When my partner called me on Tuesday afternoon to tell me that we'd managed to get a last minute booking for the Easter weekend I was ecstatic. Finally, we'd get to spend some time together in some remote setting, away from our stressful lives in Cape Town.

When I pictured a bed and breakfast in Ceres, in the Western Cape, my first impression was of a beautiful cottage surrounded by orchards while the aroma of fruit and blossoms drifted along the wind.

Reality bites

Ha! The reality was rather different. Don't get me wrong, Ceres isn't ugly, it's just… dull. The town, with its smaller brother, Prince Albert Hamlet, has a few restaurants serving basic fair, a couple of pubs where the locals watch the rugby, and a small golf course. Beyond that, there are a few supermarkets and a couple of municipal buildings and churches.

After settling into our B&B for the evening, we woke and spent about 30 minutes driving around the town, and soon discovered that we'd exhausted all possibilities. We then drove in to the local tourist information centre, where the manager recommended we take a drive through to Tulbagh.

Take a step back in time

Driving into Tulbagh is like going back in time. It's what you’d expect to see after looking up quaint in the dictionary. Small, tree-lined country roads give way to a number of historical Cape Dutch houses and estates.

We started our Tulbagh experience at the Paddagang wine tasting centre. Far from balking at our request to sample the region's best at 10:30 in the morning, a lovely lady called Charnel talked us through the wines of the region, and regularly had us in stitches with her anecdotes about the 'stuck-up' wine farmers.

From there we drove through to Montpellier, where we roamed through the grounds of this beautiful historic estate, but we couldn't find anyone interested in giving us a wine tasting, so we headed on down the road.

Lashings of art

Our next discovery was an absolute treat - Saronsberg Wine Estate. Besides having a wonderful collection of whites and reds, this estate is home to one of the most impressive collections of local modern art I'd ever seen. Take a look at the gallery to check it out.

Next stop was Twee Jonge Gezellen, which we were told, means "Two young bachelors". This estate produces award-winning sparkling wines under the Krone label, and offers regular champagne tastings. Sitting on the balcony beneath the vine leaves sipping the Krone Brut, we were treated to a demonstration of sabrage by one of the young winemakers. This technique uses a sword to pop the cork (and, more often than not, the neck) of the champagne bottle.

The final highlight of our trip was returning back to Cape Town via the Bain's Kloof Pass. It's a spectacular winding route through the mountains, and in the middle of the pass we stopped at Bobbejaan's Kloof and took a short hike to the rock pools in the valley for a swim.

Take a step out of the rat race. A Winelands escape is just a click away.