Babylonstoren: Visiting Guide
One of the oldest Cape Dutch farms in the region, Babylonstoren pairs a genuinely spectacular working garden with restaurants, a farm shop and a widely acclaimed hotel — easily a highlight of a Winelands day.
The garden
Babylonstoren's centrepiece is its 3.5-hectare garden, laid out in clean, formal rows and divided into more than a dozen sections — fruit, berries, vegetables, indigenous plants, and a beehive area among them, with the Simonsberg and Franschhoek mountains as a backdrop. It's designed to be walked, not just viewed, with produce from the garden feeding directly into the farm's restaurants.
Eating and drinking
The farm's restaurants draw directly on what's growing at the time, changing with the seasons rather than running a fixed menu. Babel, housed in a converted cattle shed, is the best known of the dining options; the farm shop and bakery are a lower-commitment way to sample the produce without a full sit-down meal. Wine tastings are also available, fitting naturally into a broader Winelands day.
Staying overnight
Babylonstoren's Farm Hotel — cottages built in Cape Dutch style on the footprints of the original farm workers' cottages — has picked up sustained international recognition in recent years, including placements among the world's best hotels in major travel awards. It's a genuine destination in its own right, not just a day-trip stop, if you want to build a night or two around it rather than visiting as part of a longer touring day.
Visiting as a day trip
Most Cape Town-based visitors see Babylonstoren as part of a broader Winelands day alongside Franschhoek or Paarl, given its location between the two. Garden entry is ticketed and worth booking ahead in peak season, when it draws significant day-visitor traffic on top of hotel guests.