Weekending in Prince Albert – a welcome break from wet Cape Town

Road to Prince Albert

The drive alone is worth the four-hour trip from Cape Town to Prince Albert, and that was only the start of a week­end break that more than met expectations.

First off, let me emphas­ise that Prince Albert, which lies at the foot of the Swartberg Mountains that forms the bor­der between the Little and the Great Karoo, really is one of the best kept secrets of win­ter­ing in the Western Cape, and I write with more than a little reser­va­tion, so all who read this are sworn to secrecy!

I will not beat around the bush about the Karoo being cold dur­ing winter - it was icy — and snow-capped moun­tains formed the back­ground to much of our trip. But the days were blue, the scenery close to tear-jerking and the derth of vis­it­ors to the small Karoo town meant that we could only guess ... by the num­ber of guest houses, res­taur­ants and cof­fee shops that Prince Albert has been 'dis­covered' and is pop­u­lar dur­ing the sum­mer months, and rub our hands in glee at prac­tic­ally hav­ing the place to ourselves!

Great Karoo

The drive through the Hex River Valley along the N1 in early winter is a tapestry of burned amber, red, browns and yel­lows as grapev­ines lose their leaves, and moun­tains, topped with snow, may bring with them icy even­ings, but a log fire and elec­tric blankets soon put paid to any of the lesser evils of winter.

And there is little chance of miss­ing the turn-off to Prince Albert after Laingsburg - the R407 is well sign-posted, and the road one of those less trav­elled, so linger­ing glances across the val­ley are permitted.

The some­what sleepy town might ini­tially appear rural, and it is. Its main street is lined with tinned roof Karoo cot­tages, beau­ti­fully main­tained Victorian homes and national monu­ments, and its one of a hand­ful of towns where farms are lit­er­ally part of the town, not on the outskirts.

Amy's Place

Possibly the main reason for this is one of the idio­syn­cra­cies of Prince Albert. Despite lying in the midst of the Karoo, a size­able constantly-flowing stream sup­plies the town with water all year round. And the town is built to take advant­age of the fact. Every prop­erty built on the channeled stream has a via­duct that allows res­id­ents access to an alloc­ated num­ber of litres per month to water their fruit trees, glor­i­ous gar­dens and veget­able plots.

Incredibly, Prince Albert has a sub-tropical cli­mate where frosts are rare and bana­nas, paw­paws, and bou­gain­vil­laeas grow along­side an envi­able nat­ural veget­a­tion, suc­cu­lents and fyn­bos. There's a long his­tory to the town well out­lined by the Tourist Office, that includes the dis­cov­ery of gold, ostrich feath­ers, mohair and the Gamkaskloof, but the gems of Prince Albert are without doubt the hos­pit­able town­folk, the incred­ible bird life, the stars, and the peace and still­ness largely due to the quiet of the main road.

Onse Rus

We weren't there for long, and our main object­ive was to relax, but we man­aged to pack in a walk in Bushman's Valley, a couple of vis­its to the Lazy Lizard - a won­der­ful cafe, cof­fee shop/restaurant with a down-to-earth menu, prices to match and a play area for chil­dren -, the Lah-di-dah 'fency pad­stal' and a trip to Gay's dairy — where her cows are raised the way you wish all cows could be raised, and her cheeses, milk and yoghurts taste of sun­shine and fields of lucerne.

Our stay, right on the edge of town in a neck of Prince Albert where farms and little homes fit snugly side-by-side, in no way intrud­ing on one another, was one reason to go back. But regard­less of your choice of accom­mod­a­tion in Prince Albert, the little Karoo town neces­sit­ates a return visit. If you've a 4x4 vehicle, make time to drive over the Swartberg Pass that links Prince Albert with Oudtshoorn, where res­id­ents ven­ture forth on monthly for­ays for staple goods — the town's OK store doesn't quite meas­ure up to expect­a­tions, which is all part of the charm and neces­sit­ates vis­its to the local dairy and small hold­ings for veget­ables and fruit - what are small towns for, hey?

Useful Links:
For mmore des­tin­a­tion info and to plan your get­away see:
Prince Albert Attractions
Prince Albert Events
Prince Albert Map
Prince Albert Accommodation