CAPE TOWN

Cape Town is one of the 3 capitals of South Africa and also one of the most beautiful cities in the World. While there are still some security issues , we can not compare to Johannesburg and you can have a trip alone in Cape Town.

As i already stated out in my Johannesburg page about economy , There is a huge income disparity. You will see a big amount of people on Cape Town’s coasts surfing , paragliding , diving and doing many other activites which makes you feel that life is great and everybody enjoying there.

When To Go :

Best time will be October-November or April-May for Cape Town. In winter you will suffer from wind and in summer you will have troubles with sun. I visit Cape Town on October and weather was great.

Transportation :

We rent a car at the airport and i don’t recommend public transportation. You will already need a car to visit many places , that’s why it is a better idea to rent a car at the airport.

Things To Do in Cape Town :

Cape Town is a wonderful city. There are many things to do. But there are not enough museums or historical artifacts. So you will mostly see natural beauties. Now i want to divide the things to do into 5 different parts. First of all i assume that you stay at a hotel , apartment or a hostel in downtown Cape Town.First title will be the places you can see by walk. Second title will be the places which you can see by sightseeing bus. 3rd will be the places which you will need a cab , uber or your private car. 4th will be a tour by your car around the peninsula which takes a day.The last will be the tours which you can join.

A-) Places To Reach By Walk :

I can recommend to you to have some walk in the city center of Cape Town but still you should avoid of being in deserted streets and i totally don’t recommend to walk in the evenings. Downtown is full of with high buildings like a city in Usa , China etc.

1-) Victoria & Alfred Waterfront :

Most of the people spending time in this large area which is full of with Street musicians , markets , souvenir shops , shopping mall , cafes and restaurants. I recommend to rest , have a walk and explore this area.

2-) Cape Town Wheel :

This is a big wheel like London Eye. You can enjoy the view for 155 Rand per person. You don’t need to do this while you will have much better views from Table Mountain and many other points.

3-) 2 Oceans Aquarium :

Cape Town is a city where 2 oceans combine. That’s why the aquarium gets this name. You can pay 200 Rand and visit the aquarium and it will worth to do this. It is located at the waterfront.

4-) Castle of Good Hope :

It is half an hour by walk from waterfront. So maybe it will be much better to visit this place first while walking to waterfront from your hotel. Entrance fee is 50 Rand. If you visit the castle in the weekdays , you can also experience a cannon shot ceremoni.

Note: You will see these places in the sightseeing bus route too but i suggest you to visit these places without sightseeing bus and speand a day here.

5-) District Six Museum :

You can reach to museum in 5 mins by walk from Castle of Good Hope and have a look around for a very short time.

B-) Sightseeing Bus Tour :

Sightseeing Bus Tour has nearly same concept with Big Bus Tour which you can find in Istanbul and many european cities but much cheaper. You can have a day tour for 180 Rand per person. While not everywhere is safe to walk , it deserves much more than you pay i think. I will not explain all the stops here like in my Johannesburg page.Because there are many stops for small museums etc. While there are 18 stops , only 2 of them are interesting for us. First stop is waterfront which i already mentioned. So the other 2 important stops are :

1-) Table Mountain :

Table Mountain is the symbol of Cape Town. This place should be on the top of the list. You will reach to skirts of the mountain by bus. Then if you want you can try a long and tiring climb or you can use cable car. For cable car , there will be a long line. If you buy an online ticket in advance , you will wait less than the ones who doesn’t have an online ticket. One-eay ticket was 200 Rand and two-way ticket was 360 Rand. Table mountain gets its name from its shape. Top of the mountain is quiet smooth. After getting off the cable car , you can have a long walk on the top mountain. The view will be one of the best ever. You can spend a half day or more here. If you are able to reach to mountain without a bus , i would recommend you to come and wahtc the sunset.

2-) Camps Bay :

Camps Bay is a rich and beautiful neighborhood , which is 2 hours by walk from waterfront. I would strongly advise to get off at this station and then have a 2 hours walk on the seaside. If you get tired , you can get in the next Sightseeing Bus. When you reach to waterfront , you will complete a 360 tour. 1 day will be enough for these 2 stops.

Note : You can also have boat trip in the harbour or in the canal paying extra 50 Rand for Sightseeing Bus.

C-) Places to Reach By Car :

I will explain the places which you will need car or uber etc to reach. There are also some tours for these places but it would take too much time if you visit all by tours.

1-) Table Mountain :

I already mentioned about Table Mountain but if you would like to watch sunset here , bus timing is not suitable and you will need your car.

2-) Lion’s Head :

This is a hill close to Table Mountain. It is attractive especially for who loves climbing and enjoy the the view on the top. You will also need your car to reach to skirts of this hill.

3-) Signal Hill :

Signal Hill is similar to Lion’s Head. Only attracks who would enjoy climbing.

Note : These 3 places are the best 3 for view. I only went up to Table Mountain and if you don’t stay long in Cape Town , only Table Mountain will be enough.

4-) Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden :

It is located on the South-eastern skirst of Table Mountain. You can reach here in 15 mins bay car. It is a wonderful place to see and i would recommend to spend several hours here. The entrance fee is 75 Rand.

5-) Bo Kaap :

Bo Kaap is a neighbourhood which is full of with colourful and pretty houses.This neighborhood is know as one of the best neighborhood in the World. More than half of the population is muslim. You can reach by walking but because of some security issues , you better go by car. But after reaching the neighborhood , you can get off and walk around.

D-) Peninsula Tour by Car :

You will see many places only in a day and it will be a tiring day for you. I will recommend you to start off very early in the morning. The route will be to the Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope at the end of the peninsula and drive back from the other seasie of the peninsula. First you will need to drive the same way heading Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden and through Constantia to Fish Hoek.

