Cape Town

Cape Town is a large city that is right by the ocean and has mountains that feel like they are right in the city.  That means there is a wide variety of things to do embracing nature, the cultural history and the diverse mix of its past and present.

Our list is drawn from review sites, visitor numbers and our own visits. 

Where relevant we've included some links for booking the following highlights - just use the underlined text.

Table Mountain

​This recognisable mountain sits as a backdrop to many pictures of Cape Town.  It is just over 1000 metres high but famous for its 2-mile wide flat top, bordered by steep crags.  Over 8000 plant species can be found of which 80% are classified as fynbos, only found in the broader area.  There are various hiking trails to the top but the majority of the over 4 million annual visitors take the cable car.

V&A Waterfront​

This large harbour area is named after Queen Victoria and her son Prince Alfred, the latter being the first Royal visitor to Cape Town when he arrived as a 16-year-old midshipman.  Today it comprises 300 acres of working harbour, and hosts of shops, bars and restaurants, as well as a number of hotels.  It's the gateway to Robben Island, the first stop for the hop-on/off bus and is also home to a huge cinema and an aquarium.  There's a great Marine Wildlife Tour that leaves the V&A.

Robben Island​

​This small, low-lying flat island is a few miles off the coast and served as a prison from the late seventeenth century onwards until 1996 when apartheid ended.  Its most famous inmate was Nelson Mandela who spent 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment on the island.  In addition two other South African Presidents were also former inmates on the island, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma. 

Robben Island.

Kirstenbosch Gardens

​Founded in 1913 to preserve South Africa's flora, the gardens cover 1300 acres. They incorporate a section of hedge planted in 1660 to protect the Dutch Colony of that time, as well as some other significant planted areas that predate the formation of the gardens.  It began covered with orchards and weeds, and full of wild pigs.  Today the array of plants are joined by a concert area and various hiking trails.

Boulders Bay

​Just to the south of Simon's Town, part way down the Cape, you will find an unexpected sanctuary.  In 1982 two pairs of African (or Cape) penguins settled in the bay and today there are over 3000 birds to be found.  The birds can be viewed from a wooden walkway, basking on the sun-drenched beach or swimming in the cool waters of False Bay.  ​

​Chapman's Peak Drive​

​The peak sits between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, with a road hugging the nearly vertical cliffs to connect the two.  It's a dramatic route with a number of stopping points along the way.  These give great views, especially towards Hout Bay the town and the bay itself.  Various measures have been taken to prevent rockfalls and there is a toll as a result to help fund such work.​

Bo-Kaap

​Part of the area, situated in the lower reaches of Signal Hill, was purchased in 1760 and houses were built for rent.  Amongst some of the early occupiers were skilled craftsmen from Malaysia and Indonesia, who were principally Muslim.  A mosque was built and the area became even more of a focal point for followers of the religion.  The growing Malay population began painting their houses with an array of bright colours.  Even today almost 60% of the population are Muslim.

Cape of Good Hope

​The Cape is as far south of Cape Town as you can go in a straight line and was a noted navigational point from as early as 1487 - the point where a ship starts going east instead of south.  It is a sub-section of the Table Mountain National Park.  The area is rugged and fairly unspoilt, populated mostly by birds but with some roaming troops of baboons and antelope.

​District Six

​Initially one of the numbered municipal areas of Cape Town, it was relatively cosmopolitan in the years after the Second World War.  In 1966 it was decreed to be a "white-only" area and it was ordered that the existing buildings would be demolished.  The process took years but, eventually, thousands were forced out.  After apartheid, much of this has been reversed and the area is home to an informative and award-winning apartheid-themed museum.

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