Wellington offers wonderful winter walkabouts

The Boland town of Wellington with its beautiful historic buildings, gracious hospitality and an array of tourism attractions is an inviting destination for a crisp winter’s day.

Pop in at the visitors’ information centre next to the Dutch Reformed church at the top of Main Road for recommendations. A good starting point to familiarise yourself with the town, would be the Wellington Heritage Trails’ free downloadable audio tour. This self-guided Wellington Heritage Trail tour will give you a glimpse into the colourful history of the town featuring wagon makers, wine pioneers and female educators, who all played an integral role in the town’s history. An experienced virtual tour guide provides commentary on the historic attractions and cultural diversity that makes the town and its people come to life. It’s as easy as downloading the free VoiceMap App on your smartphone - available in Afrikaans, English and German.

The aptly named Perfect Place is indeed worthy of a visit for a sweet indulgence or country-style lunch. Visitors can also grab a take-away coffee and further explore the town.

The Wellington wine route is one of the country’s youngest wine districts and boasts one major producer-cellar, family-owned wine estates and a sprinkling of boutique wineries and spirits producers. The compact wine route covers diverse terrain, stretching from the Berg River to the Swartland wheat fields and into the foothills of the Hawequa Mountains. If you are keen to explore some of the off the beaten track wine farms, the historic Mont du Toit Kelder should definitely be on your list. Tastings are by appointment only.

A visit to Wellington would not complete without experience the dining offering at the Oude Wellington. This quirky restaurant is located inside a Cape Dutch style barn dating back to 1795 at the base of the Bainskloof Pass. It offers the perfect setting for a cosy lunch featuring Dutch and Indonesian inspired dishes prepared by John Tecklenburg. Enjoy daily changing specials, soups and deserts prepared by Susanna Tecklenburg.

For the finest high quality leather products at a reasonable price, you have to add Redemption Fine Hand Crafted Leather on the Altebly family estate to your list. The wide selection of leather products includes shoes, sandals, belts, bags, wallets, key-rings, hats and whips.

Wrap up your visit with a gin tasting on the porch of the historic 1812 Cape Dutch manor house on Versailles Farm, which has been the home of the Jorgensen’s Distillery since 1994. The distillery adopted an 1860’s copper pot still, later nicknamed Ugly Betty, which was used by pioneer and master distiller Rodger Jorgensen to masterfully formulate recipes harnessing indigenous flavours. The Roos family took ownership of the distillery in 2018 and master distiller Quinn Roos adds his own distinctive and unique style to the current Jorgensen’s Distillery line-up with his Wild Rose craft range. This premium, small batch distilled range honours the kaleidoscope of African botanicals and includes a fynbos, hibiscus, pepper and blue pea gin. Tastings by appointment only.

Visit the Wellington website for more information or news updates at, www.wellington.co.za.