Cape Town is widely rated as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The city has received many international accolades and was voted The Best City In The World To Visit (for the 8th time) in the latest Telegraph Travel Awards. The city of Cape Town offers an impressive array of things to do. Mountains, beaches, nature reserves, art galleries, museums, superb wines, fine dining, exceptional coffee, local craft beers, unique cultures, lively nightlife, adrenaline sports, adventure activities...and more.
As local travel experts, living in Cape Town, we've covered the Best of Cape Town in three parts:
Here are our top excursions in Cape Town - some of our favourite things to do in and around the Cape Town city centre.
Cape Town’s most iconic feature and an absolute must-visit is Table Mountain in the Table Mountain National Park. Keep this one for a clear day – early mornings are often less windy and sunset is particularly spectacular – the views from up top are breathtaking: across the city and Table Bay one way, over the Cape Flats the other, and Camps Bay behind. The rotating cableway gives gorgeous views as you go up, and down.
Don't have the budget for the cable car return trip? If you’re feeling energetic, you can hike up Table Mountain. Be sure to leave enough time to get up and down before dark and check the weather before you go as the mist can come down suddenly – it’s not for the unfit or faint-hearted. Be careful not to underestimate Table Mountain.
There are 900 different access routes, of differing difficulty and safety levels. We recommend going with a qualified hiking guide who knows the mountain and can take you on a route that suits your level of fitness, and tell you all sorts of interesting things en route. Table Mountain Hiker and Walk in Africa offer guided hikes up the mountain.
Opening times of the cableway differ by season and are weather-dependent, so check out their website to see if it’s open and when. You can book online through Webtickets to shorten the wait in peak season.
The other option is climbing Table Mountain’s littler, and more witty, brother. If you don’t believe us about Lion's Head's wittiness, check out his Twitter account. Climbing Lion's Head is free and this local favourite is a less strenuous walk and offers fabulous views. If you’re looking for a bit of an adrenaline rush, you can paraglide from the top with Fly Cape Town, The Tandem Flight Co or Cape Town Tandem Paragliding.
You can’t come to Africa (or live in Africa, for that matter) without appreciating the incredible African artists and craftspeople. From beadwork to fashion, wooden sculpture to pottery, African talent is incredible and these creations make the perfect gifts to take home and souvenirs to remind you of your African travels.
African crafts are sold all over Cape Town. Greenmarket Square in the city centre, the original Cape Town market – the square dates back to 1696 – is a bustling place with a variety of stalls. Get your bargaining boots on. Just adjacent to it, in Long Street, the Pan African Market boasts three floors to explore, with something to suit every taste and budget.
For art lovers, First Thursdays in Cape Town offers the perfect introduction to the local art scene. Take a self-guided walk between the Cape Town art galleries, retail stores, restaurants and bars featured on the program for the first Thursday of each month.
Helicopter rides are offered by various operators, many based at Cape Town's V&A Waterfront. If you’ve got a little spare cash in your budget, this is a brilliant place to spend it. Operators like NAC Helicopters offer a range of different flight options – from short flips to tailor-made trips. Feel like doing some wine-tasting on a Stellenbosch wine farm, but don’t want to drive? Look no further.
Helicopter flips out of your budget range? You can get a fabulous birds-eye view of the whole V&A Waterfront development – it’s hard to believe it used to just be a harbour! – and toward Table Mountain with a trip on the Cape Wheel at the Waterfront. It’s especially pretty at night!
Spoil yourself with some jewellery at Afrogem in the Cape Town city centre. This family business has been going for over 50 years and prides itself on being a relaxed place. Amazingly, in this built-up city space, it has a 500 m2 manufacturing factory, which you can visit to see the three manufacturing methods used to make jewellery here: by hand, by CAD, and by wax casting.
Africa is a source of many of the world’s finest gemstones and Afrogem has a massive range of loose stones – diamonds, tanzanites and semi-precious stones. You can pick your stone, pick your style of jewellery, and, boom! you’ll have your personalized piece ready to take home within 24 – 48 hours.
We love Afrogem because:
Remember to book ahead on their website as opening times are seasonal and booking is essential.
Greater Cape Town is known for its culinary prowess and you’ll be hard-pressed to fit in a visit to even a fraction of the incredible restaurants that call the city home, during a short stay. We’ll help you out, with a shortlist of some of our favourites.
Looking to taste some traditional African food? Several restaurants in town will satisfy your taste buds. Marco’s African Place prides itself on exquisite African cuisine and fabulous African music. At Africa Café, they celebrate the continent’s diversity and rich tapestry of tastes and aromas. In Long Street, the familiar drumbeats and delicious aromas float out of Mama Africa onto the street for passers-by to appreciate.
Bree Street is Cape Town’s newest trendy restaurant street: you’ll find something to suit every palate along this strip. At Clarkes, in Bree Street, you'll find fresh, affordable and scrumptious food. Think four-cheese Mac & Cheese and burgers served in home-baked buns, washed down with craft beer on tap. It's a great place for endemic Cape Town species, The Hipster, spotting too. Oh, and if craft beer is your thing, check out our blog 'Seven cool spots to drink beer in Cape Town'.
Kloof Street is filled with great places to eat that won’t break the bank. Black Sheep, with its large windows that open onto the street and casual atmosphere, offers a changing, seasonal menu. We’ve never experienced anything but delight at this spot.
