Why this ride
522 km from Kraaifontein to Kraaifontein, about 9 h 23 of riding. On the way it passes Cape Town / Western Cape, Atlantis and Constantia. The climbs: Retreat, Bergvliet, Stellenbosch and Scenic stretch near Stellenbosch.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep + Franschhoek Pass and Winelands
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 522 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 23
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Chapmans Peak Drive
14 km on Chapmans Peak Drive.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 14 km
- Named road
- Chapmans Peak Drive
Chapmans Peak Drive
For 39 km this is Chapmans Peak Drive, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it. Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 59 km
- Named road
- Chapmans Peak Drive
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Kraaifontein
Kraaifontein lies on Cape Town's northern edge, where the suburbs give way to wheat fields, vineyards and the first ranges of the Boland. Its name means crow's fountain, a reminder of a time when this was a farm with a spring rather than a busy suburb on the N1. For riders, it is the threshold between the city and the Winelands.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Kraaifontein write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep is where the day begins. Next is Cape Town / Western Cape return.
2. Cape Town / Western Cape return
The name Swartland means black land, from the dark renosterbos scrub that once covered the hills, and the landscape is rolling farmland, with wheat fields that turn from green to gold and then to stubble as the year goes on. In spring, particularly in August and September, the roadside verges and fallow fields explode into yellow and orange with daisies and other annuals, and the little town holds a wildflower show to celebrate it.
Read the complete Cape Town / Western Cape return write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cape Town / Western Cape return comes up 53 km in. Next is Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep food stop.
3. Atlantis
Atlantis is not a postcard town, and nobody here pretends it is. It was built from scratch in the 1970s on the sandy plains north of Cape Town, part of the apartheid government's plan to move coloured families out of the city and to create an industrial centre far from the suburbs. The result was a planned town of factories, schools and housing estates, some forty-five kilometres from the city, which still struggles with unemployment and crime. It is worth understanding that history as you ride through.
Read the complete Atlantis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep photo pull-off.
4. Constantia
Constantia is where wine began in South Africa, and it still has the air of a place that knows it. The valley lies on the eastern side of the Table Mountain chain, sheltered from the Atlantic, with old oak avenues, whitewashed Cape Dutch farmhouses and vineyards climbing toward the steep slopes of the Constantiaberg. It is one of Cape Town's leafiest and wealthiest suburbs, but the farms are open to visitors and the roads around it are some of the most beautiful in the city.
Read the complete Constantia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep photo pull-off, early in the day. Next is Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep checkpoint 8.
5. Near Constantia
The wooded eastern flank of Table Mountain rises right above this point, a few kilometres from Constantia, where the southern suburbs meet the forests and the mountain. This is Cape Town's green side: oak avenues, pine and gum plantations, old estates and the cool, shaded slopes that catch the clouds when the southeaster blows. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden lies along the same slope, and on its terraces you can walk among proteas, ericas and other plants of the Cape Floral Kingdom with the mountain towering overhead.
Read the complete Near Constantia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep checkpoint 8. That is the ride. Next is Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep high point.
6. Retreat
Retreat sits on the flat land between the mountains of the Cape Peninsula and the sandy plains that run down to False Bay, a busy, working suburb on Main Road and the railway line south of the city. It is no beauty spot, but it lies right at the foot of some of the finest short rides in Cape Town, and its petrol stations and shops are useful when you are about to climb into the hills or head out along the coast.
Read the complete Photo stop near Retreat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep high point is the summit of this stretch. Next is Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep scenic road.
7. Retreat
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Photo stop near Retreat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
317 km in you reach Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep scenic road. Next is Back to Clarence.
8. Back to Clarence
The dot sits well inland of Clarence Drive itself, on the northeastern side of Cape Town where the city thins out toward the winelands, and the ride is on its way home. Kraaifontein, a big working suburb, sits just beside it, while Stellenbosch and Paarl lie a short run to the east. The coast road that gives the ride its name, the R44 between Gordon's Bay and Rooi-Els, is hours behind you by now.
