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Key Attractions Table Mountain Cape Town’s defining landmark is also one of the city’s greatest tourist attractions. A cable car trip to the 1086m (3563ft) summit of Table Mountain takes just six minutes and the gondolas rotate through 360 degrees on the way up (booking is advisable during summer). Once there, more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) of pathways lead walkers over the massif, with breathtaking views of the city and ocean below. A bistro on the summit is by far the most incredible sundowner spot in Africa. A popular option is for day-trippers to take a one-way ticket and then climb down Platteklip Gorge. Visitors should, however, take care. The local Mountain Rescue teams (tel: (021) 948 9900 or 10177 in an emergency) carry out over 100 rescues a year, many involving foreign tourists. The routes up and down the mountain are treacherous and sheer cliff faces with buffeting winds are a very real danger. Peering over the edge of the mountain, no matter how tempting, is simply not a good idea. The signposts warning of restricted areas must be observed at all costs. Furthermore, the weather can change in a matter of minutes and mist and darkness descend very quickly. Hikers should carry water, food, sunblock, a silver ‘space blanket’ to prevent hypothermia and a mobile phone. Tafelberg Road (lower cable station) Tel: (021) 424 8181 or 5148 or 465 3412 (Mountain Club). Fax: (021) 424 3792. E-mail: marketing@tablemountain.co.za Website: www.tablemountain.co.za Transport: Bus from Adderley Street to Kloofnek, then a long walk to Tafelberg Road. Opening hours: Daily 0830-2000 (Nov-Apr); daily 0830-1800 (May-mid-Sep); daily 0830-1900 (mid-Sep-Oct). The cable car operates weather permitting. Admission: R95 (return cable car ticket); R45 (single cable car ticket); R110 (Ride’n’Dine breakfast ticket); R135 (Ride’n’Dine lunch/dinner ticket); concessions available; prices may vary seasonally. V&A Waterfront The creation of the V&A Waterfront was possibly Cape Town’s best commercial idea, transforming this harbour area into a booming centre of tourism, culture, leisure and business. Renovated Victorian warehouses, offices and buildings created in the Victorian vernacular style, and many dozens of cafés and restaurants complete this waterside area. A host of boat and yacht charter operations tout for business and it is worth taking one of the many cruises around the docks, which cost around R10-30 (see Tours of the City). The Waterfront is also home to the world-class Two Oceans Aquarium. Feeding in the huge predator tanks takes place on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 1530 and should not be missed. Aquarium dives can also be arranged. Then, with over 250 retail outlets, the Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre is another premier attraction. The Waterfront Trading Company and The Red Shed Craft Workshop supply local arts and crafts, while, in summer, various music acts perform on the bandstand. The newest addition to the V&A Waterfront is the Clock Tower Centre, the departure point for Robben Island cruises. During the initial construction of the Clock Tower Centre, the ruins of the Dutch East India Military installation, dating back to between 1715 and 1726, were discovered and are now on show to the public. Plans for further expansion of the waterfront are currently underway. These will include a canal, the creation of a new marina and linking the harbour to a new convention centre. Coen Steytler Avenue Tel: (021) 408 7600. Fax: (021) 408 7505 or 7605. E-mail: info@waterfront.co.za Website: www.waterfront.co.za Transport: Waterfront Shuttle from Adderley Street or Beach Road. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours. Admission: Free. Two Oceans Aquarium Dock Road Tel: (021) 418 3823. Fax: (021) 418 3952. E-mail: aquarium@aquarium.co.za Website: www.aquarium.co.za Opening hours: Daily 0930-1800. Admission: R45. Waterfront Trading Company Dock Road Tel: (021) 408 7840/2. Fax: (021) 408 7845. Opening hours: Daily 0930-1800. Admission: Free. The Red Shed Craft Workshop Victoria Wharf Tel: (021) 408 7847. Fax: (021) 408 7855. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0930-2100, Sun 1000-2100. Admission: Free. Company Gardens Jan van Riebeek – the first commander of the Dutch colony at the Cape – ordered the planting of Company Gardens in 1652, to serve as a fruit and vegetable supply for the visiting ships, to protect the sailors against scurvy. Nowadays, the gardens are a green lung for the city centre. The park is not just a botanical delight but is also home to St George’s Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, the South African National Art Gallery, the South African Museum and the Planetarium. The Anglican St George’s Cathedral has been in existence for over 100 years but is also a potent symbol of anti-apartheid resistance. It has been the site of many a political rally in the past and, until 