When you hear ‘Babylonstoren’, your mind might not instantly leap to a vineyard. Indeed, the name, echoing the ancient city from the biblical era, could paint a mental image of a long-lost metropolis where inhabitants strolled in flowing robes, casually enjoying plump grapes. Yet, in reality, Babylonstoren embodies a rich, thriving vineyard, artfully marrying the allure of antiquity with the vibrant charm of viticulture.
However, once you’ve had the chance to visit Babylonstoren, you’ll realize it’s akin to a ‘land of plenty.’ It is a self-sustaining idyllic rural realm in Franschhoek, where visitors come to wander, lodge, dine, don straw hats and linen clothing, and marvel at their surroundings. The entire place is picturesque, and each part of it feels like a fragment from a dream, as this bucolic haven seems too good to be true!
Nestled against the backdrop of the Simonsberg mountains, the historic property hosts – prepare yourself, this list is extensive – a hotel, a vineyard, a spa, a pair of restaurants, a bakery, a vast fruit and vegetable garden, a farm store and a scented room (more on that later), a wine tasting room and museum, and even an entire community that includes a learning center for the children of employees. Surely, we’ve left something out. Of course! The operational farm, replete with donkeys and numerous feathered inhabitants.
Also read: Franschhoek dubbed the ‘Valley Of Dreams’
It’s a lot. So, we’ve broken it down for you in this handy guide to navigating the beauty and bounty of Babylonstoren.
Babel at Babylonstoren
In the old cow shed, where Babel at Babylonstoren is located, there is a beautiful blend of Cape Dutch architecture and modern glass walls. This makes for a contemporary but character-filled atmosphere where you can indulge in delicious and unusual flavour pairings. The ‘farm-to-fork’ philosophy of the kitchen determines the menu, which is made up of seasonal foods, most of which are freshly picked from the estate’s gardens.
- Times: Breakfast: Monday to Sunday, 8am to 10am | Lunch: Wednesday to Sunday, 12:30pm to 3:30pm | Dinner: Monday to Sunday, 6pm to 9pm
- Bookings: Book online (Booking in advance is essential)
Greenhouse
The Greenhouse is at the back of the garden, nestled under the leafy canopy of some resident oak trees. It is a great place to stop for a drink or bite to eat after a stroll through the labyrinth-like grounds. The menu features layered sandwiches, salads and pies, plated picnic-style, with fresh, seasonal produce that comes from the garden. If you have space, the fresh-out-the-oven scones are too good to pass up and go down a treat with some honeybush tea.
- Times: Open daily, 9am to 6pm
- Bookings: No reservations required. First come, first serve seating.
Bakery
During the day, the Bakery makes fresh bread for the Farm Shop and on-site restaurants.
Italian-Inspired Dinner at the Bakery
The Italian-Inspired Dinner is held at the Bakery and presented family-style, with wooden boards piled with scrumptious foods to share. Add some wine, and you’re living La Dolce Vita. This includes a four-course meal complete with antipasto, homemade pasta and wood-fired pizza. Bookings are essential.
- Times: Mondays and Fridays, 6pm to 9pm
- Bookings: Book online.
Carnivore Evening at the Bakery
If you’re looking for something that feels more like home, book for the Carnivore Evening. This is a celebration of the real South African braai, with skilled grill masters cooking every cut of farm-reared meat to perfection. You just get to sit back with some good wine, breathe in that unmistakably South African braai smell, and tuck into a five-course meal. Bookings are essential.
- Times: Wednesdays and Sundays, 6pm to 9pm
- Bookings: Book online.
Hotel
Author and Head of Travel at The Telegraph, Claire Irvin, described the hotel at Babylonstoren as life changing. Not many hotels can boast that! The accommodation is divided into different types of stays. You can book a suite in the farmhouse – the estate’s original Cape Dutch building; or opt for more privacy and get your own space at one in the Garden or Fynbos Cottages. If you’re looking for a place to accommodate a big group, the Fynbos Family House sleeps 10 people and provides an exclusive-use holiday home for friends and family to share.
As a guest, you benefit from certain perks included in your stay, namely, a complimentary breakfast spread every morning, access to the many workshops available on the farm, and a host of activities, including rowing on the dam, guided tours of the grounds, morning harvests with the gardeners, bread baking with the bakers, and a wine tasting and a cellar tour. The list goes on.
- Bookings: [email protected] | [email protected]
Spa
The Garden Spa, as with all things at Babylonstoren wine estate, draws inspiration from the surrounding nature and the changing seasons. Nestled within a bamboo forest and interlaced with channels of water, the spa invites you into a state of tranquillity. The facility includes a Turkish bath, a chill room, a hot spa and a gym. There is a whole catalogue of treatments to indulge in: everything from body wraps and restorative facials to massages and nail treatments.
- Times: Daily, 9am to 5pm
- Contact: +27 (0)21 300 3929 | [email protected]
- Bookings: Bookings are essential | Contact the spa to secure your booking
Farm Shop
You don’t have to go all the way to Franschhoek to shop Babylonstoren’s range of things you don’t really need but definitely want! Of course, there is an online store stocked with all the gorgeous goods. Pantry staples like cordials, preserves and everything else you could possibly desire in your stash of midnight treats. And then there are all the goods that come straight from the farm, like fresh eggs and homemade dairy products, and anything you may need from the butchery, bakery or winery. And if you’re really going to live the dream, have a look at the homeware and body collections, or better yet, the leisurewear!
