There is such a great deal to see and do in the historic, yet vibrant Town of Stellenbosch. The mountains and the river that originally attracted are still there, as are the wine farms lazing in the sunshine with promises of an even more exciting vintage every year. The local residents are working away at their own initiatives too, and the number of small to micro businesses is impressive.
A Place of Festivals
An enthusiastic student population ensures that party-time is a recurring event that repeats itself each year. Every weekend seems to host its own occasion – however there are three of these that deserve singling out for special mention. The Cheese Festival hosted at Bien Donné Farm brings cheese lovers together every April. More opportunities to enjoy a glass of wine with tasty food are provided by the Stellenbosch Food and Wine Festival in July. Not long after this, the Town rejoices to the sound of classic music provided courtesy of the annual Chamber Music Festival.
A Place of Classic Vintages
The numerous estates along the Stellenbosch Wine Route offer daily cellar visits and wine tastings. Visitors may picnic, or sample some of the finest cuisine available almost anywhere. Wines have been created, brandies distilled and meals prepared here for more than three centuries, and the folk who are custodians of the classic gabled farmsteads are among the friendliest that you could wish to find. Add a stunning natural environment and the crystal mountain streams that flow down from the majestic mountains, and you have found a place that was truly made in heaven.
A Place of Mountainous Peace
Perhaps it is the spectacular mountain ranges that bisect the region that are its crowning glory after all? No human hands could have created the magnificent sandstone crags, from where one can survey surrounding farmlands as the soaring eagles do. And, when one is privileged to overnight beneath a sheltering overhang, and to awake in the morning to the sounds of silence, then perhaps one has had a foretaste of paradise. One can but bless those who preserved these places for the generations who were to come.
A Place of Realised Dreams
But Stellenbosch is not just a place of indomitable mountains, sprawling wine farms and academic ivory towers. It is a place where ordinary people have achieved their dreams too, and where one can see them come to life in places with names like the Old Corkscrew and Mooiberge Farm Stall. And this surely is the essence of a living Town – Stellenbosch is a place where regular townsfolk have realised their dreams, and where a new generation of residents are more than welcome to achieve their own hopes too.
Perhaps this is why the gentle folk who live in Stellenbosch reflect such a laid-back lifestyle. This is at least in part because of quiet satisfaction of successes achieved down several centuries. But it is inspired also by a quiet confidence in future years that are to come. And it is this graceful zest for life that makes Stellenbosch stand out in the minds of visitors the most, and brings them back time and again.