West Coast Flower Road
A 256 km loop
Open this ride in the planner →
Why this ride
A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. A 256 km loop that starts and ends near Constantia, about 4 h 39 of riding. It goes by way of Cape Town, Scenic stretch near Atlantis, near Atlantis and Grabouw. The climb of the day is Constantia.
Roadbook
- Constantia
fuel
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.
The story starts with Simon van der Stel, the Dutch East India Company governor, who was granted the land in 1685 and built Groot Constantia, whose gabled manor house is now a museum. A century later the farm's sweet wine, Vin de Constance, was famous across Europe: Napoleon had it shipped to him in exile on St Helena, and Jane Austen mentions Constantia wine in Sense and Sensibility as a cure for a broken heart. The style was revived in modern times and you can taste it today, along with the region's sauvignon blanc, which loves the cool breezes from False Bay.
For riders, the best road begins at the top of the valley. Constantia Nek is the saddle between the mountains, and the road drops from it through forest and down to Hout Bay, which leads to Chapman's Peak Drive, the toll road cut into the cliffs above the Atlantic. Rhodes Drive runs the other way, under trees along the slope past Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden to Newlands. Both are twisty, shaded and slow enough to keep you honest, with cyclists and walkers on weekends. For the longer rides east, to Clarence Drive, the winelands or the passes beyond, you leave on the M3 and the N2, which are busy but quick.
The weather is a factor. In summer the southeaster, the Cape Doctor, can blow ferociously across the Cape Flats and the N2, while winter brings rain and the mountains catch the clouds. Spring and autumn are lovely, with green vines and long, clear light.
Constantia has shopping centres with fuel, cafes and supermarkets, and the wine farms have restaurants, though booking is often necessary at the popular ones. Taste with discipline: South Africa enforces drink-driving limits and the roads out of the valley are not the place for a heavy head.
- Constantia
pass
You top out here; the road stops climbing.
- Near Cape Town
finish
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.
The rides that end here, over Bainskloof and Du Toitskloof or up the West Coast to see the spring flowers, are long days, and the approach back into town is usually the N1 or N7, busy and fast. Bainskloof Pass deserves a word: it was built by Andrew Geddes Bain in the 1850s and still runs on his stone walls, a narrow, slow, beautiful road above a river gorge where you should expect gravel on the inside of bends and baboons on the parapet. Du Toitskloof is the wide modern alternative over the same mountains, with a long tunnel option for when the weather turns.
Weather is the local obsession, and for good reason. In summer the south-easter, known as the Cape Doctor, can blow with startling force, especially around the mountain and on the False Bay side, and a laden bike on an exposed stretch will feel it. When the wind is up, the tablecloth of cloud pours over the top of Table Mountain. Winter brings rain from the north-west. The best riding months for most people are spring and autumn, roughly from September to November and from March to May.
If you have a little left in you, the short climb up Kloof Nek and along Signal Hill gives the classic view over the city and harbour at sunset. Fuel in South Africa is attendant-served, and a small tip is customary. Use attended or secure parking for the bike overnight and do not leave gear on it; that is simply standard city sense here. Then go and eat: the city is full of good food, from Cape Malay curries in the Bo-Kaap to seafood by the harbour.
- Scenic stretch near Atlantis
scenic
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.
What the area offers is landscape. Around the town lie the Atlantis dunes, a great sea of white sand that has been used for sandboarding, quad biking and, of course, filming. The flat sandveld here is covered in tough, low scrub, part of the fynbos and strandveld vegetation of the West Coast, and in late winter and spring, roughly August and September, the plains burst into colour as wild flowers bloom after the rain.
Just north of Atlantis lies Mamre, an old Moravian mission village founded in the early nineteenth century, with whitewashed thatched cottages, a church and a mill, one of the most charming places on this coast. To the west lies the coast itself, with Silwerstroomstrand and other beaches where the Atlantic is cold, clear and sometimes rough, fed by the Benguela Current from the Antarctic. The Koeberg nuclear power station, the only one in Africa, stands on the coast to the south.
The rides from here are straight and open rather than curvy. The R27, the West Coast road, runs north toward Langebaan and the West Coast National Park with long straight stretches, while the R307 heads inland toward Darling and Malmesbury, through wheat fields and vineyards. Wind is the main challenge, especially in summer when the southeaster blows hard and the sand can drift onto the road. For the Clarence Drive and Bainskloof rides, the route leads back south and east, past Cape Town toward the mountains.
Atlantis has fuel, supermarkets and fast food, and it is a sensible place to fill up before heading north or into the hills. Stick to the main roads and busy places, keep your bike in sight, and avoid wandering into residential areas. For a calmer stop, ride to Mamre or the coast, where a picnic with a view of the ocean is a better reward.
- Photo stop near Atlantis
photo
Photo stop near Atlantis sits at 199 km, about halfway.
- Near Grabouw, on the way back
swim
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.
On the way back to Cape Town, the N2 climbs out of the valley and crosses Sir Lowry's Pass, with one of the great views in the Western Cape: the whole sweep of False Bay, from the Hottentots Holland mountains to Cape Point, spread out below. There is a viewpoint at the top where most people stop. Be aware that the pass is steep and busy, with heavy trucks, and the wind can be ferocious, especially when the south-easter is blowing in summer.
For a swim, the area has rivers and dams. The Palmiet River runs through the Kogelberg, a nature reserve of fynbos and mountains, with clear, tea-coloured pools, though access is controlled and you may need a permit. Many people prefer to head to the coast, where the lagoon at Kleinmond and the beaches along the coast offer safer swimming. The Atlantic and False Bay can be cold, and the surf can be dangerous, so swim only where it is safe.
An alternative route back to Cape Town follows the R44, Clarence Drive, along the coast from Kleinmond to Gordon's Bay, one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the country, with cliffs plunging into the sea and the mountains rising above. Watch out for baboons, which are common here, and for rockfalls. Grabouw has fuel, supermarkets and farm stalls selling apples, juice and pies. The weather can change quickly, with mist and rain in the mountains.
- Grabouw
food
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.
The valley is surrounded by mountains, part of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, one of the richest areas of fynbos in the Cape, with proteas, ericas and restios covering the slopes. The Palmiet River flows through the valley toward the sea, and the Theewaterskloof Dam to the north is one of the largest reservoirs supplying Cape Town's water. Baboons are common on the passes, so keep food out of sight and do not feed them.
The riding into Grabouw is the main attraction. From the west, the N2 climbs Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, a long, steep ascent with sweeping bends and spectacular views back over the Cape Flats, False Bay and Table Mountain. The viewpoint at the top is worth a stop. To the east, the N2 continues over the Houw Hoek Pass, a smaller pass through the mountains toward Bot River and the Overberg. The R321 north to Villiersdorp and the Franschhoek Pass offers a quieter route with curves and views. Wind can be fierce on the passes, especially in summer when the southeaster blows, and fog sometimes rolls over the mountains.
The rides from here go in two directions. The Route 62 and Swartberg ride heads east into the Little Karoo, with its dry landscapes, ostrich farms and the gravel climb of the Swartberg Pass. The West Coast Flower Road heads north to the plains of Namaqualand, where in a good year the spring flowers carpet the land in orange, yellow and purple. Both are long rides, so start early and plan for fuel stops.
Grabouw has fuel, shops and fast food, and the farm stalls along the N2 sell fresh fruit, juice, pies and coffee. Elgin's wine estates offer tastings and lunches with views over the orchards. In spring, when the blossom is out, the valley is at its loveliest, and a slow ride through the orchards with the mountains around you is a pleasure in itself.
- Back to Constantia
finish
Back at West. That is the ride.