Franschhoek: The Wine Tram, the Best Wineries and Where to Stay

South Africa is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and Franschhoek might be its most beautiful town. The name means “French Corner.” French Huguenot settlers planted vineyards here in the 1600s and the valley they left behind is now the prettiest corner of the Cape Winelands, ringed by mountains and stitched together with wine estates.

We spent time in Franschhoek and the wider Winelands on our South Africa trip, riding the Wine Tram, tasting our way through the vineyards, and staying on a wine estate.

This guide covers how the Franschhoek Wine Tram works (and how to not make our booking mistake), the wineries we loved first-hand, what else is worth your time and where to stay.

Don’t miss our guide to Stellenbosch, the other great Winelands town!

In a Rush? Best Hotels in Franschhoek

Is Franschhoek Worth Visiting?

Yes! If you like wine, food or mountain scenery, it’s the single prettiest place to spend a day (or two) in the Cape Winelands. The village itself is small and walkable, the vineyards start at its edges, and the Wine Tram solves the “who’s driving?” problem that makes wine regions awkward everywhere else.

Most people combine it with Stellenbosch or visit as a day trip from Cape Town, but wine lovers should stay at least one night on an estate. We wish we had!

Getting to Franschhoek

Franschhoek is roughly an hour’s drive from Cape Town and about half an hour from Stellenbosch. There’s no useful train or public bus for visitors, so your options are hiring a car, a transfer or a guided day tour.

• Driving is easy by South African standards and gives you the freedom to stop at estates along the way — but someone has to stay sober, which is exactly what the Wine Tram exists to fix.
• Day tours from Cape Town or Stellenbosch bundle the transport and several estates with a driver. If you’d rather have the whole day organised, guided Winelands tours run from Cape Town and Stellenbosch and cover several estates with a driver.
• Based in Stellenbosch? Franschhoek works perfectly as a day trip from there, and we took an Uber there and back again.

The Franschhoek Wine Tram: How It Works

The only thing better than visiting a beautiful South African vineyard is spending the day visiting three to five of them connected by tram. A day on the wine tram was our favourite experience in this part of South Africa! It is honestly so fun.

The hop-on hop-off Franschhoek Wine Tram is the classic way to do the valley without driving between estates (and without anyone having to be the designated driver). There are several colour-coded lines, each linking a different set of vineyards, with a tram or shuttle roughly every hour — so if you’re having a good time at an estate, stay and catch the next one.

Our advice after taking the wine tram:

• Book ahead. The trams depart through the morning and early afternoon and they book out, especially the lines serving the famous estates (Boschendal and Babylonstoren are on a handful of lines, and those go first). We didn’t book ahead and were left with the last slot of the day: the yellow line at 1pm.
• A later departure means less time at each stop. It still turned into an excellent day — we simply walked out to Mont Rochelle in the morning while we waited — but the morning trams are the ones you want.
• Pick three, not seven. Rather than racing every stop on your line, choose about three vineyards and give each a couple of hours.
• Tastings cost extra on top of the tram ticket, and you don’t have to be on the tram to taste at any of these vineyards — if you only want to visit one or two estates, your own transport (or a half-day tuk-tuk) is more economical.
• Eating at Babylonstoren? The restaurants there can book up months ahead — plan that separately from the tram.

Remember to pace yourself and drink lots of water ;)

Best Wineries and Vineyards in Franschhoek

You could throw a cork in Franschhoek and hit a good winery, but these are the ones we visited and would send a friend to.

Eikehof Wines — family farmhouse vibes (our favourite)

Our favourite of the many vineyards we visited in South Africa, Eikehof Wines felt more like a family farmhouse than a wine estate. We sat outside in the sunshine, a handsome rooster clucking under the table, and enjoyed the views of the mountains, a complimentary chardonnay, an excellent wine tasting set and a cheese and fruit platter, all for less than 200 ZAR per person.

