The Cape Circuit

Nights

10

Party

2–4 guests

Countries

South Africa

From

US$ 31,250 per person, based on four guests sharing, including private aircraftExcludes international flights to and from Africa.

Best season

Apr–Jun · Sep–Nov

The Cape Circuit is for golfers who care as much about the wine list as the scorecard. You start at Ellerman House in Bantry Bay, then a helicopter takes you over the Helderberg to La Residence in Franschhoek. You play Pearl Valley, Jack Nicklaus's course on the valley floor, and between rounds you taste at Klein Constantia and Tokara and eat at La Petite Colombe and Babel. Then the aircraft goes north to Tswalu in the Kalahari, where Tarkuni, a homestead for ten, is yours alone among the red dunes. One night at The Saxon in Johannesburg closes the circle.

Highlights

• Two rounds at Pearl Valley
• Private tastings at Klein Constantia and Tokara
• Dinner at La Petite Colombe, lunch at Babel
• Tswalu's Tarkuni homestead for your party alone
• Meerkats at first light
• A night on the Malori Sleep-Out Deck

1. Day 1

   Cape Town · Ellerman House

   We meet you at Cape Town International and take the coast road to Ellerman House in Bantry Bay: thirteen rooms and two villas on the slope above the Atlantic. Spend the afternoon on the terrace or with the art in the house. Dinner is at Ellerman, and the sun goes down into the sea in front of you.

2. Day 2

   The Peninsula · Klein Constantia

   At dawn a helicopter takes you down the Peninsula, past Chapman's Peak to Cape Point. Late morning you drive out to Klein Constantia, No. 6 in the World's Best Vineyards for 2025, the highest any South African estate has been placed. The tasting is private and nobody hurries you. Lunch is on the estate.

3. Day 3

   Cape Town → Franschhoek · La Residence

   A short helicopter hop over the Helderberg drops you into the Franschhoek valley at La Residence, eleven suites on a working wine farm. Lunch is at Babel on Babylonstoren, cooked from the farm's own garden on a menu that follows the season. Afterwards a guide walks you through that garden: 350 food and medicinal species on a Cape Dutch farm.

4. Day 4

   Golf · Pearl Valley

   Pearl Valley is No. 5 in South Africa, a Jack Nicklaus Signature course laid across the floor of the Paarl-Franschhoek valley with mountains all round. Your caddie takes you out in the cool of the morning. Non-golfers have Franschhoek village and the pool at La Residence. In the evening everyone goes to La Petite Colombe at Leeu Estates, three stars in Eat Out 2025.

5. Day 5

   Golf · Pearl Valley · Tokara

   The golfers go round Pearl Valley again, earlier this time and knowing where the trouble is. Everyone else gets a slow morning at La Residence. Then you all meet at Tokara on the Helshoogte Pass, No. 71 in the World's Best Vineyards, for six courses with the estate's own wines and Table Mountain far off on the horizon.

6. Day 6

   Franschhoek → Tswalu · Tarkuni

   The helicopter takes you back to Cape Town, where a Citation XLS+ is waiting for the flight north to Tswalu's own airstrip. The pilot makes a low pass first to clear off whatever has wandered onto it. Tarkuni is an exclusive-use homestead for up to ten, with its own chef, guide, tracker and vehicle, so the afternoon runs to your clock.

7. Day 7

   Meerkats and lions

   You leave before light to sit beside a habituated meerkat colony as it wakes. Keep still and they come out, stand sentry, and sometimes climb onto your shoulder for a better view. Later your guide and tracker go looking for the Kalahari's black-maned lions, one of the reasons Tswalu feels like nowhere else in South Africa.

8. Day 8

   The Korannaberg · Malori

   A helicopter lifts you over the Korannaberg so you can see how far the Kalahari runs. Back on foot, your guide shows you San rock art in the same hills. At sunset you ride out on horseback through the red dunes, and tonight you sleep on the Malori Sleep-Out Deck: a proper bed in the open with the Kalahari sky over you.

9. Day 9

   Dune dinner

   You wake on the deck at dawn and come back to Tarkuni for breakfast and an easy morning. After the afternoon drive, dinner is laid out in the dunes: a long table, camelhorn chairs and wine from the Tswalu cellar, served as the light goes gold and then dark.

10. Day 10

    Tswalu → Johannesburg · The Saxon

    The Citation XLS+ flies you from Tswalu to Lanseria, and you are at The Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa in Sandhurst by early afternoon. Use the spa if you want it. Dinner is at Grei, Candice Philip's seasonal tasting menu and the most refined cooking in Johannesburg, a good last night before the long flight.

11. Day 11

    Departure

    Breakfast at your own pace, then a private transfer to OR Tambo for your onward flight. Your Journey Architect confirms bags and seats before you leave the hotel, so the morning is yours for the garden and one more coffee on the terrace.

Flown by light and super-light jet and helicopter. How we choose the aircraft