Leaving Cape Town on the N1 take the Milnerton turn-off (R27 / West Coast Road) drive through Milnerton, Table View and Bloubergstrand. You will then come to Koeberg Nuclear power Station on your left. Koeberg has a very good visitors centre and also offer guided tours.

Driving north again you will see a sign to Yzerfontein, a small holiday and fishing village, which has a lovely beach.

If your taste is more for natural vegetation, look out for the sign-post to Darling and turn right. If you are touring during September this is the best time to visit Darling as they have a Wild Flower and Orchid Show during that month. There is also the Darling Flora Reserve and the Darling Tienie Versveld Flora Reserve, which are both worth a visit.

Continuing up the West Coast Road you will come to a sign on your right to the West Coast National Park. Here you can see lots of flowers during the season (September), but you can always see small game and it’s a lovely drive through at any time of the year.

Well worth a visit is the West Coast Fossil Park which you turn right to before you come to the Langebaan sign-post.

Here they have interactive displays and show a video at the visitors centre. The history of that particular bit of coast is very interesting and the sea used to be well inland. They have also found Fossils of bears!

Langebaan is well worth a visit, on the banks of the Langebaan Lagoon – a vast semi-enclosed water area, which is great for sailing. There are lots of guest houses and holiday homes at Langebaan and it’s always worth a stop.

At the northern end of Langebaan Lagoon is Saldanha Bay, which has one of the finest natural harbours in the world. Saldanha is now also home to an enormous steel works, which is a bit of a blot on the landscape but has brought much needed work to uplift the area.

The next exit from the R27 is a sign-post to Vredenburg, the business centre of the area. Here you can find all the big stores and steak houses that abound in South Africa’s bigger centers.

The small fishing village of Patternoster at Cape Columbine is well worth a visit, with it’s small white fishermen’s houses and a lovely (mostly) deserted beach. Close by is St Helena Bay, which was discovered by Vasco da Gama in 1497.

Continue on the R27 and you will cross a bridge across the Berg River. On your left is the Cerebos Salt Works and on your right are many sea birds – a lot of flamingos and some pelicans. You will come into Velddrif, where the Berg River goes out to the sea.

If you turn left you will quite soon come to Port Owen, a large area of private houses as well as a timeshare resort where there is a yacht marina. At Port Owen you can sometimes get a boat ride which takes you to the Berg River into the wetlands where you can see lots of bird life.

Just north of Velddrif is the Rocher Pan Nature Reserve near Dwarskersbos, which is a bird watchers’ paradise, with several hides set up.

If you turn right when you come into Velddrif and keep driving you will eventually come to the N7 at Piketberg. Here you can turn left (north) and head towards Citrusdal at the foot of the Piekenierskloof and Cedarberg mountains. This is one of the largest citrus growing regions in South Africa. The Citrusdal Museum has a wonderful display of Bushman tools and utensils.

Carrying on north you will come to Clan William, on a spectacular dam which is 18 km long. Due to the drought experienced during 2003 and 2004 the dam was down to a small puddle, but the good rains of 2005 have helped it recover.

In and around Clan William can be found Bushman rock paintings, but it would be worth asking for directions in the town.

Just outside Clan William is the Pakhuis Pass, set in the most beautiful landscape. From here you can find your way to Wuperthal, a Moravian mission village famous for its Veldskoene, a suede boot much loved by South Africans.

18 Km beyond Clan William is the Niewoud Pass, which is the gateway to the Cedarberg Wilderness area. This is a stunning mountain area where there are camping facilities and many walks of varying degrees of difficulty. It’s well worth asking for information and maybe even finding a guide. As with any walking in wilderness areas it’s important to take sufficient clothing (temperatures can change suddenly), water, some energy snack bars and a mobile phone (but there may be problems with reception in some areas).

Going back to Piketberg go to the other side of the wide valley and you will come to Porterville, a picturesque little town with a winery at the southern end where you can taste all the wines of the area.

Driving south from Porterville you will come to Riebeek Wes, where General smuts (one of South African’s Prime Ministers) was born (you can visit his house). A little way away is Riebeek Kasteel, on the slopes of the Kasteelberg. The Church Museum was the first church built in the area in 1855. Every year there is an Olive Festival at Riebeek Wes and Riebeek Kasteel, but they also grow vines and produce wines.

Continuing south you will come to Malmesbury, an area where winter wheat is grown, as well as vines. The Kalbaskraal Nature Reserve has a wide variety of indigenous flora.

From Malmesbury you can access the N7 and turn south to return to Cape Town