Architectural Tours
Tour Arc2: The Cape Architecture Discovery (8 days)
Cape architecture is a rich blend of Dutch, German, French, English and contemporary South African styles, combined in a unique way to make up the charming urban and rural Cape skylines of today. Our architectural experiences are supplemented by the famous Cape scenery and equally famous Cape wines.
Please note that this tour can be combined with Arc1: The Gauteng and Mpumalanga Architecture Circuit, to experience architecture from both the Northern and Southern part of the country
Day 1: Cape Town - the Mother City and its Architecture
With Table Mountain as backdrop we start our Cape Town leg with the Castle of Good Hope, built by the first Dutch settlers. We visit the Italian Renaissance styled Town Hall, historical Dutch homesteads, civil buildings of the 18th century and prime examples of Victorian and Art Deco styles. Some are richly decorated as inspired by the jazz era, discoveries of Aztec remains and Tutankhamen's Tomb, while others are contrasting in their Bauhaus and Modern Movement austerity. In the afternoon we view the imposing Houses of Parliament, the South African Library and the Cape Archives and the Grootte Kerk, before visiting the recently completed Cape International Conference Centre. The afternoon ends at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, where we see the Business School-in-the-jail, the new Nelson Mandela Gateway and the unique Waterfront architecture. Evening at leisure to enjoy the fun-on-the-sea at the Waterfront or other Cape Town nightlife.Day 2: Cape Town "Cultural" Architecture
After breakfast we view some magnificent examples of Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings along Long Street before visiting the Malay Quarter of the Bo-Kaap. The Quarter was established by siblings of the exiled Sheik Yusuf of Batavia in 1693. This is one of the most interesting architectural areas in the country - with its quaint-styled homes, interspersed with the minarets of mosques. In the afternoon we visit Robben Island and one of the prime examples of an Apartheid-era jail. We are taken on a guided tour of the jail and visit the cell where Nelson Mandela was kept captive for half of the 26 years he spent behind bars.Day 3: The Presidency and Cape Point
This morning we visit one of the more interesting homes in Cape Town - the Herbert Baker designed Grootte Schuur, for long the residence of the country's leaders. Then it is time to experience Mother Nature's architecture when we follow one of the most scenic routes in the country to Cape Point through the Cape Point Nature Reserve. On the way we visit one of the most northern penguin colonies in the Southern Hemisphere. From the heights of Cape Point you will see where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet from these impressive cliffs - with the Cape baboons watching close-by.Day 4: Rhodes Memorial, UCT, Groot Constantia Wine and Gugulethu Township Architecture
We follow the route to the south and view the Cecil John Rhodes Memorial, based on a curious style mix of the Greek Temple at Segesta and Karnak sculptures. Close-by, we drive past the imposing University of Cape Town and its classic Jameson Hall, before enjoying our first wine tasting at Groot Constantia. This 1769 H-shaped Cape Dutch homestead was further enhanced when the architect Thibault added the bold classical gables - but still retaining the vernacular Cape Dutch idiom. No tour to South Africa is complete without experiencing the innovative Township architecture. This afternoon we visit Gugulethu ("our pride") and see the ingenious ways in which any material available is utilized in the building process. The township boasts many shebeens, jazz clubs and up-and-coming business people. We visit an arts and crafts centre of the community, a shebeen to enjoy the local (or any other) brew and savour the sounds of township jazz.Day 5: Stellenbosch
This quaint university town, surrounded by vineyards, is a prime example of Cape Dutch and Victorian architecture in the country. We visit four houses from four periods in the history of Stellenbosch, starting from the early 18th century - preserved and furnished in the style of that period. We take a walking tour through the historical part of town and admire the many Cape Dutch, Victorian and other buildings along oak tree lined roads. We judge the measure of success by which some of the historical houses have been modernized to compromise between history and comfort.Day 6: The Architecture of Wine
After breakfast we set out on our wine safari of the tour - while not neglecting architecture… Close to town, we visit Rustenberg, marveling in its beautiful setting. Our next visit is to the prize winning architecture of the modern Tokara cellar. This is followed by the stately farmstead of Boschendal, one of the best examples of Neo-classical Cape Dutch architecture in the Cape. We proceed to Franschhoek ("French Corner") and visit the French Huguenot Museum and Monument, commemorating the arrival of the French Huguenot refugees from 1688 onwards. We spend some leisure time in this charming little town before returning to Stellenbosch. On our way back we stop for a wine tasting at Muratie, one of the more traditional wine farms in the Cape.Day 7: Paarl, the KWV and more wine
Today is spent in a leisurely fashion in the small wine growing town of Paarl ("Pearl"). We first view the aesthetic lines of the Language Monument, commemorating the acceptance of Afrikaans as an official language early in the previous century. Thereafter we enjoy a guided tour through the cellars of the KWV, one of the largest producers of wine, sherry, port and aged cognac in the Southern Hemisphere. In the afternoon we visit wine farm of Ashanti and enjoy the wine and goat's milk cheese at Fairview before returning to Stellenbosch.Day 8: The "Rising House" and Vergelegen
This morning we continue onto the R44 around False Bay to Betty's Bay, where we view the crazy "Rising House" of Cape architect Gawie Fagan - so called because of its living areas hanging on cantilevers from the central structure. We return via Somerset West and visit the historical Cape Dutch farmstead of Vergelegen. Built by one of the early governors of the Cape, Willem Adriaan van der Stel, in the beginning of the 18th century, the gables are "holbol" (convex-concave) and portray the style pre-dating the Neo-classic gable styles of Thibault. After some relaxing wine tasting and admiring the 300 year old camphor trees planted by Van der Stel, you are taken directly to your terminal at Cape Town International for your flight home.Included in the tour:
- Transport in air-conditioned vehicles
- Services of an accredited guide
- All breakfasts
- Accommodation in good Guest Houses, Guest Lodges and Country Hotels (The Guest Houses/Lodges are all quality establishments, offering private rooms with private bathrooms and full breakfasts)
- All entrance fees
- The following excursions are included, time and weather permitting:
- Cape Town architecture: The Castle of Good Hope, Town Hall, Houses of Parliament, Historical Dutch homesteads, Victorian, Art Deco, Bauhaus, Modern and Post-modernistic buildings, Business School in the Jail, The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Nelson Mandela's Gateway
- Bo-Kaap Malay heritage tour
- Robben Island and Nelson Mandela's jail
- Cecil John Rhodes Memorial
- The Grootte Schuur Presidency
- Groot Constantia tour and wine tasting
- Cape Point Nature Reserve Tour
- Gugulethu Township Architecture Tour
- Seven estate wine tasting tours and viewing of historical Cape Dutch homesteads or architecturally interesting buildings
- Town tour and tour of four homesteads in Stellenbosch from various periods in history
- French Huguenot Museum and Monument, Franschhoek
- Franschhoek Town Tour
- Afrikaans language Monument, Paarl
- KWV Wineries tour and tasting of wines, sherry and cognac
- Tour of False Bay around Hangklip and the "Rising House", Betty's Bay