Western Cape Article - South African Vacations

WINELANDSPaarl Tourism Bureau216 Main Street, Paarl, 7622.PO Box 47, Paarl, 7622.Tel: +27 (0) 21 872 3829Fax: +27 (0) 21 872 9376E-mail: paarl@cis.co.zaWebsite: http://www.paarlonline.comThe Winelands Region is a mere 45 minutes' drive from Cape Town. Apart from the obviousattraction of its superb wines, the region also has great natural beauty and is extremely rich incultural history.The beautiful and fertile valleys, set beneath craggy mountains, are covered in vineyards andorchards of ripening fruit. Perhaps the early settlers took their inspiration from the lovelysurroundings in order to create the gabled Cape Dutch architecture that characterise most ofthe historic buildings on the vineyards and in the towns.The French Huguenots who arrived in 1688 brought their winemaking skills to the countryand significantly contributed to the history and culture of the region. The French names ofmany of the vineyards hark back to these early winemaking days.The winelands are renowned, not only for their wines, but for many other products as well.The Franschhoek Valley has many producers of cheese, olives and olive oil, herbs andberries.Visitors are spoilt by the magnificent surroundings that are so typical of the area and, ofcourse, the region boasts some of the best restaurants in the country! Visits to some of theoldest towns in the country will unquestionably exceed every expectation!179