The Franschhoek Wine Tram began in 2012 as a deliberate experiment: could a decommissioned Geneva tram, repainted burgundy and cream, carry visitors through eight centuries-old estates without fracturing the valley's pastoral quiet? The answer proved yes.
The tram operates on four colour-coded routes — red, blue, green, and orange — each weaving through a different quadrant of the Franschhoek and Stellenbosch wine corridors. Passengers board open-air tram cars at the departure point on Main Road, then hop off at any of the participating estates: Rickety Bridge, Grande Provence, Holden Manz, Chamonix, and four others, each holding Cape Dutch gables and cellars dug into the mountainside.
The Cape Winelands earned their reputation in the 1680s when French Huguenots planted the first Chenin Blanc and Shiraz vines along the Berg River tributaries. Franschhoek — the name means "French corner" — remains the epicentre of that viticultural lineage. The tram route follows the original wagon roads that linked the estates to Cape Town's harbour, paths now paved but still bordered by 300-year-old oaks. Each estate offers a different vertical: Rickety Bridge pours its estate-bottled Pinotage and Chardonnay in a tasting room overlooking the Franschhoek River; Grande Provence pairs its Bordeaux blends with a sculpture garden; Babylonstoren combines wine with a 3.5-hectare working farm garden that supplies its restaurant.
The tram itself is not mechanized; it runs on rubber wheels, guided by a conductor who narrates the valley's geology and the grape varietals planted in each terroir pocket. Stops last 45 to 60 minutes — enough time to tour a cellar, taste four to six wines, and walk the vineyards. The hop-on hop-off model allows visitors to curate their own route, boarding the next tram when ready. The last departure from the Main Road hub leaves at 17:00, timed to the estates' own tasting-room closures.
Cape Town wine tour tram tickets include tram transport between estates but exclude the tasting fees, which range from 50 to 150 ZAR per estate depending on the pairing. The route is designed for a full day: most visitors complete three to four estates between 08:45 and 17:00, moving clockwise through the valley. The tram operates daily, year-round, though the shoulder seasons — March through May and September through November — see fewer crowds and cooler cellar temperatures, ideal for extended tastings.
8 hr 30 min
