Starting your trip in Cape Town, head out on the R27 (west coast road) through Tableview and Melkbosstrand. Eighty kilometres from the city turn left (westerly direction) to Yzerfontein, a pretty seaside town that comes alive in the winter months when the snoek is running. Out in the bay is the rocky islet known as Meeurots (gull rock) where gulls gather en masse. Look out for the kilns that were once used to burn shells for lime-making and are now bear the national monument badge.
Lying to the east of the R27 is the town of Darling named after a lieutenant-governor of the Cape, Charles Darling. Here you'll discover the town's own modern darling, renowned performer Pieter-Dirk Uys and Tannie Evita se Perron. It is a dairy farming area, but local farmers are fast latching onto the glory of the grape and now vineyards and olive groves are springing up fast. After good winter rains visit and walk in the Tinie Versfeld Wild Flower Reserve that lies between the R27 and the town itself. Along this stretch lies !Kwa ttu San Culture & Education Centre, Buffelsfontein and Elandsfontein game reserves, all well worth visiting.
Some 20km further north is Langebaan and the West Coast National Park. Enter via the southern gate, travel through the Park and out on the northern side into through the town itself and then back onto the R27. There are three bird hides well worth spending time at, usually best on the incoming tide. The flower viewing area of Postberg is only open during the months of August and September where the bonus is the sighting of kudu, eland, springbok and many other mammalian species.
National Parks Board manages the 16 km-long Langebaan Lagoon, a favourite place for aqua sports. Once home to huge colonies of oysters, the rush of cold water from the Benguela Current killed them off many years ago and today there remain only 30 million tons of shell deposits piled to a depth of seven metres in places.
An alternative road to Saldanha travels past Club Mykonos (casino and resort) and Saldanha Steel/Duferco or you can approach the town off the R27. The bay is one of the great natural harbours of the world and the end-point of the Sishen ore line from the Northern Cape.
To get to Paternoster you need to travel through Vredenburg in a westerly direction. It was probably named after a particular kind of fishing tackle, but could have been the prayer given up as thanks by local fishermen who survived the sinking of their ship. Columbine Nature Reserve is a few kilometres out of town and here lies the famous Tietiesbaai (named after an unfortunate fisherman who drowned there) and the Columbine Lighthouse (open for tours on weekdays or by prior arrangement), the first working lighthouse after crossing the equator and a major navigation point for shipping approaching South Africa from the west.
One of the attractions of this area is the West Coast Fossil Park, which lies 4,5km along the R45 off the R27. Besides the sabre-toothed tiger and the short-necked giraffe, the visitor can gaze in awe at the remains of the first bear found south of the Sahara Desert, not to mention the myriad bones of small mammals and avifauna.
Further east along this road you'll find the town of Hopefield, famous for its annual fynbos flower show (last weekend in August). Lying on the banks of the Soutrivier, the town is centre of the Voorbaai, a wheat and sheep farming area in the middle of the sandveld.
Back on the R27 and through the town of Vredenburg (once called Twisfontein because of the skirmishes that developed around the rights to the spring waters on which is was built), head north on the R399 and into St Helena Bay, discovered by Vasco da Gama on 7 November 1497 - St Helen's Day and hence the name - and hub of the fishing industry on the West Coast. At its westernmost point are Stompneusbaai and Britannia Bay, so named after the wreck that sank there in 1697 and Shelley Point golf estate with its wellness centre and sporting facilities. And on starry nights the visitor can watch the moon rise and set over the same stretch of water.
Velddrif was originally a fording place across the Berg River for the road across the sandveld from Cape Town - and where Johann Carel Stephan made his fortune as a trader. Known as the Koring Koning (corn king), he worked the route from Table Bay and back in the patched-up ship, the Nerie. Laaiplek ('loading place') lies at the mouth of the river and this is where one can see the fishing smacks lying in wait to sail. It is also an Important Bird Area and home to many waterfowl that migrate here in the summer months. Also worth visiting is Bokkomlaan where visitors can still see this delicacy of the West Coast hanging out to dry in the sun.
Leaving the town one travels through Dwarskersbos passing Rocher Pan Nature Reserve and Draaihoek Guesthouse and Game Reserve en route to Elands Bay and the estuarine area of Verlorenvlei, home to some 240 species of birds. Known for its left-breaking waves, this coastline produces magnificent 'tubes' for the budding Shaun Thomson surfers of the world. Baboon Point is a natural heritage site.
The next stop is Lambert's Bay and an absolute is the magnificent one-way glass bird hide on Bird Island. Two typically traditional places to eat are Muisbosskerm and Bosduifklip. North of the town the road meanders through Doringbaai, Strandfontein, Papendorp to Lutzville and then inland via Vredendal/Klawer and back onto the N7 heading south to Clanwilliam, heart of the Rooibos (free of tannin and high in Vitamin C) tea industry and well known for its velskoene (tanned leather shoes - think David Kramer). It is also the gateway to rock art viewing. A recommended visit would be to Bushman's Kloof Private Game Reserve.
Citrusdal lies on the banks of the Olifantsrivier in the Gouevallei ('Golden Valley') and again there's much to see and do. The waters of the hot spring at The Baths are renowned as a cure for aching backs.
Between the two towns (75km from Clanwilliam) lies Wupperthal, a Moravian (Rhenish) mission station and, again, home to the Rooibos tea industry and the oldest working shoe factory in South Africa and gateway to the Cederberg range with its oddly shaped mass of sandstone that is the protector of a variety of plant and animal life. It is a great hiking area with caves and Bushman paintings dotted around.
The R44 travels parallel to the N7 through Porterville, Tulbagh, Ceres, Riebeeck-West/Kasteel to Malmesbury and back onto the N7.
Source
St Helena Bay Tourism
