It's hard to choose highlights in the Western Cape for there are very few parts of the province that aren't utterly gorgeous.

Being the first province to be colonised by Europeans it sits at the bottom of the country, including both the most southerly point on the African continent, Cape Agulhas, and the much more famous Cape of Good Hope where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, just south of Cape Town.

Cape Town, furled around the slopes of Table Mountain, is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world and is usually the first stop of choice on any tour of South Africa. There is enough here to keep you entertained for weeks, from headline sites such as Table Mountain and Robben Island to great museums and historic sights such as Government Avenue, shopping and strolling in Greenmarket Square, Long Street and the V&A Waterfront. There are plenty of fantastic restaurants, craft stalls and buskers to keep you entertained, with regularly spaced cocktail bars to stop you getting thirsty.

South of the city centre, on the Cape Peninsula, the area is filled with fabulous boutique hotels and restaurants, excellent mountain walks and drives such as Chapman's Peak and Hoerikwaggo Trail. Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, long recognised as one of the finest in the world, show off the full glories of the Cape Floral Kingdom that have made this area a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Around the coast, small towns from Simonstown and Muizenberg to Hout Bay and Kommetjie provide excellent beaches, surfing, seafood restaurants and rummaging in antique and craft shops. And don't forget to stop at Boulders Beach to hang out with the penguins.

Just inland of Cape Town, the rolling hills have been upholstered in vines. A trio of historic towns - Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl - stand at the heart of the Cape Winelands. Wine tastings are obviously a huge part of the Winelands experience, but there is so much more. Whether you want to pamper yourself with gourmet cuisine, a spa break or a round of golf, go hot air ballooning or horse riding through a Big 5 game reserve, these are all possible.

Beyond the Winelands rise the jagged Cederbergs, their cliffs and caves a natural art gallery decorated by the San for thousands of years.