The Cape, Privately · Tuesday 9 February 2027
Constantia on foot, and the Atlantic seaboard by sea.
Constantia is the oldest wine-growing land in the southern hemisphere, twenty-five minutes from the house through the oaks. Most visitors see it from a car park: three tasting rooms, three car journeys, lunch.
We walk it. From the age of eight until I was sixteen, I lived on the edge of Klein Constantia and trained as an athlete on the gravel roads that run between these estates. I know every one of them. So instead of being driven between the great houses of the valley, your guests walk through the vineyards between them, with someone whose childhood is in that soil.
It is the difference between tasting the wine and standing in the ground it came from.
The day ends on the water. On Day Two your guests flew this coastline; on Day Three they drove part of it; this evening they sail the length of it, from Hout Bay to the Waterfront, arriving as the city lights come on. Three views of the same coast in three days, and no two of them alike.
Part of the original Constantia grant, and among the most exclusive estates in the country. We begin here, early, while the valley is still cool and empty.
A private tasting of Vin de Constance reaching back through the decades, poured in the cellar rather than the tasting room. This is the wine Napoleon asked for on Saint Helena and had shipped to him in exile; the wine Austen and Dickens wrote into their novels. The oldest vintages come last.
A track through the high vineyards that no visitor is permitted to use, ending above the valley with the whole of Constantia below and False Bay beyond it. Arranged privately, and not available to anyone arriving on their own.
Two kilometres of gravel road through the vines, perhaps forty minutes, linking the three houses. The cars shadow the route the whole way, so anyone who would rather ride can ride, and there is water and shade at every point.
Where South African wine began in 1685. The manor house, the old cellar, and the story of how a governor’s farm became the most sought-after sweet wine in Europe.
La Colombe sits up a hillside above the valley and is regularly counted among the finest restaurants in Africa. Beau Constantia is the lighter choice, with a view that does much of the work. Either is booked a year ahead.
Straight from lunch to the harbour, where a private motor yacht is waiting. Nobody goes back to the house to change; the boat leaves when they step aboard.
Out past the cliffs of Chapman’s Peak — the road they drove above yesterday, now seen from below. The seal colony at Duiker Island. Sandy Bay and the wreck on the rocks. Llandudno, and then the Twelve Apostles running the entire length of the coast with Camps Bay and Clifton beneath them. Around Green Point as the light goes, and into the Waterfront with the city coming on.
Served on board, with the mountains going dark behind the boat. Twenty minutes home from the Waterfront afterwards, for anyone who wants their bed rather than the city.
Films▶ Chapman’s Peak▶ Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantia▶ Snorkelling with seals
| John Sparks | I lead the walk myself. This is the ground I grew up on, and the reason the day exists. |
|---|---|
| Trip guide | With the party throughout, in Russian. |
| Drivers | Shadow the walking route, then take the party to Hout Bay after lunch. |
| Guests | 12 |
|---|---|
| Estates | 3, linked on foot |
| On foot | About 2 km, entirely optional |
| By sea | Hout Bay to the V&A, about 3 hours |
| Accommodation | 21 Nettleton, night 4 of 5 |
The proposal
Not tours. Living chapters.February · The Cape
The Cape, three waysThe Cape, PrivatelyThe Cape, HostedThe Cape, EssentialApril · For the Families
For the FamiliesApril · Lesotho
Lesotho and the High CountrySeptember · The whales
The Whales, and Deep TimeWhere they stay
21 NettletonTintswalo AtlanticRadisson CollectionLanzeracGrootbosThe MarineHarbour HouseThe Shark BaySanbonaNambiti HillsEsiweni Luxury Safari LodgeCleopatra Mountain FarmhouseWhere they eat
Café CapriceStellenrustTwo Oceans RestaurantLa ColombeBeau ConstantiaCreationAlong the way
Table MountainThe Bo-KaapThe Castle of Good HopeThe Company’s GardenHout BayBoulders BeachGroot ConstantiaKlein ConstantiaBuitenverwachtingStellenboschRustenbergHermanus and Walker BayRiding at Pearly BeachThe Art of the BlendFranschhoekChapman’s PeakCape of Good HopeSnorkelling with SealsGreat White Shark DivingThe whales: the trailerTalk to me
john@visitorstoafrica.comWhatsApp