It lies east of Cape Town City, within the Cape Peninsula urban Area.
This Area was originally used as a wagon halt for farmers bringing their produce to Cape Town and was known as; Twelfth Mile Stone. Since it is situated 20 km from the city of Cape Town, Bellville was originally called 12 Mile Stone. It was originally founded as a railway station on the line from Cape Town to Stellenbosch and strand. Bellville was rename in 1861 after the surveyor general Charles Bell.
Ideally situated close to the Cape Town International airport, major award winning golf courses, wine routes, world class shopping malls, major medical facilities e.g. Tygerberg Hospital, Karl Bremer Hospital, Louis Leipoldt Hospital in addition to being central to the University of the Western Cape and several satellite campuses of the University of Stellenbosch and other tertiary education facilities.
Bellville boasts some of the finest entertainment for the young at heart with a vibey atmosphere on any night of the week in Edward Street at the popular clubs and restaurants found there.