The air conditioning hums, the tarmac shimmers, and the Langeberg range fills the horizon. Route 62 is a tourist route rather than a single road: 850 kilometres from Cape Town to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), stitched together from the N1, R60, R62 and N2 as an inland alternative to the coastal N2. The actual R62 road only starts at Ashton and runs through Cogmanskloof to Montagu.
- Cape Town to Gqeberha
- 850 km
- start of the actual R62 road
- Ashton
- Worcester to Robertson on the R60
- 47 km
- roads that make up the route
- N1, R60, R62, N2
Brochures often call Route 62 the longest wine route in the world. That is a marketing slogan, not a documented title. English Wikipedia is more careful and calls it “one of the longest wine routes in the world”. The official site, route62.co.za, does not make the claim on its home page at all and prefers to compare itself with Route 66 in the United States.
Inside the Cape Winelands district the stages are short. Worcester to Robertson on the R60 is 47 kilometres, Robertson to Ashton 17, and Robertson to Montagu 27 kilometres and just over half an hour according to OSRM. Robertson calls itself the “western gateway to the Route 62”, and the official route site also counts Paarl, Tulbagh and McGregor. Beyond Montagu the route enters the Klein Karoo, via Barrydale, Ladismith and Calitzdorp to Oudtshoorn.
- Time needed
- Cape Town to Montagu about 2 hours 20 minutes without traffic (184 km); with tastings, at least one night
- When
- all year; in high summer the Breede valley gets hot, and Worcester gets only about a third of the rain Stellenbosch does
Our tipDrive the district section from west to east and stay the night in Robertson or Montagu. If you want to taste, let someone else drive: the limit is 0.05 g of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.
Route 62: frequently asked questions
Is Route 62 really the longest wine route in the world?
Calling Route 62 the longest wine route in the world is a marketing slogan, not a documented title. English Wikipedia more carefully calls it one of the longest wine routes in the world.
Which Cape Winelands towns are on Route 62?
Inside the Cape Winelands district, Route 62 runs through Worcester, Robertson and Ashton, then through Cogmanskloof to Montagu. The official route site also includes Paarl, Tulbagh and McGregor.
Where does the actual R62 road start?
The R62 road starts at Ashton, where it meets the R60 from Worcester and Robertson, and runs through Cogmanskloof to Montagu. The tourist Route 62 is longer and also uses the N1, R60 and N2.