Cape Town - 10 Unmissable Spots
1. Simon's town and Boulders beach
Boulders beach is an absolute must for any animal lovers. This is where the penguin colony is of thousands of African penguins in their natural environment.
You will find penguins here all year round but there will be much more of them in their mating season - peaking March to May.
At the main entrance there are turnstiles to get you onto the boardwalk that passes multiple bays in which you can see the penguins, sometimes protecting their eggs. This is ticketed by SANs parks. There is also a gift shop for all your cute penguin merch!
If your looking at the main entrance from the outside then take the boardwalk to the right and follow it down to a little beach. Again there is a turnstile, but your ticket is valid for both entrances so make sure you keep it safe. This little entrance takes you onto a beach itself where you can see the penguins coming in and out of the water. There are often a lot more penguins in the main entrance section but you can’t beat being on the beach and swimming in the sea with penguins zooming around you. There’s lots of boulders on this beach (hence the name), which make great sitting spots to penguin watch.
To get you excited for your trip there is a documentary on Netflix called Penguin Town which follows some of the penguins in this area.
Getting there - Boulders beach is located in Simon’s town, around 30-40 minute drive from Cape Town CBD, if you hire a car then this is a very easy and pretty drive (would recommend hiring a car when coming to Cape Town), or you can grab an Uber, trust me they are a lot cheaper than most other countries. You are looking at around R650 each way. Or team it up with a trip to the Cape of Good Hope and do a trip to both, use the link below for a tour of both.
Cost - R160 for an international adult. Or is included if you have a wild card - see my guide on wild cards to see what you can use one for.
Opening times - 8am to 5pm
Top tip - why not go down to the beach area for the day and enjoy a picnic on the beach or rocks whilst watching the penguins.
Top tip 2 - If you want to enjoy a picnic on the beach, especially if you fancy breakfast on the beach, check out the Olympia bakery in Kalk bay to grab some yummy baked goods!
2. Constantia - wine, wine and more wine
There are some amazing wineries in the Constantia area, and man are they beautiful!
Everyone heads to Beau Constania, which is ... Instagram beautiful but not much substance, if you know what I mean. You get a great view across the cape but the wine wasn't great and it's full of people getting their perfect Instagram shot with their wine tasting (and not even drinking the wine).
There are many places in the area that are, in my opinion, more beautiful and the wine is actually amazing. Constainia Glen would be my top suggestion. There is an incredible view up table mountain and it has a very relaxed, sit in the sun all afternoon, drinking wine vibe. Wine tasting here starts at R150 (that's for 6 wines). The platters here are great too so it honestly is a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon.
Buitenverwacting is a small winery that is not well known by tourists and has some beautiful wines in a lovely setting, one to add to your list.
Be warned - South Africa has very generous wine tasting measures!
Getting there - If you hire a car Constantia is very easy to get to. Please bear in mind that the wine tasting measures are a bit more than you might expect from a “tasting” so you might need to have a designated driver or pair it with some lunch.
Cost - Completely dependent on you. Wine tastings can start from as little as R50.
Opening times - Most wineries in the area are open 10am - 6pm.
If you want to know more about the wineries of Cape Town and the Western Cape, I have sooo many suggestions, look out for my guide on wineries, coming soon.
3. Seal snorkelling, Hout Bay
My favourite activity in Cape Town!
Duiker Island is home to HUNDREDS of Cape fur seals, you can take boat trips to this area so you can see the seals from the boat. But why see them from the boat when you can swim with them.
I've been with bucket list Cape Town multiple times as it's just amazing! You get in a rib boat from Hout bay, all wetsuited up (don't worry they give you thick wetsuits and extra vests if you feel the cold) and get driven around to the island, there's even a chance you might see dolphins on the way. After a 5 minute boat ride, it's time to jump in! Fins and mask with snorkel are provided. As soon as you jump in you are surrounded by seals and even seal pups, who are just so curious. You get 45 minutes to an hour to splash around and play with the seals, watch out they do like to play and nibble at your fins or even your bum sometimes. Such a magical experience! When back on the boat the team take great care of you and let you warm up with some hot water before giving you hot chocolate and cookies whilst you come back into the harbour.
A great add on to this adventure is heading to Hout bay market (open Friday evenings, all day Saturday and Sunday), Lots of yummy food stalls and live music, a great way to relax after an exhilarating morning!
Getting there - Beautiful drive if you have a car and can easily be combined with Chapman’s peak (check out my Ultimate Cape Town guide/perfect 1 & 2 week itineraries for Cape Town for this).
