Few cities come into focus with the bowl-you-over aesthetics of Cape Town. Its serrated-edge mountain tops crown some of the world’s most ancient peaks and plunge temptingly to verdant vineyards, with the crash of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans all around at Africa’s southernmost tip.
It is the arrival of arrivals from the air—but merely a harbinger of the breathtaking moments that await travelers who set their sights on discovering South Africa through some of its most storied properties along a Relais & Châteaux Route du Bonheur.
A Cape Town itinerary that kicks off at Ellerman House promises the softest of landings. Occupying a prime perch in Bantry Bay, the Edwardian mansion greets guests with the graciousness of a private residence, with a sparkling clifftop swimming pool and terraced gardens from which it’s possible to descend directly to the coast. More than 1,000 artworks housed inside the Relais & Châteaux property’s main building and adjoining contemporary art gallery offer a comprehensive overview of South Africa’s artistic evolution and most powerful societal themes. And the hotel’s 13 bedrooms and suites—all with private terraces for enjoying the ocean views—pair with two private villas staffed with their own chefs and butlers for a secluded stay like no other.
The city’s singular topography should really be savored from both altitude and at sea level, so let the concierge at Ellerman House arrange a day trip for basking in both. During private sightseeing flights with Cape Town Helicopters, visitors lift off from Miller’s Point for views of Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and Cape Agulhas where currents from two oceans collide, before touching down in South Africa’s oldest wine region, Constantia. There, an exquisite lunch at celebrated South African chef Peter Tempelhoff’s winelands tour de force, Beyond, unfolds at tables overlooking the vineyards. Indigenous ingredients star in multi-course degustations that feel like a love letter to South Africa, incorporating rare-breed meats and seasonal heirloom vegetables and herbs sourced from the Cape Town region’s fynbos—shrublands home to species that exist nowhere else on Earth.
The thrum of an approaching Harley-Davidson may sound out of place in such a serene, country setting. But it’s the signal to prepare to ride pillion on the back of a bike during a chauffeured meander along Cape Town’s most iconic route with West Coast Motorcycles. The journey rumbles west from Constantia south, past the golden beaches of Cliffton and Camps Bay and along the 114 curves of the Chapman’s Peak Drive, considered among the most beautiful routes in the world. For the day’s denouement, Ellerman’s concierge can book another table to remember at Tempelhoff’s FYN Restaurant. Lauded as one of the 50 best restaurants in the world, it beckons in Cape Town’s city center with tasting menus that span the Western Cape’s land-to-sea diversity and preparations rooted in Japanese techniques.
A Rarefied Stay Among the Vines
There is no more atmospheric way to indulge in South Africa’s most prestigious wine region than from the Owner’s Villa at the Delaire Graff Estate, a Relais & Châteaux property on the slopes of the Stellenbosch mountains owned by billionaire diamantaire, Laurence Graff, the founder of Graff Diamonds.
His private, four-bedroom villa, available for exclusive hire, is fully staffed with a chef and butler and has its own wine cellar, terraced gardens, private balconies off the bedrooms shaded by African teak pergolas and more than 70 artworks on display from Graff’s personal collection. The home’s expansive picture windows frame views of Botmaskop Peak and Table Mountain, and a 45-foot-long heated infinity pool hugs the clifftop, beckoning for a sunset swim in absolute privacy.
Estate activities within the property’s mountainous-meets-maritime terroir might see guests hiking through the surrounding vineyards planted with Bordeaux reds and Chardonnay grapes, enjoying a tutored wine experience at Delaire Graff’s Wine Lounge or settling at a table beneath an exquisite art installation, Swallows in Flight, at Hōseki, the property’s Japanese fine dining jewel.
In addition to the Owner’s Villa, the estate houses a collection of one and two-bedroom luxury lodges for overnight stays that open onto private decks and heated pools, from which a dip comes with vineyard views stretching to the horizon.
A Sweet Private Safari Finish
No trip to South Africa should reach its denouement without time spent on safari, however brief or lengthy one’s schedule allows. It’s worth venturing beyond South Africa’s busier and better-known safari calling card, Kruger National Park, for pampered wilderness experiences in a private game reserve further west at one of the three, exclusive-use lodges within Relais & Châteaux’s Morukuru Family Madikwe collection.
Along the border with Botswana and close to the Kalahari Desert, just a scenic hour’s flight north of Johannesburg, Madikwe Game Reserve owes its low poaching rate to staunch conservation efforts, effective anti-poaching units and a rhino-notching program, among other efforts. Established in 1991, the reserve is the culmination of a seven-year-long rewilding project that reintroduced more than 8,000 animals onto formerly decimated farmland and is one of the biggest conservation success stories in southern Africa.
Across nearly 300 square miles crossed by relatively view safari vehicles, rocky outcroppings and lone mountains stand sentinel amidst the private reserve’s open grasslands and bushveld plains. It’s par for the course here, over the course of the day, to observe elephants, zebra, rhinos, giraffes, lions and all manner of antelope, with the Big Five regularly ticked off. Exceptional sightings included Madikwe’s packs of wild dogs and roaming cheetah.
On a private concession within the reserve, the Morukuru Family Madikwe collection offers a bespoke, fully-staffed lodge for every luxury traveler, starting with the Morukuru Owner’s House, a two-bedroom private bush home along the Marico River that’s a favorite among couples and small families. For a connecting configuration for larger groups, a wooden walkway leads from there to the three-bedroom Morokuru River House, where the rooms all have gas fireplaces, outdoor showers and private decks. Both lodges re-emerged from full renovations in September 2025 after flooding earlier that year.
Morukuru Family’s crown jewel is the sprawling, five-bedroom Morukuru Farm House, a symphony of wood and stone where five suites surround a central courtyard and luxurious communal living space. Nearby, a boardwalk leads through the bush to an overlook where guests can dine or just relax with a book while gazing upon a watering hole that regularly attracts elephants to its edge.
The most memorable pleasure in these parts, however, might be the simplest. At an open-air sleep-out hide on a platform overlooking a watering hole within Morukuru Family’s private concession, it’s possible to sleep under a canopy of stars.
The distant roar of lions may be the morning’s alarm clock, or perhaps the cooing of Cape Turtle Doves at closer range. All around, South Africa casts its spell.
