Planning a weekend away to Tulbagh

Tulbagh is a quaint town located in the Western Cape Winelands. It is surrounded by tall mountains, covered in expansive vineyards and has a cute little town at its center. People flock to Tulbagh for a host of different reasons including to taste the region’s wine, enjoy the surrounding mountains and hikes, to enjoy the peace and quiet of the country lifestyle and to explore the eclectic mix of restaurants, shops and cafes in town. Luke and I went for a weekend away in 2019 to celebrate our two year anniversary. We absolutely loved our time in Tulbagh and our only complaint was that we didn’t have enough time to do everything we had wanted to! So we’ll definitely be back for more one day. Here is a list of things for you to choose from to do during your stay in Tulbagh. This list includes things we did and things we had wanted to do but didn’t get a chance to. I hope it’s helpful in planning your trip to this gem in the winelands.

Where to stay?

We stayed at Reflections Guest Farm for our weekend away in Tulbagh. They have a variety of different options for your group with two-man cottages (various options from budget to more luxurious) and larger houses that sleep 5-9 guests. We stayed in the Winterhoek cottage which was a very cute and affordable spot for 2 people.

The Guest Farm is situated on a beautiful dam with cute little rowing boats that you can paddle around in. Enjoy a refreshing swim and marvel at the magnificent reflections at sunset time.

What to do in Tulbagh?

Pancake brekkie at The Yellow House

Take your pick from an extensive menu of savoury and sweet pancakes. The decor is all yellow making the restaurant feel sunny and bright. This is located in the heart of Tulbagh town and a great place to start your day of exploring the main streets.

Take a stroll along Church Street

Church Street is a lovely part of Tulbagh. The street is lined with quaint cafes and classic Cape Dutch Style houses. With their stereotypical curvy white walls and thatch roofs these old homes surrounded by beautiful rose gardens make for a pretty picture. If you’re looking for a spot of afternoon tea and cake then look no further than Church Street’s “Things I Love’ cafe.

Check out the Church Street Kitchen Gardens

These beautifully laid out veggie gardens are just off Church Street and are open to the public. The veggie garden helps supply Tulbagh residents with weekly veggie boxes. From granadilla canopies to brightly coloured swirls of seasonal veg. The Church Street Kitchen Gardens reminded me of a smaller scale Babylonstoren.

Chocolate Tasting at Moniki Chocolatier

It is open Monday- Saturday 8am-4pm. Closed Sundays. For this reason we missed it as our Saturday was already so full and it is closed on Sundays. But apparently you can do coffee and chocolate pairings or just buy some yummy chocolate treats to take home. It’s definitely on my to-do list for next time!

Olive Tasting at Oakhurst Olives

Open Monday-Friday 9am-4pm, Sat 9:30am-2pm, Sunday closed.
This beautiful farm is a short drive into the Tulbagh farmlands. Characterised by silvery olive groves and a beautiful french-style farm house, this is a delightful spot to spend an afternoon. You can pay a small fee (I think it was around R20 per person) for a olive tasting experience. You’ll get a selection of olive oil, tapenade and fleshy olives. The flavours are rich and delicious. Highly recommend. Afterwards you can peruse their product shelves for a take-home treat.

Go Wine Tasting

You’ve come all this way to the heart of the winelands so you’d better do it justice and visit a wine farm or two. But not to worry if you’re not a drinker. As you can see there are plenty of other lovely things to do in Tulbagh that don’t involve wine.

– Krone Twee Jonge Gezellen

Open Mon-Sat 10am-4pm, closed on Sundays.
You’ll need to phone and book if you’re planning on going on a Saturday. You’ll then recieve an SMS confirming your booking. The wine tasting costs R50 per tasting and includes a combination of wines and MCCs. Luke and I are not big drinkers so just shared a tasting and loved their fresh wines.

– Saronsberg

Open Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, Sat 10am-4pm, closed on Sundays.
Again we ran out of time to visit Saronsberg but apparently the wines are lovely, the views gorgeous and it costs R80 for 10 tastings.

-Montpellier

Open everyday 10am-3pm. We didn’t get a chance to taste here but the cost for a 5 wine tasting is R50. If, like us, you run out of time and are unable to stop here for a tasting, make sure you still take a drive past and admire the cute little chapel nestled amongst their vineyards.

Hike the Waterfall Trail

This one was high on my to-do list but unfortunately we just ran out of time- another reason to come back! To do this hike you’ll need to purchase a R10 hiking permit from the Tulbagh Tourism office. The opening hours are Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am – 3pm. Here you’ll be given a map and route description. You can put into Google Maps: Tulbagh Waterfall Nature Reserve and it will guide you to the parking lot. From here it is a short walk to a beautiful cascading waterfall with many rock pools and levels.The walk is less than 1km there and back and is easily accessible for people of every fitness level.

Tulbagh is a really lovely weekend getaway spot. Only 1,5 hour drive from Cape Town it really is the perfect spot to go enjoy the winelands and the relaxation of the countryside. As you can see many places are closed on Sundays so be sure to plan your activities accordingly. If you can, maybe try go up a day earlier so you can have the full Friday and Saturday to go winetasting, chocolate tasting etc.

If you’re keen for another weekend getaway in Cape Town, why not check out my blog posts on Cederberg, Camping in Tietiesbaai or Camping in Kogel Bay?