Cost - R750pp
Opening times - Multiple times to pick from during the day from 9am to 3pm
4. Cape of Good Hope
This place is magical!
There are multiple beaches to explore, lots of hiking trails as well as a funicular which takes you up to the lighthouse at the top.
You can even do a 2 day hike and stay at a little cottage within the reserve. There’s some great shipwreck hikes which are quite short and easy at 5km.
Make sure you go around the top funicular station and down the path that goes to the left of the light house. This leads to a little path down to the tip where you can walk with the ocean either side of you. Stunning views and some great photo opportunities.
There is so much wildlife here, so watch out for the ostriches crossing the road when driving through.
Getting there - This is a bit of a drive from Cape Town and once in the park you still need to drive so not possible in an Uber. If you don’t have a car then look into booking a day trip, such as the one below which also includes a trip to Boulders beach.
Cost - R376 per international adult
Opening times - 6am - 8pm
5. Lions head hike
A must when visiting Cape Town. You get the most stunning view over the Atlantic ocean, Table Mountain, the city and the Cape flats. You can just stand at the top and spin yourself around never having a bad view - it’s hard to pick when to look.
It’s a 45 minute to an hour hike to the top and is easily sign posted with yellow markings on the floor. About ⅔ of the way into the hike there will be a split in the route - an easier way or a harder way. The harder way involves a ladder and some chains that you will need to pull yourself up with. Remember this is South Africa and if you are thinking, this seems to be where the arrow is pointing but surely this can’t be the route, it probably is. The walking/hiking routes in South Africa are definitely a lot more “adventurous” than you would find in Europe.
My top tip would be to do this for sunset so you can watch the sunsetting over the Atlantic ocean and get those incredible photos of table mountain in that golden hour. Remember to bring a sundowner, which is the South African phrase for a drink (usually beer or wine) drunk watching the sunset. Makes such a magical evening!
Top tip - if doing this hike for sunset, bring a head torch with you so you don’t have to be conscious of making it all the way down before it’s completely dark.
Getting there - Drive to the Lion’s head hiking trail start point, a number of parking spots but if it’s busy you can always park at Signal hill (bare in mind the extra time added to your hike). Or Uber!
Cost - R0
Opening times - NA - you can go at 2am if you wanted to (wouldn’t recommend
You can hike Lion's head easily without a guide but if a guide is something you would want for this hike then check out this trip below which offers either sunrise or sunset guided hikes, they even provide you with headtorches so you don't need to think about bring one along with you.
6. Franschhoek wine tram
Although outside of Cape Town, it is well worth the visit.
R300 for a ticket to go on tram and bus transfers between some of the best wineries in South Africa. It’s a hop on hop off services, so you’ll be given a timetable and you can go to as many of the wineries on your route as you wish. There are 5 different tickets available and these will visit different wineries, with some overlap. Some wineries are great lunch spots whereas others don’t serve food so do a little bit of research before you go (or just see my wine tram guide).
These wineries are nestled within the mountain ranges so are just the most gorgeous places to spend your day.
Each route has 7 wineries on that line, so you will have to make decisions over which one or ones to skip. Even starting at the earliest time of the day and with the goal of making it to as many wineries as possible we’ve only managed 6.
One of the great perks of the wine tram is that if you want to purchase any wine at any of the wineries you don’t need to worry about carrying it around all day. When you get back on the tram after a winery the staff on the tram will take your wine off you, label it up and give it back to you at the end of the day.
Top tip - get the earliest time. You might not think you’ll fancy wine at 09:30am but by the time you’re at the first winery, sat in the sun, you won’t care what time it is.
Top tip 2 - This is a great day to have near the start of your trip as you can then purchase some bottles of wine to enjoy for the rest of your holiday.
Getting there - You can book transfer with the wine tram company, but this is fairly pricey at around R2,000 depending on how many people.
A better way is to get your ticket to the tram and transport from and back to Cape Town, you can buy that here:
Cost - R300pp, includes a tasting when you get on the tram but does not include any tastings at the wineries. This is a huge price range depending if you want to try pairings such as cheese and wine and what level of tasting you want. Prices start from as little as R45 for a tasting though
Opening times - Range of start times available from 9am to 1pm.
7. Table mountain
You can get the cable car up and this costs R430 return or you can hike up! Now most tourists go for the famous Plattleklip Gorge route, do NOT do this route, there are much better routes available. The Plattleklip Gorge route is just steps and you don't get much of a view on the way up.
My favourite route is the Kasteelspoort route. This you can either park/uber to a residential street in Camps bay?? to start your hike or you can team it up with the Pike track hike. I would highly recommend doing the Pike track either as part of your hike up Table Mountain or just as a separate short hike.
