West Coast Flower Road · short arc

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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. 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. 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 292 km. Next is Scenic stretch near Atlantis.

4. 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, about halfway. Next is Photo stop near Atlantis.

5. 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 195 km, about halfway. Next is Cape Town / Western Cape return.

6. 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 243 km in. Next is West Coast Flower Road food stop.

7. 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

   West Coast Flower Road food stop closes the day.