I first discovered Swellendam when looking for accommodation for the wacky wine festival a few years back this picturesque town is not too far out of Robertson which meant just a 40 hour minute drive into each of the wineries for the festival.
Sadly, during our wacky wine stay we naturally out most of the day exploring nearby wineries and not making the most of what I now know of Swellendam
Where to Eat in Swellendam?
When I got the opportunity to revisit whether it was as a over pitstop towards the garden route or as a destination in itself I discovered gorgeous places to eat such as Field and Fork. Which is right next to the tourism and information offices of Swellendam and walking distance from our accommodation Moffids Place.
This part of town seems to be the hub for good food, local wine and shopping in the area. With this in mind though, I would advise that the town is geared more towards spending time relaxing at your accommodation and with friends and family perhaps having a braai rather than heading out into the town.
There are a few coffee shops in this area. Ikigai being one of my favourites. They make an incredible cappuccino and the breakfast are ofgood quality. There’s also a Honey/Bee shop that sells all things related to bees honey from beauty products through to cooking and home items anything related to bees can be found here.
Accommodation in Swellendam?
My accommodation when I last visited Swellendam was part of the curated “group” of accommodation in the vicinity run by the OENA escape’s portfolio.
This is a group of boutique countryside properties are owned and operated by a husband and wife team. They created a portfolio of homes and historical buildings in and around Langeberg area which include destinations – Rotterdam Boutique Hotel in Swellendam ( https://www.oena.co.za/rotterdam-boutique-hotel/ )
The latter being where I recently spent 48 hours on my last visit to Swellendam
About Moffid’s Place
Moffid’s Place is a four-bedroom home tucked away at the hillside just a stone’s throw away from a stud farm with beautiful paddocks and mountain views. The peaked house is positioned along the riverbed which whistles with it’s trees and waterworks as you arrive in the gardens just adjacent to the River.
There is a plunge pool which I imagine, in summer makes for the perfect afternoon doing not much else then sipping some local wines from neighbouring farms like Sijnn Wines, Joubert-Tradauw, Zanvliet and gorgeous bubbly from Bon Courage.
We stayed in a ground floor room with the house exclusively booked for our stay and us.
From what I could tell there were four rooms that make up Moffid’s Place.
One bedroom situated on the ground floor next to the communal lounge area, library and three upstairs. As mentioned, we were lucky enough during lockdown to have had the place to ourselves and were allowed to roam the public areas freely.
There’s a beautiful indoor fireplace with old cigar lounge-type furniture and gorgeous antiques which would be perfect for a family weekend away. I dreamed up large lunches as there is a kitchen on-site as well this is very industrial looking and would be more than sufficient for a 7+ night stay should you book Moffid’s Place in its entirety
Our home for our sojourn was mere walking distance from some of the best eateries in Swellendam as well as the High Street that I mentioned offering cafes and shopping. We braved this on a very rainy day thinking that it was a short walk and we wouldn’t get too wet. We were ere very much mistaken and found ourselves spending almost two hours at the cafe waiting for the storm to pass. What’s that adage?
“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain”
This is precisely what we did. Never to have left the confines of our comforting cottage until utterly imperative i.e the day of our departure.