Read the complete Clarence write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Clarence. That is the ride. Next is Franschhoek Pass and Winelands.
9. Fuel stop near Kraaifontein
Kraaifontein lies on Cape Town's northern edge, where the suburbs give way to wheat fields, vineyards and the first ranges of the Boland. Its name means crow's fountain, a reminder of a time when this was a farm with a spring rather than a busy suburb on the N1. For riders, it is the threshold between the city and the Winelands.
10. Atlantis
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Atlantis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cape Town / Western Cape return comes up 476 km in. Next is Franschhoek Pass and Winelands food stop.
11. Cape Town
Cape Town sits at the foot of Table Mountain, a flat-topped sandstone wall about a kilometre high, and on a day when the tablecloth of cloud spills over the edge it is one of the great sights of the world. The city lies between the mountain and the Atlantic, with a harbour that was founded in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company as a supply station for ships on the route to the East. It grew into a port of many cultures, and the mix of Dutch, Malay, African and British influences is still visible in its food, language and architecture.
Read the complete Cape Town write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Franschhoek Pass and Winelands photo pull-off.
12. Bergvliet
Bergvliet itself is a quiet grid of suburban houses and jacaranda trees in Cape Town's southern suburbs, but look up and you see why the ride starts here. Directly above it, the Ou Kaapse Weg climbs the flank of the Steenberg mountains in a series of long, fast bends, crosses the saddle at Silvermine and drops down the far side towards Noordhoek and the Atlantic. It is the old wagon route across the peninsula, and on a clear morning it is one of the best ten minutes of riding in the city.
Read the complete Bergvliet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Franschhoek Pass and Winelands checkpoint 8.
13. Near Constantia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Near Constantia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Franschhoek Pass and Winelands checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Franschhoek Pass and Winelands high point.
14. Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch is the second-oldest European settlement in South Africa, founded in 1679 by the governor Simon van der Stel, who named it after himself and his wife's family, and it has the look of a town that has been carefully looked after. Oak trees line the streets, white Cape Dutch houses with curved gables stand behind them, and the mountains rise on every side, purple at dusk. It is also a university town, home to the Afrikaans-speaking Stellenbosch University, which gives the centre a young, lively atmosphere.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Stellenbosch write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The high point of this section. Next is Scenic stretch near Stellenbosch.
15. Scenic stretch near Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch is the second-oldest European settlement in South Africa, founded in 1679 by the governor Simon van der Stel, who named it after himself and his wife's family, and it has the look of a town that has been carefully looked after. Oak trees line the streets, white Cape Dutch houses with curved gables stand behind them, and the mountains rise on every side, purple at dusk. It is also a university town, home to the Afrikaans-speaking Stellenbosch University, which gives the centre a young, lively atmosphere.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Stellenbosch write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Stellenbosch tops the climb. Next is Back to Franschhoek Pass.
16. Back to Franschhoek Pass
By the time the ride finishes, the high ground of Franschhoek Pass is far behind and you are back among the flat, busy suburbs north of Cape Town, in the Kraaifontein and Durbanville region. Tygerberg hill, the low, rounded rise that gave Bellville its backdrop, sits close by. The mountains of the winelands are a faint blue line on the eastern horizon, and Table Mountain stands out to the south-west on a clear day.
Read the complete Franschhoek Pass write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Franschhoek Pass closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Kraaifontein to Cape Town / Western Cape return
Fuel stop near Kraaifontein → Cape Town / Western Cape return is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cape Town / Western Cape return to Atlantis
Cape Town / Western Cape return → Atlantis is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Clarence to Fuel stop near Kraaifontein
Back to Clarence → Fuel stop near Kraaifontein is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop near Kraaifontein to Atlantis
Fuel stop near Kraaifontein → Atlantis is 33 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Scenic stretch near Stellenbosch to Back to Franschhoek Pass
Scenic stretch near Stellenbosch → Back to Franschhoek Pass is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.