Travel to Worcester

a grand colonial project

Worcester is a large town alongside the N1 highway around 100 km northeast of Cape Town in the Overberg area of the Western Cape.

The valley which contains the upper reaches of the Breede River is truly spectacular, encircled by a ring of distant mountains.

When Dutch settlers first entered the area around 1680 this must have been a truly breathtaking wilderness, a landscape which they would go on to enhance with the creation of gorgeous farming estates centred on fabulous Cape Dutch homesteads.

Like many of the towns of this area, Worcester was conceived and created as a commercial venture, with a high street containing some incredibly impressive colonial buildings being constructed to attract settlers, who purchased the various plots from the investors.

Unfortunately this once gorgeous town has now become a rather sprawling mess, whose centre seems to be struggling to maintain its dignity in the face of the challenges of modern development, population pressures and crime.

Nevertheless there is a good shopping mall for stocking up on supplies and if you look hard enough you should just about manage to find a decent place to eat.

You might even like to visit the modest outdoor museum, which has a fascinating collection of restored Cape Dutch farm buildings, collected from the area and reassembled here. It’s a bit niche, but we enjoyed it. When we visited, the shop was selling some nice home-made cakes and jam.

Of greater interest are the rural areas which surround the town, notably the farming district of Nuy to the northeast, which is renowned for high quality wine and olive production.

Most commonly our guests would visit the wineries of Worcester and Robertson on a day trip from Franschhoek, or when en route between Franschhoek and the Whale Coast.

The stand-out accommodation option in the area is the lovely Penhill, one of the earliest farmsteads in the valley and beautifully restored. It’s one of our own personal secret escapes, yet we rarely find reason to include it in trips for our guests.

very rarely deploy nights in this area