Africa’s trendiest city is a fantastic photo opportunity with its famous Table Mountain backdrop, gorgeous beaches, vineyard covered hinterland and colorful locals. Located at the southern tip of Africa, the region’s oldest city blends native, Malay, Dutch and English influences and has become a cosmopolitan tourist destination, with an excellent infrastructure and some great sights and daytrips.
No doubt about it, Cape Town is now South Africa|South Africa’s biggest tourist attraction, with its jaw-dropping coastal scenery and cosmopolitan atmosphere. An ethnic potpourri with a proud history, this city is most famously known for its Table Mountain backdrop and trendy beaches. The hinterland is strewn with vineyard filled valleys and some typically Mediterranean like mountain scenery, swathed in cobalt skies for 6 months of the year.
The Chapman’s Peak drive is arguably one of the most scenic ocean routes in the world and leads day-trippers through a series of quaint coastal towns where you can enjoy an obligatory stop to enjoy the catch of the day at one if the excellent restaurants. Closer to the city are some remarkable beaches of which chic Clifton is the best place to show off bikinis. The gentrified Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is an entertainment and shopping bonanza and the launching point for the famous Robben Island – where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated.
Highlights
Table Mountain: an ideal location for a James Bond movie scene, cable car and all, this remarkably shaped mountain is climbable and offers the best views of the city.****
Victoria and Alfred Waterfront: is Cape Town’s tourist magnet but popular with locals too; a great place to sip local wines, eat crayfish and gaze at the mountain.
Robben Island: home to Nelson Mandela during his prison years, this somber apartheid reminder is an essential history trip.
Chapman’s Peak drive: meanders along a stunning coast south of the city towards Cape Point, with sharp bends, steep edges and endless ocean vistas.
Stellenbosch vineyards: make sure you hire a driver for tours of the wine-routes in this lovely town and valley so you don’t miss out on the excellent pinotages.
Clifton and Camps Bay: are the places to be seen in a city where beaches face three sides of the Atlantic; a short ride from the city center, but miles away from the office.
The Castle: a relic of the Dutch and English colonial legacies which stretch back to the early 18th century, it’s a pentagonal defensive building among the city’s Cape Dutch architecture.