1996, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu was archbishop here. The Houses of Parliament, which flank the eastern edge of the gardens, are a blend of Georgian and Victorian styles of architecture. Designed by the British architect Harry Greaves, they were completed in 1885, when the parliament became the seat of British expansion into Africa. The building is also an important stop on the political tourist’s itinerary. This is where the ‘architect of apartheid’, prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd, was assassinated in 1966. It is also where Nelson Mandela gave his inaugural speech as president of the ‘new South Africa’ in 1994. The SA National Art Gallery contains one of the finest collections of South African and international art in the country and has regular exhibitions of work from around the world. The SA Museum is an excellent place for visitors to spend a couple of hours learning about the natural and political history of South Africa. It also boasts a superb whale exhibit and a shop, located on Orange Street. In the Planetarium, the real-time night sky displays are an entrancing introduction to the stellar delights of Southern Africa. There is also a delightful restaurant, The Gardens Restaurant & Pub, 88 Queen Victoria Street (tel: (021) 423 1260), where weary walkers can rest their feet and recharge their sightseeing batteries. Top of Adderley Street, Government Avenue (between Wale Street and Orange Street) Transport: A short walk from Adderley Street. Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700. Admission: Free. Houses of Parliament Government Avenue Tel: (021) 403 2911 (enquiries) or 2266 or 2537 (tours). Opening hours: Tours by appointment only. Admission: Free. SA National Art Gallery Government Avenue Tel: (021) 465 1628. Fax: (021) 461 0045. E-mail: sang@gem.co.za Website: www.museums.org.za Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700. Admission: R5; free Sun. SA Museum 25 Queen Victoria Street Tel: (021) 424 3330 (museum) or 426 2279 (shop). Fax: (021) 424 6716. Website: www.museums.org.za Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700. Admission: R8; free Wed; R15 (combined Musuem/Planetarium). Planetarium 25 Queen Victoria Street Tel: (021) 424 3330. Fax: (021) 424 6956. Website: www.musuems.org.za Opening hours: Shows Mon-Fri 1400, Tues 2000, Sat and Sun 1430. Admission: R10; R12 (evening shows); R15 (combined Museum/Planetarium). Robben Island Museums Visiting Robben Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most profoundly moving experiences to be had in South Africa. The infamous men-only prison and former leper colony was home to a generation of the senior statesmen of Africa, incarcerated because of their political beliefs. The most famous inmate was, of course, Nelson Mandela, who spent 18 years of his 27-year sentence here; but the guided tours are all given by former political prisoners here. The first-class museums, situated both on Robben Island itself and at the new Clock Tower Centre on the V&A Waterfront, offer a wealth of information on this period of South Africa’s history. Robben Island is not all politics and history, however. There is the physical beauty of the island itself, with penguin and seal colonies, as well as the fantastic view of Cape Town. V&A Waterfront and Robben Island Tel: (021) 409 5100 or 411 1007 (museum) or 419 1300 (reservations) or 424 1455 (ferry). Fax: (021) 411 1059 (museum) or 419 1057 (reservations) or 424 1456 (ferry). E-mail: info@robben-island.org.za or bookings@robben-island.org.za or robbenis@netactive.co.za (ferry). Website: www.robben-island.org.za Transport: Ferries from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the Clock Tower Centre, V&A Waterfront. Opening hours: Ferries depart daily 0800-1600 (summer); daily 0900-1400 (winter). Admission: R100 (ferry ticket and admission). Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens Sprawling over a magnificent 528 hectares (1325 acres) and home to 4500 indigenous plant species, Kirstenbosch is one of the top seven botanical gardens in the world, habitually winning gold awards at the Chelsea Flower Show, most recently for the stunning rainbow creation in 2002. With stunningly beautiful formal gardens dotted with Zimbabwean stone sculptures, it is a delightful place for a picnic, a stroll or even an energetic hike through the wild gardens on the lower slopes of Table Mountain. Attractions include trails for the blind and the disabled, bird watching, a greenhouse complete with Boabab tree, a gift shop, bookshop, restaurants and café. Over the summer months (December to March), immensely popular Sunset Concerts are held on Sunday afternoons at 1730, with music that ranges from classical to jazz, African traditional and folk. Rhodes Drive, Newlands Tel: (021) 799 8783 or 8620 (weekdays) or 761 4916 (weekends). Fax: (021) 797 6570. Website: www.nbi.co.za. Transport: Bus from Adderley Street or Mowbray Station. Opening hours: Daily 0800-1900 (Sep-Mar); daily 0800-1800 (Apr-Aug). Admission: R15. Koopmans De Wet House Built in 1701, Koopmans De Wet House reflects patrician life at the Cape in the 18th century. Designed in the distinctive ‘Cape Dutch’ architectural style – a style repeated in many of the grand manor houses on rural estates and recognisable by curly gables – the house is also furnished with fine examples of Cape craftsmanship. Many of these hand-carved items of furniture were designed by slave ‘fundis’ or experts from the East, as was the unique decorative plasterwork on the exterior of this and other buildings. The quiet, cool and darkened interior is also a tranquil retreat from the bustle and heat of the city centre. 