Franskraal is a beautiful seaside village in the Overberg region, about two and a half hours from Cape Town and around the corner from Gansbaai. It’s a fantastic place for a family weekend getaway. The views are incredible, the water is lovely (not the ice bath on the West Coast), and there are pet-friendly spaces for a good family holiday.
My friend Dee recently started a website featuring verified pet-friendly accommodations across South Africa. It’s great for people who want to travel with their dogs and need an easy way to identify suitable places to stay. All of their excellent properties are verified in person by the HolidayDOG ambassadors, and our little adventure dog Ahsoka does the checking. So, we gathered our family over the holidays and headed to the Overberg for a weekend exploring Franskraal.
Unfortunately, as we drove closer, the cloud bank in the distance moved closer and closer. This is not unusual for the Overberg region. But the wind and rain didn’t stop us from having a fabulous time.
Stay at Allie’s Place
Allie’s Place is a beautiful, pet-friendly accommodation in Franskraal. Its unique, blue, dome-shaped roof was a fantastic landmark for us after our daily adventures. The house has a great backyard with large trees, grass, and a braai area perfect for an afternoon with friends. It is a spacious home with different sitting areas that allow you to experience the space differently. There’s an indoor lounge to take in all the views through the large windows, an outdoor patio overlooking the ocean, and a backyard patio so well-sheltered that you’ll forget what a windy day it is.
Some of the self-catering places we’ve visited will have four plates, a fork and half a tong, but the kitchen in this beautiful home was very well-kitted (I mean, come on, an air fryer?). We made it a point to sit around the long table for twelve for all our dinners and breakfast. It was a lovely nod to a home away from home.
Things to do in Franskraal
Explore the rock pools.
The beach was just a two-minute walk from Allie’s Place. You could easily see the swimming spots from the accommodation’s balcony. On the left are rock pools that are great places to swim at high tide, and on the right is an opportunity to see what lies beneath at low tide. There was a tide book in the house that made it easy to plan our day around when the best time to head to the beach would be. This area was quickly one of the best parts to explore with our dog. On the right is a small island that emerges at the low tide, creates small puddles to explore with shallow swimming (she’s not a fan of the deep end) and pretty kelp, shells and sea anemones to sniff.
Eat fresh calamari on the beach.
Seafood is the way to go if you’re this close to the ocean. In the main beach parking is a food truck selling calamari, chips, snacks and of course, ice cream. On the next street, Kuslangs, a small but popular restaurant, sells good old-fashioned hake and chips- with vinegar. It isn’t pet-friendly inside but has some tables outside where you can sit with a pet. We ordered a takeaway here after a long day of exploring.
Franskraal Beach Walk
There’s a walking path just below Allie’s Place that can take you to the beach. When there was a break in the rain, we took Ahsoka down to the beach to run for a bit. It was a lovely sunset, with many families taking advantage of that break. That night was high tide. I recommend getting your cozzie ready if you are there at that time. You may need to cross the outlet of the Uilkraalsmond River estuary on Franskraal Beach to continue walking on the other side. There, you can continue on an adventure in the dunes.
On our second afternoon, we took a stroll down the beach at low tide, and it was a different but equally fantastic experience. The water was warm. We were a bit reluctant to swim because of the wind, but the children and Ahsoka had no such misgivings, and we had a fantastic time in the water. It’s safe for swimming and watersports. We passed many families fishing here. She was ready for a happy, deep sleep when we walked home and started our braai.
Hiking at Groeneweide Farm
We discovered a dog-friendly park run just 3km from Allies’s Place, which is a great way to start the day and earn those ice creams. Groeneweide Farm is an eco-friendly spot with a restaurant, nursery, and art gallery. The run is along the 5 km hiking trail, a well-marked trail through the fynbos and mountain views. The farm has a nursery and farm animals like chickens and goats. It’s a fun family adventure to explore while visiting the area.
Explore the Klipgat Cave in Gansbaai
On our way home, we stopped in Gansbaai to visit the Klipgat Cave in The Walker Bay Nature Reserve. It’s always on our radar when we visit Hermanus, but we always run out of time. The reserve is not pet-friendly, so we bundled our doggo back to Cape Town in the grandparents’ car and ventured off alone.
You can do a beach walk from Franskraal to the Klipgat Cave, but we left that for another day and opted to drive there. We entered through the De Kelders gate with an entrance fee of R60 per adult. There is a steep but short boardwalk and stairs down to the beach. The entrance to the cave requires a fair bit of scrambling on the rocks, but all that is worth it when you make it inside. There are information plaques in the cave with a brief history of the cave. The views are epic.
Franskraal is just a forty-minute drive from Hermans, which is usually one of our go-to weekend getaways in the Western Cape. It was lovely to find another option to explore more.
My weekend stay was courtesy of Allie’s Place. The opinions expressed are mine.