Yes, this is all available online, but if you are at the estate, you simply can’t pass up the chance to visit the shop on the farm. If not to be surrounded by beautiful things, then to treat yourself or your favourite friend to something special. The shop is divided into various spaces, such as the Lekker Room, stocked with homemade rusks, roasted nuts, chocolate, and more, and the exquisitely fragranced Scented Room, where you can purchase the farm’s range of bath and body products or even make your own scrub and mask.
Online Shop
- Times: Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm
- Contact: +27 (0)21 300 3919 | [email protected]
Farm Shop
- Times: Daily, 9am to 5:30pm
Wine Tasting
You can’t go to a wine farm without tasting the wines – that would be silly. It’s incumbent upon you to visit the Tasting Room, which is tastefully designed and boasts views of the Babylonstoren Hill and the Simonsberg and Banghoek Mountains. Babylonstoren wine estate’s vineyard produces a full collection of varietals. There are elegant whites, a playful rose, smooth reds and even a bottle of bubbles to sample. The best part is, there are platters too! The Tasting Room offers various themed platters, like charcuterie, fish or harvest, which all come with freshly baked artisan bread, the farm’s award-winning olive oil, and a serving of crisp vegetables and juicy fruit plucked from the gardens.
- Cost: R90 per person for seven wines and flagship wines can be added at an extra cost | R50 per person for an express tasting
- Bookings: First come, first serve.
Cellar Tour
If you’re into the stories behind the bottles and the work that goes into making the loveable liquid, take a tour of the cellar, which includes a tasting of all 13 of the estate’s wines and some perfectly paired snacks. The tour begins among the vines, takes you through the underground wine tunnel to learn about the winemaking process, and ends with a tasting.
- Times: Daily at 10am, 1pm, 4pm
- Cost: R325 per person (includes tasting and snacks). Payment is required to secure booking.
- Bookings: Book here.
Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Tour
Their extra virgin olive oil is an award-winning blend of five olive varietals, all grown on the farm, of course. It also comes in a beautiful, rustic-style tin that looks great on a table or kitchen counter. The folk at Babylonstoren call it ‘liquid gold’, which makes you wonder, ‘what’s the secret behind this slippery sauce?’ Go on a tour to find out.
The Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Tour begins with a stop at the balsamic vinegar cellar (because if you’re going to make olive oil, you have to include its best bud). Here, you’ll learn about the production methods and try the farm’s two types of vinegar. Then you get to see how the table olives are made and how they taste, after which you’ll be shown how they are pressed into olive oil. Then, finally, you get to sample the acclaimed ‘liquid gold’. And just for fun, you are invited to create your own 100ml blend of olive oil to take home. Pretty cool.
- Times: 11am, 1pm, 3pm (duration 60 min)
- Cost: R200 per person (includes tasting). Payment required to secure booking.
- Bookings: Book online. Maximum 6 guests.
Babylonstoren Garden
Perhaps ‘garden’ is not the best word to describe 8 acres of bountiful natural beauty. There’s clearly something in the soil because everything that comes out of the ground sprouts into something spectacularly verdant. And you know it’s not just any garden when it has its own map. You can make a day of wandering the grounds. A kind of Versailles characterised by its symmetrical layout of geometric plots of greenery, animated by ponds, bridges, living arches and unexpected decorative features. Everything works in harmony to support the thriving ecosystem. The ducks eat the snails to protect the vegetables and the chickens’ poop makes great compost. There’s also a beehive, an insect hotel, a prickly pear maze and a healing garden – this stuff can’t be made up.
To explore the sheer expanse of the garden, there is a Daily Garden Tour that starts in front of the Farm Shop and a Special Collections Tour led by expert gardeners.
- Times: Daily, 9am to 5pm, last entry at 4pm | Daily Garden Tour: 10am | Special Collections Tour: Monday to Friday, 11:30am
- Cost: An entrance fee is required for access to the garden. Payable at the ticket office.
- Bookings: Booking for the tours can be made online.
Workshops
If you’re really looking to earn your stripes as a certified Babylonstorian, there are workshops that will teach you everything you could possibly want to know, like botanical sketching, vine weaving and soap crafting. The team and specialists from various fields run the workshops. You will get to try out the skills, techniques, or disciplines that the Babylonstorians are learning about. They tend to be all-day affairs that start with a walk in the garden and include a farm-style lunch. If you’re a guest at the hotel, these workshops are included in your stay. To see what’s on offer and make a booking, click here.
Details:
- Location: Babylonstoren, Klapmuts Simondium Road, Simondium, 7670
- Cost: R100 per adult | Free (children under 18 years) | Free (RHS members only)
- Good to know: A once-off entrance fee allows you to register for Babylonstoren Garden Membership with the free Babylonstoren app. This will give you unlimited admission to Babylonstoren for 12 months.
- Contact: +27 (0)21 863 3852 | [email protected]
- Website: babylonstoren.com
Also read:
Exploring the ‘French Corner’: 4 Things to do in Franschhoek
Picture: Babylonstoren