1-) Fish Hoek :

You can reach to Fish Hoek in around 35-40 mins by car Cape Town center. It will be your fiest stop , a little pretty town. You can spend around 30 mins at the beachside. Have some walk and get some fresh air and the go on to the tour.

2-) Simon’s Town :

You will reach to Simon’s Town from Fish Hoek in company with a wonderful view for 10-15 mins on the coastline. I visited Simon’s Town Museum here but no need for this. The importance of this town is colony of penguins. You can reach to Boulders Beach to watch the penguin’s colony which is 2 km from Simon’s Town. The entrance fee is 70 Rand for the main beach but also you can have some more walk and enter to other parts of the beach for free.

3-) Table Mountain National Park :

After another 15 mins wonderful drive , you can reach to Table Mountain National Park. You will need to pay 135 Rand per person in the entrance of the national park. Then after having a 20 mins drive , you will reach to the park area of Cape Point and on the way you will see many baboons.

4-) Cape Point :

Cape Point is the endpoint of the peninsula. There is a wrong information as the Cape of Good Hope is the endpoint of the peninsula. Another wrong information is that here is the point where Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean combine.The real point where these 2 oceans combine is Cape Agulhas which is around 3 hours from Cape Town by car. While it is difficult to bring tourists to Cape Agulhas , it is chosen to commercialize Cape Point as the point where the 2 oceans combine. Anyway , you will have a 15 mins walk after parking your car and will reach to the lighthouse. While having walk to the lighthouse , you camn even see whales in the ocean if you have luck. You will have a great view here and can spend some time and relax. On the other hand you can get in the cable car too if you don’t prefer walking.

5-) Cape of Good Hope :

After Cape Point , you can also visit Cape of Good Hope. If we compare , Cape Point is of course much better. But if you go to end of the World , you shouldn’t come back without visiting Cape of Good Hope.

You will leave Table Mountain National Park after having a 20 mins drive.

6-) Nordhoek :

After another 30 mins drive you will reach to Nordhoek. While there is not enough time , i will not recommend to visit the town but , on the way , you can stop and enjoy the view of one of the largest beachs in the World. Both side of peninsula has cliffs , beachs and wonderful views.

7-) Chapman’s Peak Drive :

This is a 9 km toll road starting from Nordhoek and ending at Hout Bay. You will have a drive with a unique view. The fee is 50 Rand for drive.

8-) Hout Bay :

Hout Bay is a town which we can describe as a fishing town. During drive at Chapman’s Peak Drive , you will see Hout Bay in a shape of rhino. There are many fishing boats in the bay and also some fisherman’s have their own fish restaurants. You can try snook fish especial in Snookies. You can find fresh , delicious seafoods in Hout Bay much cheaper than Cape Town. The most important activity in Hout Bay is having a boat trip to watch the seals. You will pay more or less 11 Rand for a 45 mins tour. I will wish some good luck for you while the tours will be cancelled if there is a strong wind and sea is rough.

Note : If it becomes evening when you arrive at Hout Bay , you will not be able to have a tour to watch seals , so you can visit Hout Bay another day again.

9-) 12 Apostles :

After leaving Hout Bay , you will see 12 hills on the right side while driving. There is another nice view here. This was the last point for the tour. After this , you will reach to Camps Bay and then waterfront.

E-) TOURS :

South Africa is famous with tours , especially Cape Town. Of course no need to join to all the tours. You will already visit many places yourself. You will see many tour companies in dock. I want to explain the most important ones ;

1-) Robben Island :

You can reach to island by a boat from Cape Town Center. Island has a meaning. In the island you can visit the prison in which Nelson Mandela spent 18 years and also enjoy the view of Cape Town and Table Mountain from the island.

2-) Duiker Island :

Duiker Island is a very small rocky island home to colony of seals. I already explained this tour in Hout Bay. If you can go to Hout Bay on your own , it is better not to buy a tour in dock paying 2-3 times more for it.

3-) Whale Watching Tour :

You can join to tour for watching whales , generally it costs around 1500-2000 Rand for a 3 hours tour. These tours offer Money return guarantee if you don’t watch whales.

4-) White Shark Cage Diving :

Another important tour in Cape Town is white shark cage diving. You will pay around 2000 Rand fort his activity.

5-) Wine Tasting :

Cape Town is famous with its wines too. But wine tasting is common in many other parts of the World. You can join to a wine tasting tour and visit wine estates especially in Constantia.

These tours are important in Cape Town. They are not like the other tours which you can do in other cities or countries. Except from these tours there are many others like ; helicopter rides , paragliding , surfing , sunset tours by boat , fishing charters and hiking torus.

FOOD

As i already mentioned in my Johannesburg Page , they have a special kind of grill which called Braai. While meat and alcohol is cheaper , vegetables , fruites , water , gas , electricity seems more expensive than Turkey. Their cuizine is good and you can not go hungry like in northern european countries. You can try some fresh and delicious seafood in Ocean Basket which is a chain restaurant in South Africa. But if you have chance , i would suggest the restaurants in Hout Bay which is much better and cheaper , especially Snookies. There is a market place in the dock which you can try many homemade and authentic food and also Amarula is a South african drink wehich you can find anywhere in the World.

Note : When you reach to your car at the street which you parked before , you will see a person waiting in front of it and demanding some small amount of money. At first sight i thought it is like mafia’s demanding a protecting money but later when you see the income disparity , unemployement rate and security issues , i found this very useful for everybody. Even if you don’t give any money , they will not be harmful.

While i can not say same things about Johannesburg , Cape Town is a wonderful city and one of the most important citiy to see. Can be even in the list of the first 50 cities in the World to see.

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