8 Best Sights in The Western Cape and Winelands, South Africa

Also known as the Ou Tronk Museum, this small collection is based in the former town jail (ou tronk means "old jail"). The display is old-fashioned and not particularly well curated, but still gives a sense of remarkable native son Dr. Christiaan Louis Leipoldt and early settler life in the mountains. The wagons, carts, and rudimentary household equipment speak of much harder times, when pioneers headed into the high country wanting to farm or escape colonial control in the cities.

The Drostdy was built in 1747 by the Dutch East India Company to serve as the residence of the landdrost, the magistrate who presided over the district. The building is furnished in a style that dates back to the late 1700s and early 1800s. A path leads through the Drostdy herb gardens to Mayville, an 1855 middle-class home that blends elements of Cape Dutch and Cape Georgian architecture. Across Swellengrebel Street stand the old jail and an outdoor exhibit of tools used by the town's blacksmiths, wainwrights, coopers, and tanners.

On the site of the original mission station, the Genadendal Mission Museum is spread through 15 rooms in three buildings. The collection includes items from early in the settlement's history, including the country's oldest pipe organ, brought in 1832. Wall displays examine mission life in the Cape in the 18th and 19th centuries, focusing on the early missionaries' work.

To trace the history of the Huguenot community here, visit the Huguenot Memorial Museum. Its main building is modeled after the Saasveld house, built in 1791 by renowned Cape architect Louis Thibault in Cape Town. Wall displays profile some of the early families. Exhibits also focus on other aspects of the region's history, such as the development of Cape Dutch architecture and the relationship of the Huguenots with the Dutch East India Company. Displays in the annex cover the culture and life of the Khoekhoen, or Khoikhoi, once derogatorily known as Hottentots, as well as the role of slaves and local laborers in the development of the Franschhoek Valley. Bring a picnic basket and take advantage of the lovely garden. Be sure to visit the adjacent Huguenot Memorial.

Hermanus was originally a simple fishing village. Its Old Harbour, the oldest surviving example in South Africa, has been declared a national monument. A ticket to the museum allows access to three small museums a short walk from each other. The Old Harbour Museum bears testimony to the town's maritime past. A small building at the old stone fishing basin displays a couple of the horrific harpoons used to lance whales and sharks, as well as some interesting whale bones. The white building next to the parking lot on Market Square houses the Old Harbour Museum Photographic Exhibition. Here are photos of old Hermanus and of many of the town's fishermen proudly displaying their catches of fish, sharks, and dolphins. The museum's third—and most interesting—component is the Whale House, with loads of information on whale behavior, a full-size skeleton, and some interactive exhibits.

This museum stands at the entrance to Church Street and is the logical departure point for a self-guided tour of the area. The church has been extensively restored and has an interesting collection of artifacts from the area, including carvings made by Boer prisoners of war. A ticket includes admission to two other buildings on Church Street, which operate as annexes of the main museum. These show a practical history of events before, during, and after the quake. The buildings have been painstakingly reconstructed.

Coming from the north, Main Road doglegs to the right at Lady Grey Street before continuing its way south. On your left, the Paarl Museum, formerly the Oude Pastorie, occupies a fine Cape Dutch home built as a parsonage in 1787. The building itself is of more interest than the collection, which includes odds and ends such as silver, glass, and kitchen utensils donated by local families.

This museum includes four dwellings scattered within a two-block radius. Dating from different periods in Stellenbosch's history, the houses have been furnished to reflect changing lifestyles and tastes. The oldest is the very basic Schreuderhuis, built in 1709. The others date from 1789, 1803, and 1850.