Calvinia Snapshot
Tucked up against the dolerite-topped Hantam Mountains, Calvinia straddles the R27 heading west from Nieuwoudtville. Serving time primarily as farming centre for the wool trade, a stroll through this dorp’s quiet streets reveals a laid-back atmosphere and some interesting architecture. Heading out of town takes you into a maze of open back roads that burst into colour during the wild flower bloom in spring.
Things To Do
- Drive out to the nearby Akkerendam Nature Reserve and take on a range of short walks for any level of fitness, including two longer trails across the Hantam Mountains.
- Explore the town and its buildings from the times past. Among them are the Neo-Gothic-styled Dutch Reformed Church, Hantam House - a Cape Dutch styled home built in the mid 1800’s with its original cedarwood and excellent coffee shop housed in the original kraal - and the old Synagogue, which now serves as a museum portraying the realities of life as an early settler on the Northern Cape frontier.
- A number of 4x4 trails and mountain bike options, some steeped in Anglo-Boer War history, run from the town along the escarpment and Ooorlogskloof River. Well worth the trek during a balmy spring, when thick carpets of flowers smother the countryside.
- For a post-siesta outing, step out into the cool of night to a sky laden with stars. Calvinia boasts a impressively low light pollution factor, making it an astronomers dream.
Where You'll Also Find Us
Arniston (Waenhuiskrans) • Barrydale • Baviaanskloof • Betty's Bay • Bonnievale • Bredasdorp • Caledon • Calitzdorp • Cape Agulhas & Struisbaai • Cape Peninsula & Surrounds • Cape St Francis & St Francis Bay • Ceres • Citrusdal • Clanwilliam & Cederberg • Colesberg • Darling • De Rust • Elands Bay • Gansbaai • George • Grabouw & Elgin Valley • Greyton • Hermanus • Hogsback • Jozi and Surrounds • Knysna • Ladismith • Malgas • Matjiesfontein • McGregor • Montagu • Mossel Bay • Napier • Oudtshoorn • Paarl • Plettenberg Bay • Port Elizabeth • Porterville • Pringle Bay, Betty's Bay and Kleinmond • Riebeek West & Riebeek-Kasteel • Robertson • Rustenburg • St Helena Bay • Stanford • Stilbaai • Sutherland • Swellendam • Tulbagh • Velddrif • Vermaaklikheid • Wellington • Wilderness • Worcester & Hex Valley • Yzerfontein