Bonne Esperance Guest House
Simon's Town, Cape Town
From R 1,600a night
Victorian stays
Victorian stays
Across Africa
The Retreat at Groenfontein
Calitzdorp
From R 2,020a night
Barry House on Riverton
Robertson
From R 1,155a night
1 Royal Street Guesthouse
Riebeek Kasteel
From R 1,850a night
Schoone Oordt Country House
Swellendam
From R 4,355a night
Saxe-Coburg Lodge
Prince Albert
From R 1,480a night
Further afield
Across Africa. Rates on request.
The Kohling
Gardens, Cape Town
Price on request
Langfontein Guest Farm
Camdeboo Conservancy, Graaff-Reinet
Price on request
More stays that give back
Welgelegen House by RETURN Africa
Gardens, Cape Town
From R 2,800a night
Rose on Kerry
Parkview, Johannesburg
From R 1,500a night
Kelkiewyn Guesthouse
Caledon
From R 1,100a night
LemonTree Apartment
Oranjezicht, Cape Town
From R 1,500a night
Brooklands House
Rosebank, Cape Town
From R 1,960a night
The Overberg
Next stop
Whale coast and rolling farm country
See places that give backSouth Africa built most of its Victorian houses between the 1850s and the turn of the century, when wool, ostrich feathers and the diamond fields put money into small towns. You can still read that money on the streets of Prince Albert, Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet, and in the older suburbs under Table Mountain.
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The giveaway is the veranda. Cast iron came out by ship, so a village house in the Karoo could wear the same lace as a townhouse in Cape Town. Inside you usually get high pressed-metal ceilings, sash windows and thick walls that keep the rooms cool through a Karoo summer.
Every stay on this page can be booked here. Most are request to book: you send your dates, the host confirms, and you pay in rand. Guests pay no service fee, and a share of each booking goes to the cause named on the listing.
Questions travellers ask
Where are the best towns for a Victorian stay?
Prince Albert, Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet have whole streets of them, and Cape Town's older suburbs under the mountain have many more. The Karoo towns are the ones where the style still sets the character of the place.
Are old houses comfortable in summer and winter?
Thick walls and high ceilings keep them cool in summer. Karoo winter nights are cold, so check each listing for fireplaces or heating before you book.
How do you decide a stay is Victorian?
Hosts can name their own style in the listing editor, and when they do, that is what places them here. Otherwise we read the listing's own description, so a few stays may be here for a Victorian wing or a Victorian neighbour rather than the whole house.