Door-to-door from the city
The Winelands are forty-five minutes from your hotel. We collect you in the morning, and the day that follows is built around what you actually like to drink.
In brief: this is a private day trip from Cape Town into the Winelands. I collect you at your accommodation around 09:30 and have you home by early evening, after three handpicked estates in Stellenbosch or Franschhoek. R2 950 per person covers door-to-door transport, all tasting and cellar fees, and lunch at an estate restaurant. I guide the day myself.
Why book Marinus
Most of what you'll read about Winelands day trips is logistics. What actually decides whether the day is any good is who planned it, and who is standing next to you in the tasting room.
I hold WSET Level 3 and Cape Wine Academy certification, and I've lived in Stellenbosch for twelve years. In practice that means two things on the day. You get answers — why this slope grows Cabernet and the one behind it doesn't, what the 2015s did that the 2016s couldn't, why the wine in your glass tastes the way it does. And you get through doors that a walk-in doesn't: tastings poured by the person who made the wine, barrel samples, the block that never makes it onto the tasting menu.
The route is yours, not a fixed circuit. Before the day I'll ask what you drink at home, what you've already tried here, and what you want lunch to be. Three estates get chosen against those answers, and the third one usually gets chosen properly only after I've watched what you reacted to at the first two. A private wine tour that runs the same six farms every day is a bus with better seats.
Nobody drives, which matters more than it sounds — there's no useful public transport between the farms, and ride-hailing gives up once you're on gravel between estates ten minutes apart. Everyone in your group tastes, including whoever would otherwise have drawn the short straw.
Many guests choose to spend the whole day in the valley rather than treating it as a day trip — our Stellenbosch wine tours run the same private, door-to-door format, just without the drive back to the city at the end.
Before you arrive
No two groups get the same three estates. Here is what goes into choosing yours.
What you drink at home, what you've already tasted in the Cape, whether you want to understand what's in the glass or simply enjoy it. Whether lunch is the centre of the day or a stop along it. Ten minutes on WhatsApp before the day tells me more than any booking form.
Big Cabernet houses and small Chenin producers are different days out. I pick against your answers, deliberately contrast the styles so the second estate doesn't repeat the first, and leave the afternoon estate open — by then I've seen what you reached for twice and can choose properly.
I know the people who make the wine on these farms. That's the difference between a tasting-room pour and half an hour in the cellar with the winemaker — and it's why the day can change shape mid-afternoon if something better opens up.
The shape of the day
Times shift depending on where you're staying and what you want out of the day. This is the rhythm that works for most people coming from the city.
City Bowl, Sea Point, Camps Bay, the Waterfront, the southern suburbs. From the Atlantic seaboard allow an extra ten or fifteen minutes.
We start somewhere quiet, before the day's crowd arrives. Cellar walk and a guided tasting of four to six wines, usually with someone from the farm.
A change of pace and, deliberately, a change of style — if the first was classic Bordeaux blends, this one might be Chenin and Syrah from a younger producer.
A long, proper lunch at an estate restaurant. This is the pivot of the day and I'd rather not rush it. Tell me beforehand what kind of meal you want and I'll route around it.
The afternoon one, chosen partly on what you've enjoyed so far. By this point I know what you're drinking and can pick accordingly.
Returned to the same door we collected you from, usually between half past five and six.
Short on time? A half-day runs 09:30 to about 13:30 — two estates, no sit-down lunch — which leaves the afternoon free for Table Mountain or the peninsula drive.
Choosing a direction
Both are an easy morning's drive from Cape Town, and this is where most people get stuck. The honest answer is that it depends what you want the day to be about.
The closest of the two and the serious one. The greatest density of good estates in South Africa, an oak-lined town worth an hour on its own, and the widest range from old-guard Cabernet houses to young producers working out of borrowed cellars. If wine is the point of the day, come here.
Stellenbosch wine tour →
A further half-hour on, and worth it for the setting alone — a narrow valley closed off by mountains on three sides, founded by Huguenots in the 1680s. More destination restaurants per square kilometre than anywhere else in the country. Come here if lunch matters as much as the tasting.
Franschhoek wine tour →The valleys are about 35 km apart, so covering both in one day is possible — but you end up skimming each instead of settling into either. Most guests who ask about doing both pick one and are glad they did. There's more on the trade-off in Stellenbosch or Franschhoek?
What the day looks like
Coming from the city
More questions? See the full FAQ or WhatsApp Marinus →
Last reviewed 2026-08-16
Stellenbosch is about 50 km from the city centre — roughly 45 minutes on a clear run, closer to an hour in morning traffic. Franschhoek is a further 35 km beyond that, around an hour and fifteen from Cape Town.
Yes, and it's included in the price. City Bowl, Sea Point, Camps Bay, the V&A Waterfront, the southern suburbs — we collect you at your door around 09:30 and return you to the same address in the late afternoon.
The estates get chosen for you rather than off a fixed circuit, and the wine gets explained by someone who holds WSET Level 3 and has spent twelve years on these farms. Twelve years also means the winemaker often pours for you rather than the tasting room. A driver takes you to three farms; the day itself is the part I'm actually selling.
Yes, and it's included. There's no practical public transport between the estates and ride-hailing falls apart once you're moving between farms, so on a private tour everyone in the group can taste.
From R2 950 per person for the full day, covering transport from Cape Town, all tasting and cellar fees, lunch, and the guide. No hidden extras — the pricing page sets out exactly what's included.
Tours are private, so the group is only ever your group. Two to twelve works comfortably; larger parties can be arranged with notice.
Entirely fine, and more common than you'd think. Estates pour grape juice, alcohol-free options, and tea, and the rest of the day is unchanged. There's a non-alcoholic version of the tour built around it.
There isn't a bad one. February and March are harvest, autumn has the colour, winter is green and quiet with the fires lit, spring is mild and uncrowded. The season changes the character of the day, not the quality. The full seasonal guide is here.