Cape Town Travel Guide
Considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Cape Town has everything; mountains, beaches, a vibrant nightlife, national parks, a unique culture, history, shopping, outdoor and adventure activities and great scenery.
Cape Town boasts 5 of the top 10 most visited tourist attractions in South Africa. These include the V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain, Robben Island, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens and Cape Point.
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Boulders Beach
Boulder's, which is part of the Table Mountain National Park, is home to a sizeable colony of African penguins (previously called jackass penguins). These cute and comical birds waddle around quite unperturbed by the hordes of tourists who flock towards them. A swim in the calm, warm waters of Boulders Beach is always fun on a hot summer day.
The Cape peninsula Day Tour stops at Boulders Beach en route.
Cape Point Nature Reserve
The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve forms part of the Cape Peninsula Park and is managed by the South African National Parks. The Nature Reserve is recognized globally for its extraordinary land formation, rich and diverse fauna and unique flora. Nowhere else in the world does an area of such spectacular beauty and such rich biodiversity exist almost within a metropolitan area.
The legendary Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope form part of the Nature Reserve. Click Here to book a Cape Peninsula day Tour
Castle Of Good Hope
Built by the Dutch in 1666 after arrival, the Castle was erected as a 5 pointed star on the foreshore of Cape Town. It is today surrounded by a variety of other monuments and places of historical interest.
Chapmans Peak
Chapman’s Peak Drive between Noordhoek and Hout
Bay on the Atlantic Coast on the south-western tip of
South Africa is one of the most spectacular
marine drives in the world.
The 9 km route with its 114 curves skirts Chapmans
Peak, the 593 m southerly extension of Constantia
Berg and follows the rocky coastline to unfold
stunning views in both directions.
Hout Bay
A sociable village with people chatting in cafés and a main street of interesting shops and an excellent craft market on the green every Sunday. The busy harbour is the centre for the tuna and crayfishing fleets, with fish and chip restaurants a stone’s throw from the water’s edge. The beach is long and sandy and safe for swimming and watersports like sea kayaking or dinghy sailing, though the water is pretty chilly.
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is world-renowned for the beauty and diversity of the Cape flora it displays and for the magnificence of its setting against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain.
Kirstenbosch grows only indigenous South African plants. The estate covers 528 hectares and supports a diverse fynbos flora and natural forest. The cultivated garden (36 hectares) displays collections of South African plants, particularly those from the winter rainfall region of the country. It was founded in 1913.
Cape Markets
Greenpoint Market: Every Sunday, curios, books, cd's
Greenmarket Square: daily originally a farmers market now curios and textiles
Kirstenbosch Craft Market: Last Sunday of every month. Hand crafted goods
Waterfront craft Market: daily hand crafted goods and curios.
Robben Island
During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those who ran the Island and its prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs. Some of the x-prisoners are now employed as guides on the Robben Island tours. You can book and take a tour from the V & A waterfront.
Table Mountain
The symbol of Cape Town, the mpuntain towera behind the city and is visible from just about everywhere. There are numerous walking tracks up the mountain, even starting in the Kirstenbosch Botanical garden. Plus of course you can take the cable car.
V & A Waterfront
Victoria and Albert waterfront, Mother and son not wife and husband as many people assume. Although it is still a working harbour it is also a fashionable shopping, eating and enetertainment area. It is home to craft markets and often street entertainers and musicians.
Winelands
Stellenbosch, Franschoek and Paarl are the towns at the centre of the Cape winelands, which is just over and hours drive from Cape Town. The area probuces, wines, ports and brandies. Tours are available from cape Town.