wine Tour GPS Audio Guide

Franschhoek, South Africa
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Duration2h - 13h
Free cancellationFull refund up to 24 hours before
Instant confirmationYour booking is confirmed right away
TicketMobile or paper ticket accepted
LanguagesChinese, English
Private tourOnly your group will participate

Overview

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.

What's included

  • Email and in-app chat support
  • Narrated stories on the Huguenots of 1688, Boschendal, La Motte, the Rupert farms and the Cap Classique cellars
  • GPS-triggered audio driving tour of Franschhoek: stories play automatically at each location
  • Trip planner to build, reorder and save your own route
  • Buy once, no expiry: use it on this trip and every future trip
  • Complete offline download: audio, maps and route stored on your phone
  • In-app map with navigation between stops
  • 34 mapped wine estates from the Franschhoek Pass to Simondium and Paarl
  • Free content and audio updates for life
  • One purchase covers everyone in the vehicle
  • Tasting fees (paid directly at each estate)
  • Tasting reservations, where required
  • Food, meals and snacks
  • Transport: rental car, fuel, parking or driver
  • Mobile data used to download the tour (download over wifi and it is free)
  • Franschhoek Wine Tram tickets and museum entry at the Huguenot Monument

What to expect

  1. The Huguenot Memorial Monument
    30m
    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. Haute Cabriere
    45m
    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. Le Lude Estate
    45m
    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. Colmant Cap Classique
    45m
    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. Chamonix
    45m
    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. 1h
    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. Rickety Bridge Winery
    45m
    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. Leopard's Leap
    45m
    Food, literature and conservation on the valley’s main road: rotisserie restaurant, family tables, a shop and sponsor of the Cape Leopard Trust.
  9. La Motte Wine Estate
    1h
    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. Anthonij Rupert Wyne Estate & Terra del Capo Tasting Room
    45m
    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. 1h
    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. Vrede en Lust Winery
    45m
    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. Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons Tasting Centre
    45m
    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. Babylonstoren
    1h
    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. Glen Carlou Vineyards
    45m
    Among the first Cape producers of Chardonnay, from 1988, on 145 hectares of the Simonsberg-Paarl hills along the Simondium road.
  16. Backsberg Family Wines
    45m
    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.

Meeting and pickup

Meeting point

These are self-guided wine tours, so these are just where a user can drive in from. The user can start from wherever they are at.

Meeting point

These are self-guided wine tours, so these are just where a user can drive in from. The user can start from wherever they are at.

Meeting point

These are self-guided wine tours, so these are just where a user can drive in from. The user can start from wherever they are at.

Meeting point

These are self-guided wine tours, so these are just where a user can drive in from. The user can start from wherever they are at.

End point

These are self-guided wine tours, so these are just where a user can drive in from. The user can start from wherever they are at.

End point

These are self-guided wine tours, so these are just where a user can drive in from. The user can start from wherever they are at.

End point

These are self-guided wine tours, so these are just where a user can drive in from. The user can start from wherever they are at.

End point

These are self-guided wine tours, so these are just where a user can drive in from. The user can start from wherever they are at.

Additional information

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

Cancellation policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
From
$24.99 per group
Check availability & book
  • Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts
  • Instant confirmation
  • You'll choose your date and travelers and pay on viator.com. Prices vary by date, group size and option.
Operated by Wine Trails · Booked through Viator
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