Hello all - we are traveling to South Africa in late December, and planning 6-7 days of our time in the Cape Town / Winelands area. We're seasoned travelers, and I typically do the planning (part of the fun!) We've never been to SA and I have some questions about getting around. We don't want to rent a car (for various reason), but also don't want to be part of a larger tour, and those seem like the most common suggestions in travel books. Any suggestions as to how best to get around if not renting or touring? It looks like Uber is available in Cape Town, but I don't have a sense of what's possible once we get outside of the city. It looks like we could take a train to Stellanbosch. Is this advisable? Any suggestions for hiring a driver, if this is a possibility? (And any sense of how much we'd look to pay?)

I have a great driver that I've hired on two visits to the city. His price was part of a package designed for me by a local travel agent, so I do not have a breakdown on what he charged. I can give you the contact information if you would like.

That would be terrific - thank you!

I was in Capetown in March for just four days this time but I did use Uber each day very, very easily to different areas of the city and to dinner. Also had a car and driver hired from my hotel to do a day trip to Cape Point stopping at many points along the way and for lunch. The tour guide was EXCELLENT. Just the perfect amount of information, suggested stops, time alone to explore but help with pictures, etc. My hotel uses Jarat Tours which has a fleet of different types of cars for the number of people going on a private tour. Highly recommend. Capetown is an easy city. Ask your hotel to help you with the Winelands. I did so a couple of years ago on another trip. Have fun.

Deana: With pleasure, here is Charles Ratcliffe's contact information:

http://charlesratcliffetours.com/

We used Uber a lot while we were in Cape Town, it's super cheap and very reliable, but we drove to Stellenbosch as we had a dinner reservation. If we'd been travelling during the day we would have taken the train.