Why this ride
From Constantia it runs 552 km to Sunset Beach; allow about 9 h 55 of riding. It goes by way of Cape Town, Scenic stretch near Atlantis, near Atlantis and Grabouw. The climbs: Constantia and near Stellenbosch.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
West Coast Flower Road + Chapman’s Peak and Cape Point
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 552 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 55
- 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
Clarence Drive
74 km on Clarence Drive.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 74 km
- Named road
- Clarence Drive
Route 62
For 57 km this is Route 62, 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
- 20 km
- Named road
- Route 62
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
West Coast Flower Road is where the day begins. Next is West Coast Flower Road high point.
2. Constantia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is West Coast Flower Road checkpoint 8.
3. Near Cape Town
Few cities give you a finish line like this one. You roll into central Cape Town with Table Mountain standing over the whole bowl of the city, flat-topped and close enough to feel personal, Devil's Peak on one side and Lion's Head and Signal Hill on the other. The point on the map sits in the old centre near the Company's Garden, the patch of land the Dutch East India Company planted in the seventeenth century to supply its ships with vegetables on the way to the East.
Read the complete Near Cape Town write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 659 km. Next is Scenic stretch near Atlantis.
4. Scenic stretch near 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
Scenic stretch near Atlantis, early in the day. Next is Photo stop near Atlantis.
5. Photo stop near 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
Photo stop near Atlantis sits at 176 km, early in the day. Next is Cape Town / Western Cape return.
6. Near Grabouw, on the way back
Grabouw is the heart of the Elgin valley, the apple-growing capital of South Africa, a high, cool basin surrounded by mountains about an hour east of Cape Town. Orchards of apples and pears cover the valley floor, and in recent decades vineyards have been planted too, producing crisp cool-climate wines. This stop is a few kilometres from the town, in the hills and forests on the western side of the valley, near the Palmiet River.
Read the complete Near Grabouw, on the way back 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 220 km in. Next is West Coast Flower Road food stop.
7. Grabouw
Apples built Grabouw. The town lies in the Elgin valley, a high basin in the mountains east of Cape Town, where cool nights, good soil and plentiful water make ideal conditions for fruit. Orchards of apples and pears cover the valley floor and the lower slopes, and in spring the trees are white and pink with blossom. In recent decades vineyards have joined them, producing some of South Africa's best cool-climate wines.
Read the complete Grabouw 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 Back to West.
8. Back to Constantia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Finish at Back to West. That is the ride. Next is Chapman’s Peak and Cape Point.
9. Fuel stop near Sunset Beach
Planning note
Next is Scenic stretch near Kraaifontein.
10. Scenic stretch 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
Scenic stretch near Kraaifontein comes up 395 km in. Next is High point near Stellenbosch.
11. High point 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
High point near Stellenbosch is the summit of this stretch. Next is Photo stop near Retreat.
12. Photo stop near 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
Photo stop near Retreat, late in the day. Next is Chapman’s Peak and Cape Point checkpoint 8.
13. Constantia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Chapman’s Peak and Cape Point checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Chapman’s Peak and Cape Point food stop.
14. Constantia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Chapman’s Peak and Cape Point food stop is where this day stops to eat.
15. 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
615 km in you reach Cape Town / Western Cape return. Next is Back to Chapman’s Peak.
16. Back to Chapman’s Peak
This is the north end of the metropolitan area, where Cape Town runs out into dunes, wetlands and sand-coloured scrub, with the huge Atlantic on the left. Sunset Beach, Table View and Blouberg have sprawling beach suburbs, and the sea wind makes it a favourite spot for kitesurfers.
Read the complete Chapman’s Peak write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Chapman’s Peak closes the day.
Leg by leg
Scenic stretch near Atlantis to Photo stop near Atlantis
Scenic stretch near Atlantis → Photo stop near Atlantis is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Atlantis to Near Grabouw, on the way back
Photo stop near Atlantis → Near Grabouw, on the way back is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Fuel stop near Sunset Beach to Scenic stretch near Kraaifontein
Fuel stop near Sunset Beach → Scenic stretch near Kraaifontein is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Kraaifontein to High point near Stellenbosch
Scenic stretch near Kraaifontein → High point near Stellenbosch is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Stellenbosch to Photo stop near Retreat
High point near Stellenbosch → Photo stop near Retreat is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Retreat to Constantia
Photo stop near Retreat → Constantia is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.