Paarl Trips & Tours

Just like its Cape Winelands neighbours, Paarl is steeped in history and cultural heritage and well-known for its vineyards and wine-making expertise. The town itself is just north of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch in the heart of the third largest of the region’s wine valleys and sheltered by the dramatic mountains of the Groenberg, Limietberg and Hawekwa ranges. The most striking of all, however, is the magnificent Pearl Rock, a granite outcrop that is often compared to Australia’s Ayers Rock and crowned by the Taal Monument, an architecturally-designed homage to the Afrikaans language that originated in the area. Spanning out from here are the 28 wine farms that make up the Paarl Wine Route. Rural in appearance but incredibly innovative in their techniques (the first white pinotage in the world was bottled here), farms include the famous Fairview and it’s motley crew of cheeky goats (and excellent cheese), Glen Carlou for award-winning chardonnay, and Spice Route, for wine and charcuterie tastings under the trees and home to one of the country’s favourite craft breweries, CBC.