If you’re celebrating a special occasion, try the Pot Luck Club, which is perched atop an old silo at the trendy Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock. The food is amazing, the drinks are delicious and the views across the city are beautiful. Booking is needed, way in advance, as it’s very popular. This one’s on the high end of the budget scale.
If you’re on a tight budget, get a fish ‘n chips takeaway at the Waterfront and sit on a bench watching the goings-on in the harbour while you eat them. Watch out for the seagulls, though, they’re fans of fish ‘n chips too. Alternatively, amble around the V&A Food Market where you can choose from a range of affordable, fresh and delicious gourmet delights.
Want to do what every South African loves to do? Have a braai (barbecue). It's a national pastime and you'll see vendors braaiing on street corners everywhere. Don't believe us? See our blog, 'All Things Braai: South Africa’s Favourite Thing'. If you don't have the energy or the wherewithal to do it yourself, experience true South African hospitality at Mzoli's in Gugulethu, a loud and busy place, where you can pick your meat and someone will braai it for you.
We also created a list of 40 foods to eat in Cape Town, recommended by locals.
The V&A Waterfront is probably the second most well-known spot in Cape Town, after Table Mountain. Here, you can shop ‘til you drop and eat at over 80 restaurants (our favourites are the ones on the harbour where you can smell the salty sea air): Quay 4, Mar-e-Sol and Harbour House.
The Two Oceans Aquarium is well worth a visit. Be sure to walk through the Watershed on your way there. It boasts 150 different little stalls filled with the best Africa has to offer – perfect for gift-buying.
The Robben Island Ferry leaves from the Waterfront, too, and is an incredible trip to take. Robben Island is where Mandela spent many of his years of incarceration and a guided tour of the island is up there on the must-do list.
If you’re a fan of sunsets, book yourself a sunset cruise out of the harbour. There are plenty of operators, including Tigger 2, Waterfront Charters and Cruise IQ (if you’re keen to experience life at sea on a catamaran). Cruises usually last about an hour-and-a-half and the route sailed is weather-dependent. Regardless of which direction you go, you’ll get spectacular views of Table Mountain as you watch the sun sink into the sea, champagne in hand.
Are boat cruises too expensive? The Cape Town sunsets can be viewed for free along with hundreds of locals who amble along the Sea Point promenade each afternoon. Think kids, bicycles, joggers, dogs and incredible art, all accompanied by a gorgeous sunset. Envious of cyclists? You can hire one at Up Cycles. Want the champagne version? Pop into the Winchester Mansions and enjoy the sunset from their veranda.
Another perfect spot for enjoying a sundowner, with a view across the bay to Table Mountain? Check out Blue Peter.
Cape Town has a long and vivid history which can be learnt about by visiting numerous museums throughout the city. The Iziko Museums include the South African Museum, The Slave Lodge and many small museums in historic buildings around the city.
The District Museum is small and powerful. Situated in the District from which thousands of people who’d called the area home for generations were forcibly removed in 1966 it is a beautifully curated centre that chronicles a terrible time in South Africa’s history.
Take an amble through the Company’s Gardens. This cool oasis in the middle of the city centre, first established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, is where many of Cape Town’s historical buildings reside, including the parliament, the National Gallery and the South African Museum and Planetarium. We’ve written a whole blog about it: ‘The Company’s Garden, Cape Town: Art, History, Stars and Squirrels’.
Stop in for tea or lunch at the Company’s Garden Restaurant, or pack a picnic and enjoy it on the lawns, but watch out for the squirrels … they’re cute but sneaky, and they like a snack!
Cape Town is filled with wonderful art galleries, both large and small. The National Gallery in the Company’s Garden has a fabulous collection of both international and local art, including changing exhibitions of contemporary art.
The newest kid on the art block is the Zeitz MOCAA, Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, based at the Waterfront in the old silo buildings of the harbour. The building itself is an architectural art piece and it has wonderful exhibitions showcasing all of Africa’s incredible talents.
If you’re feeling flush, treat yourself to something at one of the three restaurants at The Silo Hotel: The Willaston Bar, The Granary Café or The Silo Rooftop.
Watching your budget? Fret not, there are numerous options just a few steps away. The Red Roof – just next door at the Radisson Red, is on the roof, offering fabulous views of Table Mountain and a small pub-style menu.
The Yard offers food and shopping, with outside and inside seating to suit all weather. Their Indian Mediterranean fusion food is divine. Looking for something fishy (you are, after all, in a working harbour)? Try Sushi Box. You can sit down or get a takeaway to enjoy sitting on a bench and watching the world go by.
There’s not only art in galleries, though … street art is big in the Mother City, and it’s beautiful. Woodstock has an incredible array of murals and various operators, like Juma’s Tours, offer walking tours through this, and other, vibrant art-filled neighbourhoods of Cape Town.
These are just a few of our favourite excursions in Cape Town to whet your appetite and give you an idea of the many things to do here. For more ideas of things to do and places to visit in and around Cape Town see:
We're experts on African safaris, but the African Budget Safaris team is based in Cape Town, so we've got the insider scoop on our home town. Our advice: book one of our affordable Cape Town tours and make sure you add on a good few days before or after your trip, to enjoy the best of Cape Town.
You can browse our upcoming Cape Town Tour departures here. Or, keep it simple and contact one of our knowledgeable travel consultants to book your dream Cape Town trip now.
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