Cape Town Guide
Laid-back Cape Town feels Mediterranean in style and sophistication. Yet an African heart beats to the rhythms of the mountains, the oceans and the multitude of cultures in its midst.
Table Mountain looms large over the city giving views across the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront complex to Nelson Mandela’s prison Robben Island. Beaches line either side of the Cape peninsula all the way down to the very tip of Africa at Cape Point.
Buy crafts from all over Africa at the outdoor Greenmarket Square, or find drums, masks and artefacts at the Greenpoint Market, right next to Greenpoint Stadium. Canal Walk is one of the continent’s largest shopping malls and the Young Designers Emporium – with outlets at Cavendish, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and Century City – showcases fashion from new local talent.
Mingle with the locals at the summer Sunday concerts in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. People-watch from a Camps Bay pavement café to see the bold and beautiful emerge from an icy dip in the Atlantic Ocean (surfers and divers wear thick wetsuits). Mountain lovers should head to Table Mountain National Park to climb, hike or paraglide off the peaks.
Artscape and The Baxter have seven theatres between them where you can catch international and local performers, and the International Comedy Festival. Theatre on the Bay shines out among the more intimate theatres around the peninsula. City galleries showcase talented South African artists, sculptors and ceramicists, while the SA National Gallery hosts exhibitions such as Picasso’s African-inspired works.
Devour fresh seafood straight from the ocean outside your restaurant window in Camps Bay, Kalk Bay, Simon’s Town, Fish Hoek and Blouberg, with an abundance of choice in the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. In the Cape Malay Bo-Kaap district the air is scented with the spices used to flavour gentle curries and syrup-drenched pastries.
Watching the full moon rise from Lion’s Head is a Cape Town tradition. Time your one-and-a-half-hour ascent to reach the peak as the sun sets into the Atlantic Ocean, then relax with some local bubbly and wait for the moon to appear. The light of the moon illuminates your path down.
