The Cape of consummate taste

If you’re a wine lover, or eager just to sample the fruit of the vine, you’re in pole position when touching down in the Mother City. Use your Cape Town airport shuttle to explore the lush green vineyards of Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. Sounds almost too good to be true, but you can reach a good number of wine farms in as little as thirty minutes. Chocolate, cheese or anything else your palate wants to pair wine with, consider it as good as done. Best of all, many top wine tours will cost you under R100 per person, leaving enough of your holiday budget to spare for that convenient Cape Town airport shuttle.

How to get to the vineyards of Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch

Your biggest expense is likely to be investing in a hassle-free mode of transport such as a Cape Town airport shuttle service to nip from farm to farm. There is no MyCiti bus route efficiently linking these outlying areas as the emphasis in rolling out this modern bus service has been to cover the urban suburbs first. There is a rail link that will get you near to Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, but you’ll miss out on the other farms before and after. Generally, the rail service is not reliable and trains are not all that frequent to begin with.

There is zero tolerance for drink drivers on the roads in the Western Cape, particularly during the festive season. So, while hiring a private vehicle is a good option if you’re staying for a few days and plan to see a number of places, your worry free choice is bound to be utilising a Cape Town airport shuttle service. There are many available shuttle services from Cape Town International airport, ranging from one-trip shuttles to round-fair services, bespoke services, always on-call transport providers and get-you-to-your-destination-and-wait cabs. You’ll easily find a Cape Town airport shuttle service in the taxi waiting area as you exit the terminals, at the pick-up-and-go areas.

Many tourists tend to find airport shuttle in Cape Town rates reasonable, especially considering the efficiency, comfort and safety of these services compared to public transport. Airport shuttle in Cape Town rates in fact tend to be so reasonable, that in a city that was once cab-shy, scores of locals have now embraced the trend to hail a shuttle or cab for their after-hours or weekend destinations.

You can typically expect to pay by the kilometre when booking an airport shuttle in Cape Town. The average per-kilometre rate for an airport shuttle in Cape Town varies from about R5 to R9 per kilometre, and there is usually a base rate of R5 or R10. Bear in mind that as with any other taxi service, peak hour pressure tends to send prices on an upward trajectory. Much also depends on whether your Cape Town airport shuttle service provider is having to meet you from far away or is already stationed near you.

This is why it’s helpful to know about the following vineyards before the time so you can pre-book or hop into one of the shuttle services from Cape Town International airport directly to the wine farm of your fancy.

Spier Wine Estate Airport Shuttle

This is the most famous of the farms with its own hotel, various restaurants, a farm stall, picnic area, cheetah conservation area, award-winning wine and much more. Ask the driver of your airport shuttle in Cape Town to get you to the R310, and then head for Lynedoch Road, Stellenbosch. Do be sure to make reservations if you are in groups of eight or more though. Enjoy your wine tasting between 10am and 4.30 pm each day on the embankment of the Spier Dam, in the Tasting Room.

Pre-order cured meat, cheese and other platters to accompany your tasting or head to one of the other eateries on this impressive estate, each serving up seriously good food that makes the most of local flavour leanings. You’ll pay R35 per person or R90 per head, depending on the options you choose.

Airport shuttle rates to Leopard’s Leap Family Vineyards

Getting one of the shuttle services from Cape Town International airport to drive you to this estate in Main Road, Franschhoek Valley, is a must. The modern tasting room provides a sleekly put together, affordable experience. Sample any five wines from the Family Collection and better yet, swirl your tongue around the unique wine cocktails especially whipped up on weekends. The tasting room is open from every day except Monday and Sunday, and public religious holidays such as Easter, Good Friday and Christmas.

The price is under R30 per person. Expect to pay about R750 to get there via Cape Town airport shuttle service, or R250 each for three people. You could also negotiate a flat rate, especially if you use the same service to ferry you around to other farms. Generally, the more business you offer, the less you’ll effectively pay as commercial commonsense principles prevail in the taxi service as one would expect.

Under Oaks Farm, Paarl

This one’s for you if you’re craving the speciality wine of a small and therefore niche output farm. It’s only thirty minutes from the airport or fifty minutes from the centre of town before you hit these premium grapes and their fancy fermentations. Pair some seriously internationally acclaimed varietals with the farms nuts and biltong (jerkey or cured meat), or with their famously smooth chocolate.

Niche farm, niche hours – the tasting room is open on Tuesdays only from midday to 4pm, and from 11am to 4 pm Wednesdays to Sundays. The cost is R50 per head or under, depending on your pairings. Expect to sample four glorious wines. The address for your Cape Town airport shuttle service is Under Oaks Farm, Northern Paarl, Paarl.

Shuttle services from Cape Town International to De Oude Drostdy

The drive out to Tulbagh will get you more than you bargain for – the manor house is also a museum housing a quaint collection of early Cape Furniture collectables and other items. For only R20, you’ll get a tasting in the old slave quarters, as well as a tour around the museum.