Child Friendly Wine Estates in the Cape Winelands

Yes, you read that title right! There are a huge amount of wine estates in Cape Town and the surrounding Winelands, and clearly they know that parents ~~want~~ need the occasional glass of wine as the majority of them cater so well to children and families. So of course we had to include several in our itinerary and our road trip through the Winelands became one of the best parts of our trip.

South Africa’s Winelands are just beautiful, all with spectacular mountain backdrops and lush green vineyards that fade off into the distance. Even if you’re not a wine drinker I would still highly recommend visiting at least a couple – for the picture perfect views as well as the variety of other attractions that can often be found on the estates aside from the wine tasting. I didn’t used to be much of a wine drinker but then I had a baby who turned into a toddler so now I am very fond of a glass (or two)! Travelling with an almost two year old I did wonder how well she would fare while us girls were all enjoying our wine but everywhere was so completely child friendly that actually the wine was just one of many reasons to visit. Each wine estate we stopped at had so much more to offer providing copious amounts of fun and activities for children, from playgrounds to animal parks and even non-alcoholic tastings for the little ones and those who don’t drink

Here are some of my favourites we visited – and yes we visited quite a few!

♥ Spier ♥

One of the most well-known wine estates in Stellenbosch, Spier is monumental with a huge range of things to do and even a hotel so you can stay overnight and take more time to enjoy it all. I was warned that it’s become a little over-commercialised due to its popularity but we visited over the weekend and I didn’t feel that it was too busy or touristy at all. It’s spread over a large area with craft markets, courtyard restaurants, trees swings, silent lakes and bamboo forests so it felt very tranquil.

We enjoyed some lunch at Eight Restaurant sitting by the trickling fountain before heading to Eagle Encounters, a bird sanctuary that was set up to rehabilitate and release birds of prey, where you can watch a bird of prey show and even stroke the fluffy owls and friendly miniature foxes.

Then onto the main reason for our visit – the wine tasting! There are a selection of tastings to choose from – we went for the wine and chocolate pairing with a selection of four wines and some heavenly chocolates. We were advised which order to drink them in and which chocolate complimented which wine.

While we were thoroughly enjoying our tasting Evie was having fun at the children’s table playing some games before joining us with her own kids’ grape juice and chocolate tasting. Perfect for making little ones feel like they’re getting involved!

We left very happy (and slightly tipsy) after a lovely day here.

♥ Spice Route ♥

The utterly breathtaking views out over the Paarl vineyards and the mountains make this place an absolute must see. There is so much to do here that you could easily spend the entire day working your way around the destination enjoying a variety of tastings including wine, chocolate, coffee, ice cream, charcuterie, gin and beer.

We arrived nice and early for a very healthy breakfast of chocolate tasting at De Villiers Chocolate where we tried ten different variations from intense dark chocolate to milk and white chocolate with different flavour combinations. My favourite were the salted caramel thins which matched impeccably well with a thick iced coffee. My mum and sister’s favourites were the honeycomb and the dark chocolate orange while Evie’s favourite was the cinnamon blondie, which she let me know very loudly by exclaiming to be lifted up so she could try some more! It was all so good we ended up buying plenty more to take home with us as gifts – as well as some for ourselves of course.

If all the tastings don’t fill you up (or if you end up eating so much chocolate that you’re in desperate need for something savoury) there are several child friendly restaurants to enjoy from a great breakfast at Barley & Biltong to pizza and wine with a view at La Grapperia, plus an awesome new playground area with a sandpit, swings, climbing frame, and giant tractors for the kids to enjoy themselves on.

♥ Vredenheim WINE FArm ♥

We didn’t visit here for the wine (shock horror I know) but actually to stay in the beautiful Vredenheim Guesthouse which sits along a grassy tree lined lane inside the wine farm. We moved around a lot during our two weeks in South Africa but this was one of our favourite accommodations from our entire trip.

Our cottage at the end of the grassy lane

Friendly horses grazed right outside our door, we watched the tranquil sunrise over the mountains behind the cottage, and inside it was beautiful and cosy, feeling so peaceful and secluded.

A delicious breakfast was included in our stay which was served at Hudson’s, a popular restaurant and wedding venue – you can see why with the breathtaking views out over the pretty gardens. I don’t think I’ve ever had a view as stunning as this while sipping on my morning coffee!

Other attractions at the farm include a Big Cat Park where you can see the lions, tigers and leopards being fed, a small animal farm where the little ones can meet and feed the animals, or even a tractor ride around the farm to spot the wildlife.

We all wished we could have stayed here a lot longer than one night!

♥ Vergenoed Low Wine Estate ♥

Our stop here was purely down to the extremely cute and also slightly hilarious animal encounter. Vergenoed is famous for its duck parade where hundreds of runner ducks waddle through the estate two or three times daily, making their way noisily to the vineyards where they work as a natural pesticide, eating all the snails and bugs off the vines.

Evie found it so funny to watch and followed after the ducks, pointing and giggling as they waddled along.

The rest of the wine estate is very pretty (and very quiet when the ducks aren’t about!), with a small deli where you can enjoy a picnic lunch as well as trying the Runner Duck wine.

♥ Cape Point Vineyards ♥

Just a short drive from the centre of Cape Town in Noordhoek, we spent the afternoon here for my friend’s kitchen tea (the South African version of a bridal shower). The views over the mountains, sea and vineyards are magnificent and we all lazed on the lawn on blankets and cushions underneath the sunshades with wicker picnic baskets containing a delicious variety of picnic food, wine and Pimms.

The picnic tables are nicely spread out so we had lots of room to play some wedding themed games and for the children there’s a playground with tyre swings, slides and a sandpit, plus a pretty awesome backdrop.

A few other wine estates that I’ve been told are extremely child friendly but we unfortunately didn’t get time to visit are Warwick for its great picnics on the lawn, Fairview where you can pet the goats and taste the goat’s cheese, as well as Under Oaks and Lanzerac which both have great jungle gyms.

Who knew that wine tasting with kids could be so enjoyable?!