A hop-on hop-off line of trams and open-air buses through the Franschhoek Valley, partly on the branch railway laid in 1904.
Ride between Cape Dutch estates under the mountains, taste Cap Classique on a terrace, and let somebody else do the driving.
What the ticket coversTram, tastings and transfers, spelled out per tour
Eight tours, hand-pickedFrom a one-hour ride to a full day
Free cancellationUp to 24 hours before, on every tour here
Secure bookingCheckout on GetYourGuide
Tours
Choose your wine tram day
In the centre, the classic day: a coach from Cape Town and a hop-on hop-off ticket on one line. Either side, two
guided days that add Stellenbosch and put you on the tram for part of the afternoon. Every card opens a full tour page.
A guide drives you to Stellenbosch, Lanzerac and Tokara, then puts you on the tram for the three estates near Franschhoek village. Two valleys in one long day.
What's included
Pickup from your accommodation in central Cape Town
A coach from the V&A Waterfront, a one-day hop-on hop-off ticket on one colour line, then the coach home. You choose the estates; the tastings you pay at each one.
Three questions sort it out. Do you want to choose your own estates or follow a guide? Is the tram the point or
a side dish? And do you want the tastings paid up front or as you go?
Every tour here cancels free up to 24 hours before. On the hop-on hop-off ticket, lunch at the estates needs
a booking at least a day ahead.
Before you book
You buy a seat, not a tasting.
Here is what most listings leave out. A wine tram ticket is transport. It gets you from estate to estate on one colour line,
and every tasting, platter and lunch is paid for at the estate, on the day. Budget for that, and book lunch a day ahead.
The second surprise is the vehicle. The rails only reach some of the stops: three estates near the village on the
Red, Blue and Pink lines, and a cluster around Groot Drakenstein on the Orange and Green lines. Everywhere else you ride
an open-air tram-bus on the road. It is still a good day out. It is just not a day on a train.
16 km
of the old Paarl to Franschhoek branch line, opened in 1904, carry the tram today.
Hop-on hop-offGuided dayWalk or e-bikeHalf day
A tram stop on an estate: from the platform, some farms send a vehicle to carry you up to the tasting room.
01
Are tastings included?
Not on the hop-on hop-off ticket. Some guided tours include theirs: the card says which.
02
One chance per stop
The line runs one way. Once you leave an estate, you cannot go back to it that day.
03
How many estates?
Three or four in a day. Stops come round about once an hour; big estates need two.
04
Closed days
24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. In winter only some lines run on weekdays.
Your day
How a tram day runs
One line, a printed timetable and an hour or so at each estate you choose. This is the usual shape of it.
01
Check in at the terminal
Franschhoek Terminal on Main Road, or Groot Drakenstein for the Orange and Green lines.
10 to 15 minutes early
02
Tram or bus first
The first leg runs straight out to your line's estates. Departures leave on time and do not wait.
First ride
03
Hop off, taste, hop on
A tasting, a platter or lunch, then the next vehicle about an hour later. Leave your bottles with the host.
Three or four stops
04
Back to the terminal
Watch the time of the last pickup, collect your wine at the terminal and head home.
Why pick it: Leopard's Leap and Chamonix, mountain views from Dieu Donné, and the farm of Pigcasso, the painting pig.
Good to know: the three stops near the village are on the rails; the climb to the mountain estates is by tram-bus.
Starts at: Groot Drakenstein Terminal, a 15-minute shuttle from the village.
Estates: Boschendal, Plaisir, Babylonstoren, Baccō, Vrede en Lust, Noble Hill.
Why pick it: the grand estates and the gardens of Babylonstoren, and the most time on the rails of any line.
Good to know: Babylonstoren is the one stop with an entrance fee. Allow two hours or more there and at Boschendal.
Starts at: Groot Drakenstein Terminal. Parts of the operator's site call this loop the Navy line.
Estates: Plaisir, Vrede en Lust, Boschendal, Allée Bleue, Camberley, Bartinney, Le Pommier, Zorgvliet.
Why pick it: the Banhoek side towards Stellenbosch, with Bartinney's view and the smaller farms on the Helshoogte road.
Good to know: line names change. Purple, Grey, Yellow and Burgundy have gone, so ignore older blog posts that use them.
Franschhoek TerminalThe villageCorner of Main Road and Cabriere Street: Red, Blue and Pink lines, free parking.
Groot DrakensteinThe other terminalCorner of the R45 and R310: Orange and Green lines, parking at the station.
Cape TownAbout 75 kmRoughly an hour by road, longer in traffic. Tours with transfers do the driving.
StellenboschOver the passAcross the Helshoogte Pass: two guided tours on this site add it to the same day.
Per stopAbout an hourVehicles come round roughly hourly. One chance to get off at each estate.
Refund24 hoursFree cancellation up to a day before, on every tour on this site.
Where it starts
Where the tram leaves from
Two terminals, and a coach from Cape Town
Franschhoek Terminal · corner of Main Road & Cabriere Street, Franschhoek 7690
Every hop-on hop-off day starts and ends at a terminal: you cannot join at an estate without arranging it in advance.
The Red, Blue and Pink lines leave from the village. The Orange and Green lines leave from Groot Drakenstein, at the
R45 and R310 junction, with a shuttle from the village. Tours from Cape Town collect you in the city and bring you to the right one.
Hop-on hop-off from Cape Town: coach from set pickup points
Guided days: pickup from your accommodation
Walk and e-bike tours: meet in Franschhoek village
Vrede en Lust is a stop on the Orange and Green lines. This is the other way to see it: an hour on horseback through the estate's vineyards under the Simonsberg, with a guide and a helmet. Book it for a morning before your tram, or for another day.
