Flats to Rent in Paarl - 167 Apartments available (for sale)

Parel is a city in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is originally derived from Parel, meaning Pearl in Dutch. After Cape Town and Stellenbosch, it is the third oldest town and European settlement in South Africa. It is also the biggest city in the Cape Winelands. As the Mbenkweni township made rapid strides of development, it has come up as the urban unit in Wellington. Situated 60 km northeast of Cape Town in the Western Cape province, it is famous for its idyllic beauty and viticulture and fruit growing heritage.

Paarl is also important because it is the seat of Drakenstein Local Municipality. It's not officially a part of the Cape Town metropolitan area but it is definitely a part of the economic enterprises. Paarl earned its glory and place in history when Nelson Mandela got released from Victor Verster Correctional Centre which is currently known as Drakenstein Correctional Centre in 1990 after 27 years of imprisonment. It marked the beginning of a new age of South Africa's development. A bronze statue of Mandela is located outside the prison reminding one of the historic time.

In recent times, Paarl also shot into limelight when it hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003. The district is mainly famous for the Pearl Mountain or "Paarl Rock". There are three round parts that make the Paarl Mountain. Based on its shape and beauty, people compare it with Uluru in Australia.

It has a history that dates back to the days of the Dutch East India Company. Therefore, if you go around, you will find that there are many tourist attractions connected to that time period. Cape Dutch Buildings date back to the time period between 17th and 19th century and draw a lot of tourists every year. There are beautiful drives, hiking trails and a number of quality restaurants to add to your delight. The Paarl Wine Route provides many wine tasting opportunities.

Paarl has a cultural attraction to too. The roots of the Afrikaans language lie in this place. Geneootskap van Regte Afrikaners laid the foundation of this language. The "Afrikaanse Taalmonument" (monument to the Afrikaans language) on the slope to the Paarl Mountain, the Language Museum (Taalmuseum) and the Afrikaans Language Route through Dal Josaphat are dedicated to commemorating the rich cultural history.

On the other hand, "Co-operative Wine Growers' Association", the former headquarters of the wine industry, is also located here. It is better know by the initials in Afrikaans language as KWV. Charles Back initiated the old Spice Route Paarl in 1997. It offers the opportunity for tourists to try out the local delicacies.

If you are fairly new to Paarl, you can keep in mind the important landmarks like Afrikaans Language Monument, Fairview Wine and Cheese, Butterfly World etc. Drakenstein Lion Park, New Orleans Park, and New Orleans Park are the delight for nature lovers. Paarl Mall, Frater Square, The Alpaca Loom Coffee Shop and Weaving Studio are popular destination for shopping. If you are a foody, you can explore Terra Mare Restaurant, The Hussar Grill Paarl, Noop etc.

Paarl Boys High School, Paarl Girls High School, Noorder-Paarl Secondary School, Paarl School of Skills are the leading schools in the area.




The old Spice Route Paarl, which was initiated in 1997 by Charles Back, the owner of this estate as well as of Fairview, provides an opportunity for visitors to appreciate and taste local delicacies from the Western Cape, like biltong, draft beer or red and white wines from the surrounding wine yards in Malmesbury and Darling. Back's vision was "to offer local and international tourists a selection of hand-picked artisanal producers who put as much thought, skill and passion into their products as Spice Route wine maker, Charl du Plessis, puts into his wines".[9] Besides that a range of art galeries and the traditional way of organic dark chocolate production can be explored. The heritage of the Spice Route farm goes back to the historical marieners who used to trade Eastern spices to Europe along the "Spice Route" for spice trade in the 15th century.

The Paarl Rock itself is these days a popular Mecca for rock climbers. However, in the pioneering period of rock climbing in South Africa, the mountain was ignored or shunned because its steep faces were so smooth and unfissured that climbers could find no place to attach "runners" or anchor points for belays. The first climbing routes up the rock were pioneered in 1969 by J.W.Marchant and G. Athiros, the former from the University of Cape Town Mountain and Ski Club. Soon afterwards Marchant and John Knight established a few routes on which the rope was run out for 100 m (330 ft) or more with no protection whatsoever.[11] This was in the days before bolting was possible and these achievements are still held in high regard today. Nowadays protection is afforded by bolts in the granite and there are on Paarl Rock a few dozen spectacular, beautiful and very hard routes that attract the best climbers of the current generation. (All of these climbs remain dangerous for the inexperienced.) A guide book for these routes was written in 2006 by Stewart & Scott Noy who lived at the foot of the mountain and were developing many of the new routes at the time.