The reason I love Kasteelspoort route is that you get an incredible view all the way up as you're on the sea side of the mountain. Gives you a good excuse to stop and catch your breath whilst taking a few photos. I would also suggest taking a breakfast picnic on this route with you as there is a rock half way up that makes a perfect picnic spot with the most spectacular view of Lion's head.
Once at the top of Table mountain, you have a few options. Firstly I would recommend heading to the diving board which is a right turn when you get to a T junction on the boardwalk at the top. It is well sign posted and makes for amazing photos (if it's not too windy).
To get back down again you have a few options:
1. Head back down Kasteelspoort (around 2-3hrs up and down)
2. Walk over the table past the reservoir on the top and across to the Skeleton gorge route on the other side. This will bring you down into Kirstenbosch gardens (which you technically need to buy a ticket for). This took us around 4 hours but we did stop multiple times.
3. Hike up to the cable car station and either get the cable car down or go down the touristy Plattleklip Gorge route. You'll need to pay for the cable car option, and be warned the top of the table is NOT flat. This route goes through echo valley which involves climbing up a few ladders, but it is beautiful when you stop thinking about how much your legs burn. But the cable car station has a bar so if the thought of beer can keep you going, this is the route for you. This took us 5 hours but we included the Pike track, Kasteelspoort and then echo valley, we also stopped for breakfast when doing this route.
Getting there - Lovely drive and you can park on a residential street near Kasteelspoort start point on Theresa avenue in Camps Bay (please be mindful of residents) or if combining with the Pike track then there is parking here called Kloof nek parking. Or you can Uber - recommend if not going out and back.
Cost - R0
Opening times - NA
Top tip: for the best view of Table mountain head to Bloubergstrand beach at sunset. Take some beers or a bottle of wine any enjoy sundowners on the beach.
8. Muizenberg beach
This is the classic beach you see in all the photos of Cape Town with those bright colourful huts. This is the surfers corner of Cape Town! You can rent a board from one of the multiple surf shops or even get a lesson.
These huts are functional too and you can use them to get changed if you need.
They do surf competitions on this beach which makes for some great entertainment as you sit on the sand watching the hundreds of surfers with the table mountain nature reserve in the background.
There’s lots of cafes, bars, take away coffee and food places so you definitely won’t go hungry. An evening surf followed by some fish and chips on the beach is an evening well spent in my books.
Top tip - the nachos at Tigers Milk are next level! Tigers milk is a chain but the Muizenberg one has great views over the beach.
Getting there - 30 minute drive outside Cape Town CBD, plenty of parking or you can Uber.
Cost - R0, R50 to rent a surf board
Opening times - NA
9. Mojo Market
This is a great spot in Sea Point. It’s a market hall with sooo many food vendors (over 30!) from baked goods to an oyster bar, this place will have something for everyone. They even had a Biltong stall. They have live music everyday from some great local artists and it really brings party vibes on the weekend.
Getting there - Located in Sea Point, this is very easy to get to if you are staying in the normal touristy area. Parking can be a bit more limited as it’s mainly street parking but there are a few multi storey car park near by. Great place to have a drink though so just grab an Uber.
Cost - variable
Opening times - 8am to 12am
10. Jokenschoek nature reserve
This feels like a little secret place away from all the tourists. The views are out of this world!
There are 4 hiking routes and a lot of mountain bike routes in this nature reserve. You can also visit one of the picnic spots for a braai (South African BBQ) or visit one of the many swimming spots. The panoramic and the Tweede waterval are 2 amazing hikes and very different. The panoramic route is a strenuous 16km circular trail that has the most incredible views over the reserve and the Tweede waterval is a very easy 6km out and back hikes that passes two great waterfall swimming spots.
Top tip: on the way back from the reserve visit the Postcard cafe for some food or a drink or even a wine tasting at Stark-Conde wines, which is in the same location as the postcard cafe.
Getting there - Located just outside of Stellenbosch. You will need to have rented a car for this as you need to drive into the reserve to get to the hiking trail start points.
Cost - R50 or included with your wild card
Opening times - 7am (summer)/8am (winter) - 6pm
If you want more recommendations on things to do, places to stay and where to eat, check out my other posts! Hope you enjoy South Africa and have the most memorable trip.
I love South Africa and have spent a lot of time in the country, so if you want help planning your trip then please get in touch. I'm an Independent Travel Agent and I aim to not only take the stress off you when it comes to travel arrangements but I also try and go above and beyond to help plan your perfect itinerary.
Or email me at alice.adventureplanner@gmail.com
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