I particularly appreciated the friendly and patient staff. After our cheese and wine, we staggered off and sat in the grass to enjoy the sun. Our waitress thoughtfully brought out a blanket for us to lie on and said she’d make sure that the bus didn’t leave without us.

Rickety Bridge Winery — the beautiful crowd-pleaser

Rickety Bridge Winery is a stunningly beautiful winery that’s on the Franschhoek Wine Tram tour. A tractor takes you from the tram stop to the winery itself, giving you plenty of time to admire the view. This was a very popular stop and the winery was full of people who’d been drinking since before lunch-time, giving the place a fun but chaotic vibe, with the staff rushed off their feet to attend to everyone.

Mont Rochelle — Richard Branson’s estate

We arrived in Franschhoek with a few hours to kill before our tram was due to set off (because we didn’t book ahead), so we decided to walk fifteen minutes out of town to the nearest winery we could find, which happened to be Mont Rochelle. It quickly became clear from some subtle Virgin branding that we’d wandered into Richard Branson’s wine estate!

No bookings required and wine tasting starts at a very reasonable 70 ZAR. We had some of the best wines I tried in South Africa, including an optimistically named “breakfast wine,” alongside impeccable service. It was too early for us to eat lunch, but the menu looked amazing and the rosemary-infused olives with feta that we did try were delicious.

Best Things To Do in Franschhoek (other than drink wine)

Franschhoek Village Market

Franschhoek Village Market runs every Saturday from 9AM to 3PM. It’s a small market, with stalls mostly selling arts and handicrafts. The market had live music and a decent selection of food stands. I crammed down a handful of cheap and tasty homemade samosas, with fiery chilli, in an effort to line my stomach before boarding the wine tram.

Coffee in Franschhoek

Get Lost Coffee

Before beginning your heady day of wine drinking, start your morning with a specialty coffee from Get Lost Coffee. This cute little cafe serves up a smooth cortado in the prettiest ceramic mug you’ll have ever seen, and there’s outside seating so you can soak up some morning rays. Snacks and sweet treats are available too.

Terbodore Café

For a heavier brunch option to line your stomach, head to the wooden-windowed Terbodore Cafe. This Franschhoek staple has strong coffee and an extensive brunch menu. It gets busy on weekends, so grab a seat if you see one free. We stopped just for a small snack and can absolutely recommend their coconut and blueberry muffin which was as soft and squishy as they come.

Where to Stay in Franschhoek and the Cape Winelands

Franschhoek itself is the prettiest base if you want to walk to restaurants and pick up the wine tram in the village. We actually based ourselves in Stellenbosch rather than in Franschhoek, and loved staying at Meerendal Boutique Hotel in Durbanville, a boutique wine-estate stay that works brilliantly as a one-night escape from Cape Town before you tour the farms.

However, our South African friend’s mother, who manages Meerendal and knows the Winelands well highly recommended staying at Bo La Motte Farm Cottages in Franschhoek, and we would have loved to stay at Boschendal Wine Estate. They’re on our dream wishlist for next time!

For Franschhoek and the wider Winelands, compare estate stays, guesthouses and village hotels for your dates here:

Best Time to Visit Franschhoek

Summer (November-March) brings the reliable sunshine; harvest season (roughly February-April) is the most atmospheric time on the estates; winter (June-August) is green, quiet and cosy, with some estates offering fireside tastings. The Wine Tram runs year-round.

We visited during the summer season in December, and had wonderful blue sky weather. The wine tram and vineyards are best enjoyed on dry days, as much of the seating is outside.

Is Franschhoek Safe?

For those concerns about safety in South Africa, we found Franschhoek to be safer than Cape Town and even Stellenbosch. Whilst you should still take the usual precautions, we had no unpleasant encounters in Franschhoek and it was the place we felt safest during our South Africa trip.

Keep Planning Your South Africa Trip

• The other wine town: our Stellenbosch guide.
• City safety: Is Cape Town safe?
• Going on safari? Rhino River Lodge safari is such a special experience.

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