Franschhoek Wine Tram

The branch line to Franschhoek was opened in 1904 so that the valley's farmers could send their produce to market by train instead of by ox-wagon. Steam worked it until diesels took over in the 1970s; by the 1990s the traffic had drained away, and for more than a decade the rails lay idle. In 2012 the line came back, as the Franschhoek Wine Tram — but it came back as its two ends.

One tram runs out of Franschhoek village for about two kilometres, to Rickety Bridge, and back past Grande Provence. The other works the far end around Groot Drakenstein, north to Plaisir, Vrede en Lust and Simondium and east to Boschendal. The thirteen kilometres of branch between them carry no trams: an open-sided tram-bus takes passengers across the middle of the valley by road, and out to the estates the rails never reached.

So this is a day among the vines rather than a train ride. You choose one of five colour-coded lines, step off at whichever estates you like, and pick up a later tram or bus to carry on round the loop. The trams are double-deckers built in South Africa in 2017 after the Blackpool balcony cars of about 1923, and from the top deck the Franschhoek and Groot Drakenstein mountains stand over the vineyards on every side.

Franschhoek is about 75 kilometres from Cape Town, in a valley hemmed in by mountains. The Huguenot refugees who were given land here in 1688 named their farms after the places they had left behind — La Motte, Cabrière, La Provence, La Dauphine — and many of those farms are wine estates today. The day starts at one of two terminals: the Franschhoek Terminal on Main Road for the Red, Blue and Pink Lines, or the Groot Drakenstein Terminal, at the junction of the R45 and R310 at the other end of the valley, for the Green and Orange Lines. A shuttle runs between the two in fifteen minutes.

The Franschhoek end

The tram leaves the terminal every half hour and runs down the old branch through open ground and vines to Rickety Bridge, about two kilometres out, then works back with stops at Grande Provence and Franschhoek Cellar: thirty minutes there and back. The Red, Blue and Pink Lines each pair this tram with a bus loop of their own — up towards the Franschhoek Pass to Mont Rochelle and Haute Cabrière, south to La Bri and Holden Manz, or out to Dieu Donné, Chamonix and Leopard's Leap. You book the tram first or the bus first, and at each stop you choose whether to get off.

The Groot Drakenstein end

At Groot Drakenstein the tram shuttles east to Boschendal, then north on the branch towards Paarl to Plaisir and Vrede en Lust, an hour for the round. The Green Line adds a bus loop to Allée Bleue and out towards Stellenbosch for Camberley, Bartinney, Le Pommier and Zorgvliet; the Orange Line goes by bus to Babylonstoren and Baccō, then picks up the tram at Simondium, the hamlet named after Pierre Simond, the Huguenots' minister. At the largest estates — Babylonstoren, Boschendal, Grande Provence, Plaisir, Rickety Bridge, Baccō — a farm vehicle carries you the last 10 to 20 minutes from the platform to the tasting room.

The trams

The line was reopened in 2012 with a single open-sided tram. Since 2017 the work has been done by double-deckers built in South Africa by DCD Rolling Stock and modelled on the Blackpool Corporation's double-deck balcony cars of about 1923: almost five metres tall, they seat 78 on flip-over benches so that you can face either way, and they run at up to 32 km/h. The track is the branch's own Cape gauge, 1,067 mm. Both the trams and the buses are open at the sides, which is the point on a fine day and the reason to bring a jacket on a cool one.

The Wine Tram runs every day of the year except 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. Between mid-May and mid-September only some of the lines run on weekdays. Seats are booked for a line and a starting time, and the lines start between 08:45 and 13:00; after that the trams and buses run on a fixed loop, roughly hourly at each stop, and you get back on whichever one comes next. The loop runs one way only, so each estate gets one chance to step off. The last services of the afternoon only collect, bringing passengers back to the terminal.

The tram at the Franschhoek end — Red, Blue and Pink Lines

The tram at the Groot Drakenstein end — Green Line

The Orange Line leaves Groot Drakenstein by bus at 09:35, 10:35, 11:35 and 12:35 for Babylonstoren and Baccō, and joins the tram at Simondium for Vrede en Lust, Plaisir and Boschendal.

Getting to Groot Drakenstein

The starting times sold for the Green and Orange Lines are those of the shuttle from the Franschhoek Terminal, which takes fifteen minutes: 08:45, 09:45, 10:45 and 11:45 for the Green Line, and 09:05, 10:05, 11:05 and 12:05 for the Orange. From the Info Kiosk on Franschhoek Square another runs at quarter past and quarter to the hour from 08:00. Arriving by car, go straight to the Groot Drakenstein Terminal and allow half an hour after the booked time.

As of October 2026, from the operator's timetable of 22 June 2026 and the departures on sale on the Franschhoek Wine Tram's site (opens in a new tab). Be at the terminal 10 to 15 minutes before your departure to collect tickets.

The ticket most people buy is the Hop-on Hop-off day on one colour line, booked online for a starting time and collected at the terminal on the day. It covers the trams, tram-buses and shuttle, and the narration on board; wine tastings, at R60 to R260 a person, meals and Babylonstoren's entry are paid at each estate. Children under three ride free, and there are no discounts for students, pensioners or non-drinkers.

Hosted days with tastings and food included are sold on the same site, along with a return transfer from Cape Town. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead for a full refund. From the operator's booking pages, in South African rand, as of October 2026.

No rail pass covers the Wine Tram. It is a private tourist service with its own day tickets, so everyone books it from the operator.

The estates are the stops, but the valley has older things to see between tastings, most of them within reach of the two terminals.

Franschhoek is about 75 kilometres from Cape Town, so the tram works as a day out from the city, and the operator sells a return transfer. To stay among the vines instead, there are rooms on estates at both ends of the line.

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