Franschhoek means "French corner". The Huguenots who were given this valley after 1688 brought vines, and three
centuries later the valley put a tram on its old railway so that visitors could taste the result without driving.
A railway that found a second job
The branch line from Paarl to Franschhoek opened in 1904 to carry fruit and wine out of the valley. Trains stopped running in
the 1990s, and in 2012 the wine tram brought passengers back onto part of it, first with a single open railcar and, from 2017,
with double-decker trams built for the line. About 16 km of track is in use today.
The rails do not pass every farm, so the operator added open-air tram-buses. Together they form colour-coded loops, each
stopping at six to eight estates. You ride one line for the day and choose where to get off.
The double-decker tram on the old branch line, between the vines of the valley floor.
Choose estates, not colours
People ask which line is best. The honest answer is the one that stops where you want to drink. The Red line climbs to Mont
Rochelle and Haute Cabrière at the top of the village. The Pink line has Leopard's Leap and Chamonix. The Blue line is the
small-estate line. The Orange line, from Groot Drakenstein, has the grand names: Babylonstoren, Boschendal, Plaisir. The Green
line runs towards Stellenbosch on the Banhoek side.
Three or four estates fill a day. A vehicle passes each stop about once an hour, and the line runs one way, so you get one
chance to get off at each farm. Read the timetable downwards to find when you arrive and across to find when you can leave.
The honest small print: the ticket is transport. Tastings, platters and lunch are paid at each estate.
If you would rather have the tastings settled before the day, a guided tour such as the
full-day winelands tour includes them, without the tram.
From Cape Town, or from the village?
Franschhoek is about 75 km from Cape Town, and the day ends with wine, so the drive home matters. If you are staying in the
city, a hop-on hop-off day with a coach from the V&A Waterfront solves it. If you are staying in Franschhoek, walk to the
terminal on Main Road and buy the ticket on its own. Guided days from Cape Town add Stellenbosch and fit a short tram ride into
the afternoon: good for a first look, less so if the tram is the reason you came.
Cape Dutch gables: the whitewashed farmhouses you will see from the top deck.
When to go
Summer, from December to February, is the peak, with long hot days and the first lines to sell out. Late summer and autumn bring
the harvest and then the vines turning gold under the mountains. Winter is green, cooler and quieter, but from mid-May to mid-September
only some lines run on weekdays. Whatever the month, book ahead: seats per departure are limited.
Autumn in the Franschhoek Valley, when the vines change colour below the peaks.
Straight answers to what people ask most about the Franschhoek Wine Tram.
Which wine tram line is the best in Franschhoek?
There is no single best line, because each one stops at different estates. Pick the farms first. The Red line has Mont Rochelle and Haute Cabrière, the Pink line has Leopard's Leap, Chamonix and Pigcasso, the Blue line has the smaller family estates, and the Orange line has Babylonstoren and Boschendal. Our line-by-line guide sorts them by what you want from the day.
Is the Franschhoek Wine Tram worth it?
Yes, if you want to taste wine without anyone driving, and you are happy to plan around a timetable. Know what you buy: the ticket is transport. Tastings and lunch are paid at each estate, and much of the route is on open-air tram-buses rather than rails. The full picture is in is the wine tram worth it.
Do you need to book the Franschhoek Wine Tram in advance?
Yes. The operator sells a limited number of seats per departure and strongly recommends booking ahead, and weekends and the December to February summer sell out first. You cannot reserve without paying.
How much time do you need for the wine tram?
The operator says plan at least three hours, but most people make a day of it. Stops come round about once an hour, and big estates such as Babylonstoren or Boschendal take two hours or more. Three or four estates is a comfortable day.
Should I take the bus or the tram first?
On the Red, Blue and Pink lines you choose between "Tram First" and "Bus First" departures. The operator suggests Tram First if you travel with children. Otherwise pick the one whose first stops are the estates you most want to see while you are fresh.
What should I wear on the wine tram?
Layers and flat shoes. The trams and tram-buses are open-air, mornings can be cool even in summer, and some estates have gravel paths or a farm-vehicle ride to the tasting room. Jeans are fine; this is a farm valley, not a dress code. Bring a hat and sunscreen.
How do you get from Cape Town to the Franschhoek Wine Tram?
Franschhoek is about 75 km from Cape Town. You can drive (and need a sober driver home), book a tour with transfers such as the hop-on hop-off day from Cape Town, or take an Uber out. Getting an Uber back after 5 pm can be hard, the operator warns. See from Cape Town.
Are tastings included in the wine tram ticket?
No. The hop-on hop-off ticket covers the tram and tram-bus only. You pay for each tasting at the estate, and lunch on top. Some guided tours on this site include their tastings: the full-day winelands tour and the e-bike tour are two.
Which is better, Franschhoek or Stellenbosch?
Franschhoek is smaller and more compact, a single valley with one main road and the wine tram. Stellenbosch is a university town with more estates spread over a bigger area. For one day of wine without a car, Franschhoek and the tram are simpler. Read Franschhoek vs Stellenbosch.
Can children ride the Franschhoek Wine Tram?
Yes, children can ride, and the operator recommends Tram First departures for families. Prams must be folded on board, and birthday and bachelor parties are not hosted. Some guided tours on this site are adults only, so check the tour page.
What is special about Franschhoek?
French Huguenots settled the valley after 1688, and the name means "French corner" in Afrikaans. Today it is known for Cap Classique sparkling wine, Cape Dutch estates under steep mountains, and a restaurant scene out of all proportion to the size of the village.
Can I cancel a wine tram booking?
Every tour on this site cancels for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start. Booked directly with the operator, the rule is the same: 24 hours or more for a full refund, nothing after that.
Ready to book
Climb aboard, the valley is pouring.
Local operators, real tastings and free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every tour.
Guided, with the tram
★ 4.79.5 hours
