Tips for Montagu in South Africa: beautiful hotspot on Route 62

Montagu is located on the famous Route 62, a beautiful road from Montagu to Oudtshoorn. It’s a charming town with lots of Victorian and Cape Dutch houses. These are pretty white thatched cottages with classic, lace-like decorations. Here you will find hundreds of Ibis birds, which gather at a tree in the center of the city. It doesn’t smell very fresh, but it’s funny to see. Montagu is the perfect place to relax when you are touring South Africa. There is a wonderfully peaceful atmosphere and you are between the mountains, so there is an abundance of nature. In the area you will find many vineyards and fruit and nut farms. Below we describe the five highlights and best things to do in Montagu.

In the vicinity of Montagu you can enjoy beautiful hikes. If you just want to take a short walk, do the Loverswalk, along a cute river at Kanonkop. This small idyllic trail isn’t longer than 500 meters but perfect for a small detour.We also hiked the Badskloof Trail. A longer trail through a beautiful gorge. This hike is indicated with yellow markings on the rock walls. This trail takes 2 hours to complete back and forth. You will walk between the bamboo and along the rocks all the way to the Avelon Springs. In February it was a bit wet since some parts of the river overflowed its banks so make sure to wear old shoes that can get muddy.

Other, longer hikes are the Cogmanskloof Hiking trail (12 km long and can be done in 4-6 hours) and the Bloupunt Hiking Trail (15.5 km long and can be done in 6-8 hours). We did not do both hikes, but we understood that the Cogmanskloof trail is easy to do and only quite steep in the beginning. The Bloupunt trail is harder because you rise more than 1000 meters.

The various hikes are indicated on this map. All trails start from Joubert Park. You need a permit for the last three walks, which you can buy at the beginning of the route.

The raw landscape around Montagu made us long for something we hadn’t done in years. This is the perfect place for horseback riding. And now it’s good to know, we can’t ride horses at all. In our whole lives we have been on a horse maybe 5 times. But this area with great mountains everywhere you look, is ideal to explore by horse.

There are many riding stables in the area. On luck we called the Nerina Guest Farm and they could take us the same day for a nice ride. This farm is run entirely by women, mother and daughters. They have beautiful horses and a real passion for animals and the environment. Riding with tourists is a hobby they have, so it doesn’t feel commercial at all. We went out with the owner’s daughter who showed us more of the area in two hours. For example, we walked near the Breede River and went a bit into the mountains.

The galloping (or even just trotting) wasn’t really my thing and the days after I had some muscle pain but it was really so much fun to do!

Montagu itself is just big enough for a short walk. Admire the beautiful houses, browse the vintage shops or art gallery and visit the farmers market on Saturdays. Then go back to your hotel to relax at the pool. Normally not really our thing, but because of the beautiful surroundings that you look out on from most hotels, this is perfect. This way you can really relax.You are also close to natural hot springs. Like the Avalon Springs. However, we do not recommend this. An entire resort has been built around the hot springs and it feels a bit like faded glory.

Montagu is at the start of the R62, a route with many vineyards nearby. Perfect for good wine tasting, especially since many wineries are very beautiful.

We found Van Loveren to be one of the most beautiful vineyards. The driveway surrounded by red flowers alone is impressive. Here they not only have a nice tasting room, but also a beautiful garden and restaurant where the food looked very good. A wine tasting costs 55 Rand (3 euros). Other wineries that seem to be nice are Springfield Estate and Graham Beck Estate.

Picnic & wine tasting on the river

If you want to do something different than a normal wine tasting, consider doing the River Trip at Viljoensdrift. This is a river cruise where you will have a picnic on the river. First you do a small wine tasting to determine which wine you like best. You then take this on the boat. The picnic lasts approximately one hour and departs every day at 1:00 PM from the Viljoensdrift winery.

Ooo there are soooo many wonderful hotels in Montagu. Most are in elegant colonial-style houses. And almost always there is a nice garden with a swimming pool that overlooks the mountains. We ourselves stayed in The Vineyard Country House, which we were very happy with. Here are two other good hotels in Montagu.

Click here for all hotels in Montagu.