35 Strand Street Tel: (021) 424 2473. Fax: (021) 461 9592. Website: www.museums.org.za Transport: A short walk from Adderley Street/Grand Parade. Opening hours: Tues-Sat 0930-1630. Admission: R5. Beaches Cape Town boasts some of the most spectacular beaches in the world. With a long summer and balmy winter days in between the rain, these are an irresistible attraction all year round. There is a beach to suit just about every taste – from the trendy spots, where tanned bikini bodies are the order of the day, via the more family orientated, easy-swim sites, to wild and rugged sundowner spots. All beaches are overseen by the Cape Peninsula National Park. Set along the stunning panorama of the Twelve Apostles mountain range, beaches on the Atlantic seaboard are several degrees colder than those on the False Bay side, which are warmed by the L’Agulhas current that diffuses into the eastern end of Cape Point. However, there are still hugely popular beaches on the Atlantic seaboard. One place, Clifton, has four beaches, one of which, Fourth Beach, is Cape Town’s premier beach spot and the best place to pose. All four beaches, however, are often overcrowded in the peak summer months and parking on Victoria Drive above the beach is virtually impossible. An alternative, with a California feel and restaurants and bars close at hand, is the nearby Camps Bay. Further out is the favourite sundowner spot, Llandudno, and the homely Hout Bay. The nearby Mariner’s Wharf fishing harbour (tel: (021) 790 1100; e-mail: mariners@capecoast.co.za; website: www.marinerswharf.com) offers great seafood restaurants, markets, gift shops, boat trips and a fish market selling live lobsters by the kilo, as well as the Cape Town speciality smoked snoek. Noordhoek and Kommetjie, both part of Long Beach, are no longer accessible by road from Hout Bay, as Chapman’s Peak Drive collapsed into the sea in 2000. Plans to rebuild are apparently underway. These far flung beaches are still quite deserted and Noordhoek can be dangerous for lone walkers, particularly after dark. False Bay offers its own set of coastal delights, quite different from the chilly counterparts on the Atlantic side. With warmer waters, the stretch of Muizenberg beach and little coves and inlets of Kalk Bay, St James and Fish Hoek offers delightful swimming, with smaller waves and a family feel. Formerly a whaling station and a prisoner of war camp, Boulders Beach has a string of delightful coves that are always sheltered from the frequent and blustering ‘southeaster’ wind. However, visitors to Boulders will have to share their beach with quite a crowd … of African Penguins. The colony of penguins is protected and although these patient birds are happy to pose for photographs, there is a hefty fine for ‘wilfully disturbing’ them. They also bite – so birdwatchers are therefore encouraged to admire them from a respectful distance. Boulders is just as popular with humans as it is with penguins, so visitors should be sure to arrive early in order to stake their claim to a piece of beach or a boulder. When not taking on the might of Cape Point’s wind ravaged coastline or enjoying the consistently good waves of Long Beach, surfers mainly head for Table Bay to Blouberg Strand and Milnerton, where the incessant wind promises big waves and the location offers incredible views of Table Mountain. Clifton and Camps Bay, access from Victoria Drive (M6) Hout Bay Beach, North Shore Road or Beach Road, Hout Bay Noordhoek, Silvermine Road via Ou Kaapse Weg, Noordhoek Kommetjie, Kommetjie Road (M65), Kommetjie Muizenberg, Baden-Powell Drive, Muizenberg Kalk Bay, St James and Fish Hoek, off Main Road (M4) Boulders Beach, Miller’s Point Road, from Main Road (M4), Simonstown/Miller’s Point Cape Point beaches, several roads off Cape Point Road Blouberg Strand, Otto Du Plessis Road, Blouberg Milnerton, Marine Drive and Otto Du Plessis, Milnerton Tel: (021) 701 8692 (all beaches) or 786 2329 (Boulders only). Fax: (021) 701 8773 or 786 3040 (Boulders). E-mail: capepeninsula@parks-sa.co.za or boulders@parks-sa.co.za Website: www.cpnp.co.za Transport: Train to Simon’s Town (False Bay beaches); bus to Sea Point, Camps Bay or Hout Bay (Atlantic Seaboard); self-drive for others (see routes above). Opening hours: Daily 24 hours. Admission: Free; R10 (Boulders Beach). |
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