Destination Tulbagh
Barely an hour and a half's drive from Cape Town lies the historic country town of Tulbagh, nestling in an exceptionally beautiful valley surrounded by majestic mountains.
Barely an hour and a half's drive from Cape Town lies the historic country town of Tulbagh, nestling in an exceptionally beautiful valley surrounded by majestic mountains.
With heritage and natural beauty, award-winning winemakers, a theatre to entertain, a chocolatier, accommodation and restaurants to suit every taste - the question is actually: "Why Not?" Tulbagh is a charming historic town with a wealth of Cape Dutch Architecture. Set in a beautiful landscape, Tulbagh is famous for its heritage, magnificent country living, scenic beauty and majestic mountain ranges. Crisp clear wintery days, cold nights, mountain peaks topped with snow and the beauty of the valley to surround you. Warming sherries, log fires, cosy reatuarants offer wild range of cuisine, ...
Tulbagh is justly famous for its scenic beauty in every season of the year and relaxed country living - supported by every convenience required by the discerning tourist.
On the 29th September 1969, the quietness of night was shattered at 22h05 by tremendous explosive sounds followed by a gigantic roaring, rumbling noise rolling forward like the waves of a stormy sea. Stupefied people rushed outside over broken glass and fallen plaster. The mountains surrounding Tulbagh resembled a city of lights as falling rocks acted like flints on the tinder-dry vegetation and started fires.
| Beautiful Tulbagh |
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Tulbagh is justly famous for its scenic beauty in every season of the year and relaxed country living - supported by every convenience required by the discerning tourist. The valley has been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous Bushmen and Khoi peoples. It was about 300 years ago when, after a land grant by the Dutch Colonial Government to a more or less equal number of Dutch and Huguenot settlers to settle the area, that the town of Tulbagh was founded. The town developed slowly and over time and in the period many notable examples of Cape Dutch architecture, Victorian and Edwardian houses and other buildings such as Die Oude Drosdy (the original colonial Magistrate's complex) were built in the valley. Many of these lovely buildings were destroyed in an earthquake in 1969 but quite a number did survive the catastrophe. Church Street in Tulbagh is now graced by the largest number of original Cape- Dutch, Edwardian and Victorian National Monuments in one street in South Africa and is a major tourist attraction of the town to the present day. Tulbagh is situated in a bowl surrounded by imposing mountain ranges, with the Obiqua Mountains to the west, the Winterhoek Mountains in the north and the Witzenberg Mountains to the east. The valley experiences a mediterranean-type climate. The southern side of the valley is open to cooling south-east winds during the hot summer months. Accordingly Tulbagh enjoys some of the most diverse and attractive conditions for viticulture in the Cape, and the differences in terroir available to wine makers allow for a wide diversity of distinctive wines of excellence, attributes which have attracted many new producers to the valley. |