Somerset West

Somerset West and the Helderberg Basin are home to a grand mix of wine farms, top-notch restaurants, majestic golf estates, and adrenaline-inducing adventure activities. At only 45km from the city centre, or between 30 and 60 minutes, it’s a great place to live. With world-class schools and hospitals and of course it’s the most beautiful town.

Somerset West was founded in 1822 on part of the historic farm, Vergelegen. The town was named Somerset after a British governor of the Cape Colony during the 1800s, Lord Charles Somerset, with the suffix 'West' being added after 1825 to differentiate it from Somerset East, another South African town in the Eastern Cape. In the 1830s, Sir Lowry's Pass, named after later governor Sir Lowry Cole, was constructed to link the town with outposts further east over the Hottentots-Holland mountains.