Cape Town is lovely - if you, like us, have a limited amount of time in South Africa and you want to see as much of the country as you can, then please make sure you leave a decent amount of time to visit Cape Town.
Some great things we did, that I'm sure all the tourists will get to read about:
Cable car up Table mountain - beware though that this is weather dependant and if the winds/clouds close in then you won't be able to go so don't leave it for the last minute!
That said, see if you can get up there with a small picnic (and some warm fleeces) to watch the sun set. That's a great memory!
V&A waterfront - full of tourists and tourist prices, but it's a lovely place to spend an afternoon at a waterside restaurant eating lots of lovely prawns and downing copious quantities of white wine. The police are strict about drink driving so make sure you have a designated driver.
Green Market - again it seems fully set up for tourists and quite a rip off at times, but we did buy some lovely carvings and things there.
Wine Farms - We picked a couple of the big ones, our favourite was Spier. They've got a cheetah there that we had our photo's taken with. Superb wine and food.
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However we were lucky to have some friends in Cape Town and they showed us a couple of things that the typical tourist might not get to do:
Camps Bay - Sundowners at La-Med followed by dinner at a wicked seafood restaurant called The Codfather. It's at the end of Camps Bay beach road and I'm sure that if you book you can get seats with a great view of the evening sunset.
Swimming with the penguins at Boulders beach - there are a limited number of people allowed in there each day, and I'm not sure if you have to book. We loved the penguins, they're amazingly tame.
The views from Blouberg - It's the sight that we all know from the postcards - Cape Town city nestled at the bottom of Table Mountain. Get across to Blouberg - again at sunset if you can as the light is just wonderful. We went to a seafood restaurant - I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but any of the ones along the beach road will give a lovely view of the mountain and the city, especially as the lights come on after the sun sets.
Make sure you get there early enough so that you can have a long walk along the beach - the water was too cold for us to swim, but the surfers seemed to like it (I think their long wetsuits with hoodie, booties and gloves may have been a contributing factor).
All in all, you'll need at least a week in Cape Town, there's just so much to see and do!
Enjoy!
“Need more than a week”
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2 reviews
1 helpful vote
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1 review
1 helpful vote
I went to cape town in 2008 it is such a nice place and so much to do, you can go on safari (on quads), go up table mountain, play with cheetas at the santuary, see penguins on the beach, whale watch even from the shaw and best of all go cage diving with sharks which is only 3 hours away an one of the best things I have ever done, its fantastic for animal lovers like myself, its a must.
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1 review
I just wanted to suggest a wonderful idea for the travellers like me who do not drive themselves but would like to be mobile and see as much as possible.
The Private Guide Tour is a perfect way to do it. And its not expensive at all! I had absolutely wonderful times (3 days, 2 nights) in South African Western Coast with Craig (a private tour guide info@trailfinders.co.za). It felt like being on holiday with an old friend, he was so easy to get on with, very experienced & knowledgeable about almost everything. He will show you parts of this beautiful region that most tourists miss!
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2 reviews
2 helpful votes
Very cheap by Australian standards.
We had 2 nights here as part of a cruise deal and were very pleasantly surprised. The staff are friendly and efficient.
We were given the internet rate , for one night a week later.
The black slate in front of the (antique) lifts were being polished whenever we went in and out , day or night. Clean,comfortable and quiet. The buffet breakfast included in the price was as good as the cruise ship we had been on.
After I paid too much for an hours internet in the Business Centre on the 5th floor I discovered that it had 2 very old Dell PCs with fuzzy CRT screens . I had to get someone to come up and set one up for internet and show me how to enter the code I had bought at reception.
After going outside to smoke I discovered you can smoke in the downstairs bar !
The station is only 5 minutes walk but we had 3 big cases, the hotel provided a shuttle for us at a reasonable cost of 20 Rand.
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2 reviews
7 helpful votes
My husband and I went to South Africa last October for a 3 week holiday. We travel quite a bit but this was a truly memorable experience combining culture, scenery, history, botanical and zoological life in all dimensions. Our tour guide Chris Oosterhuizen with Ikapa Tours was a wealth of knowledge on all aspects of South African life. The 2 week tour was well organized as we circled from Johannesburg to Capetown and saw various aspects and diversifications within the country. We even went to Swaziland! We preceeded the tour with 2 weeks at Zulu Nyala Game Reserve in Zululand which was also absolutely wonderful. The people and the hospitality shown was A-1 and we never felt intimidated or afraid. The animals we saw close up are amazing. We highly recommend Ikapa Tours for the holiday of a lifetime. They can be contacted at [ --XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-- ].
Joanne and Tom
Ontario, Canada
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