Self Drive Tour of the West Coast

Often overlooked in favour of the Peninsula and central Winelands, the West Coast is a cornucopia of delights, both culinary, cultural and natural. The distances are not that vast but if you intend to return to Cape Town after a long drive to Paternoster in one day, that’s a long and tiring drive.

Long before the arrival of the European settlers, this land was populated by the San people, some of the oldest extant people on the planet. Their rock art and history abounds over the area and their language forms the basis of most of the South African languages we have today.

The West Coast is characterized by long, flat semi-desert bordering long, sandy beaches. The towns themselves (other than Paternoster) are not particularly beautiful but they cater for watersports enthusiasts and are very nice places to ‘do the beach’.