At first, we thought that heading to the highly recommended wine region near Cape Town would not be very interesting for the kids. In the end, we thought what the hell we’ll go anyway, we need to factor in some adult time on our month-long trip to South Africa!
We flew into Cape Town from Durban, and were straight into our hire car and taking the short drive out to Stellenbosh.
The initial hotel booking had fallen through, which was fortunate as we had to upgrade and booked ourselves into a fantastic little cottage on a winery, Chabivin, a small winery property just outside the town.
We had researched extensively for kid-friendly places to visit in Stellenbosch, and there were surprisingly quite a few options. We had just one full day in the Stellenbosh area, and picked out Warwick Wine Estate for a gourmet picnic, which we had booked online before we left Australia. It was a bit early for lunch when we arrived, so we sat down for some wine tasting while the kids ran around the grounds.
There were umbrellas scattered around the bank on a small lake, with a couple of bean bags to relax on. We were brought our pre-ordered picnic pack, and were able to order a bottle of wine to go with it.
The adult gourmet picnic pack included delights such as 15hr slow-cooked BBQ shredded beef served with a fine crunchy slaw, hot smoked Norwegian salmon served on roasted baby potatoes and crispy fried capers and yoghurt dressing, caesar salad, cheeses, biltong pate, olive bread and umami butter and marmalade. All this washed down with a wine we chose from our tasting session earlier.
For the kids, there was picnic basket just for them, which included a boerewors roll, crisps, fruit, fruit juice and homemade ice-cream cone with sprinkles.
We stayed for hours relaxing in the sun. The picnic lunches to enjoy on the winery gardens is such a brilliant idea, they should really do the same thing in Australia.
We decided we still had time for another winery for an afternoon drink. Middelvlei was another kid-friendly option, with a playground and some farm animals (including a wallaby!). This was a much more casual winery. We sat outside and had another private tasting.
Our last kid-friendly destination for the day was Brenaissance, a winery that had been recommended for it pizza, and also a playground overlooking vineyards and the Stellenbosch Mountains.
The next day we had to check out of our party house, but we still had some time to enjoy the region. We were headed to Hermanus on the coast, and by taking the long route we got to pass through the other nearby winery town, Franschhoek.
First we stopped for a coffee at La Motte on the outskirts of town. At this well-regarded winery, the service was non-existent and unfortunately so were most items on the menu. Apparently it was too early for the daily fresh baked cakes which we were so looking forward to.
We had had such a great time with the gourmet picnic yesterday, we decided to do it all again. We had heard good things about Allée Bleue though we were not sure if we should bother trying it for lunch without having pre-booked. We did not have to worry, it was not too busy and they were very friendly and welcoming. Allée Bleue was a beautiful winery.
Picnic menu: braised beef wrap with sour fig and wasabi tzatziki, farm-grown micro herb salad and a wine reduction dressing and pecorino cheese shavings, mini babotie pies, cheese platter, white chocolate mousse served with pumpkin seed brittle and fresh fruit.
The kids pack…
This winery was even more kid-friendly thank yesterday. The picnic spot was a large walled grassy area with a couple of playgounds, a jumping castle and a sand pit. You can sit back and relax while the kids are kept occupied.
We were blessed with fine weather, which only highlighted the whitewashed stone buildings, contrasted with the bright blue skies and bright green grass.
Don’t think for a minute that the South African cape winelands is not kid-friendly, it was very much so. You can have the adult time exploring the area and sampling wines, while the kids will enjoy the open spaces and the children activities that many of the wineries provide.
We love to stay at Airbnbs, they are a great option for our family. You can use our link to Airbnb and you can get a discount for signing up (and we get a bonus too!).