Experience the best of Hermanus

Hermanus is a coastal town on Walker Bay, about a hundred and twenty kilometres by road south-east of Cape Town, on a curving shore backed by mountains. It began as a fishing village in the nineteenth century, and its old harbour is now a museum. A clifftop path of about twelve kilometres follows the shoreline, and from it southern right whales can be seen close inshore, with a Whale Crier blowing a kelp horn to announce them.

Fernkloof Nature Reserve above town protects fynbos, the Cape's heathland flora. The Hemel-en-Aarde valley behind the town produces well-regarded Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Gansbaai, farther east, is where great white sharks are watched from boats, and the penguins of Betty's Bay lie west. Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa, is a longer drive east along the coast.

Fresh fish, crayfish and abalone feature on restaurant menus, and wine tasting in the valley is a pleasure of its own. The whales arrive from about June and stay until November, with the peak in the spring months of the southern hemisphere. Mild winters and sunny summer days, cooled by a sea breeze, make the town pleasant most of the year.