Paarl travel guide

While Paarl is home to two of South Africa’s better-known wine estates, KWV and Nederburg , the town itself is not as interesting as Stellenbosch or as fashionable as Franschhoek. All of the attractions and restaurants are strung out along Main Street at the base of Paarl Mountain. When the first European arrival, Abraham Gabbema, saw this mountain in October 1657 it had just rained; the granite domes sparkled in the sunlight and he named the mountains paarl (pearl) and diamandt (diamond). The first settlers arrived in ‘Paarlvallei’ in 1687 and, shortly afterwards, the French Huguenots settled on four farms, Laborie, Goede Hoop, La Concorde and Picardie. The town grew in a random fashion along an important wagon route to Cape Town. Several old buildings survive, but they are spread out rather than concentrated in a few blocks as in Stellenbosch. There is a helpful tourist office 216 Main St, T021-877 0860, http://www.paarlonline.com, Mon-Fri 0800-1700, Sat 0900-1400, Sun 1000-1400.