Walkersons Hotel and Spa

Walkersons Hotel and Spa is a charming country hotel located just 10 kilometres outside of picturesque Dullstroom. The hotel is set in the rolling hills of the Mpumalanga highlands and boasts endless views and unrivalled serenity. We were lucky to call this place our home away from home this past weekend. We’ve visited many places but not one where this description is more apt.

Before I tell you about Walkersons, let me tell you about Dullstroom.

Dullstroom is a quaint little town halfway between Johannesburg and the Kruger National Park. It is also, arguably, South Africa’s fly-fishing capital. We always use Dullstroom as our halfway stop on our annual family trip to the Kruger National Park but never have we stayed longer than one night in this cozy town.

Walkersons

We drove through the Walkersons gate on a rainy Friday afternoon for our two night stay. The winding roads led us past trout dams, an aeroplane landing strip, the hotel’s spa and a helicopter landing pad and finally to the grand English-manor-style country hotel. After we checked in, we were escorted to our lakeside suite. We unpacked and made ourselves very much at home.

Walkersons is everything a country hotel should be and more. With an intimate atmosphere, spacious but cozy rooms and so much historical charm, we instantly fell in love with this memorable place.

Wining & Dining

Wining at Walkersons is an experience in itself. Choosing a bottle of wine from the wine cellar every evening of our stay was definitely one of the highlights of our weekend. The wine cellar is expertly-curated and the atmosphere inside is like being in an actual wine-cellar underground. It is dark, intimate and so exciting, if you’re a wine lover like us. Our carefully selected red wines paired perfectly with the delicious food, the rainy weather and the fireplace.

The food at Walkersons was a real treat. For lunch, we lapped up homemade soup with freshly baked bread at The Terrace restaurant overlooking the lush gardens while watching the rain fall down. Come dinner time, each night, we headed to the Flying Scotsmans restaurant, with our carefully selected red wine in hand, and enjoyed a four course meal. The food was exceptional and the atmosphere was truly romantic. I loved that we were even given a palette cleanser of sorbet that was so delicious I was tempted to ask for a full portion of it for dessert.

Things to do

Walkersons offers numerous things to do. From scenic walks and hiking trails, to mountain biking and even horse riding. But let’s not forget though, an absolute must, is to try your hand at fly-fishing in Walkersons’ famous trout dams. Another thing that should be added to your list of things to do is visit the Spa for an ultimate pure self-indulgent escape.

There is so much to do and although we couldn’t do it all because of the rain, just being in the countryside, with breathtakingly beautiful views, was amazing! I know for sure we’ll be back to to explore the hiking trails and do some trout fishing.

If you really want to escape the city and head straight for the countryside, Dullstroom, and in particular Walkersons, is the ideal place for this. The drive is a little more than 2 hours long, but with some great music playing in the car, it felt even shorter. Our weekend at Walkersons was truly idyllic and just what we needed. We ate delicious food paired with even more delicious wine, we soaked up the serenity and peacefulness of such a beautiful place and come Sunday, we didn’t want to leave.

If you want a weekend just like this, visit the website here, and book your stay.

♥