| The Cape Peninsula
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Long Street in Cape Town
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Cape Town
Cape Town is one of the most popular tourist destinations in South
Africa due to its good climate, natural setting, and relatively
well-developed infrastructure. The city has several well-known natural
features that attract tourists, most notably Table Mountain, which
forms a large part of the Table Mountain National Park and is the back
end of the City Bowl. Reaching the top of the mountain can be achieved
either by hiking up, or by taking the Table Mountain Cableway.
Cape Town is noted for its architectural heritage, with the highest
density of Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. Cape Dutch style,
which combines the architectural traditions of France, the Netherlands,
and Germany, is most visible in Constantia, the old government
buildings in the Central Business District, and along Long Street. The
annual Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, also known by its Afrikaans name of
Kaapse Klopse, is a large minstrel festival held annually on January 2
or "Tweede Nuwe Jaar" (Afrikaans: Second New Year). Competing teams of
minstrels parade in brightly coloured costumes, either carrying
colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The
Artscape Theatre Centre is the main performing arts venue in Cape Town.
Night life in the city caters for all tastes and with a range of
restaurants and cafes that are generally recognised as including some
of the finest eateries in South Africa (both in food quality and decor
terms). Night clubs and bars abound with popular areas including the
top end of Long Street and its immediate surrounds, as well as the
redeveloped Cape Malay quarter, de Waterkant. Varied accommodation for
tourists is also abundant, ranging from well located backpackers
hostels to hotels that have been rated at the top of their class in
world terms.
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12 Apostles, Camps Bay, "Copyright: South African Tourism" |
The beaches
Many tourists also visit Cape Town's
beaches, which are popular with local residents. Due to the city's
unique geography, it is possible to visit several different beaches in
the same day, each with a different setting and atmosphere. Beaches
located on the Atlantic Coast tend to have very cold water as the water
is mostly glacial melt from Antarctica.
The water at False Bay beaches
is often warmer by up to 10 °C (18 °F). Both coasts are equally
popular, although the beaches in affluent Clifton and elsewhere on the
Atlantic Coast are better developed with restaurants and cafés, with a
particularly vibrant strip of restaurants and bars accessible to the
beach at Camps Bay. Boulders Beach near Simon's Town is known for its
colony of African penguins. Surfing is popular and the city hosts the
Red Bull Big Wave Africa surfing competition every year.
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| Dias Beach at Cape Point
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Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve / Cape Point
Cape Point is recognised as the dramatic headland at the end of the Cape Peninsula. More
than 1.200 different plant species, including 25 protea species. The
reserve has a well developed road network for game viewing. Although
this is primarily a botanical reserve you might with a bit of luck see
zebra, bontebok, eland and red hartebeest.
There are two possibilities
to reach the top of Cape Point - for the fit there is a beautiful but
steep walk up the mountain - for the others there is access via a
vernacular. Should you come across some baboons please do not feed
them. Coming back from Cape Point turn right towards the Cape of Good
Hope, with a bit of luck you will see ostriches on the beach. The Cape
of Good hope sign post is one of the most taken photographs in the
world.
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Chapmans Peak Drive
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Chapman's Peak Drive
Chapman's Peak Drive, a narrow road that
links Noordhoek with Hout Bay, for the views of the Atlantic Ocean and
nearby mountains.
This is one of the most spectacular scenic drives. The 600 meter high
road was cleaved out of the rock-face and is about 10 km long. There
are great views over Chapman's Bay and back to the Sentinel and Hout
Bay. From September till December you might see Wales far down in the
bay on many occasions.
The drive is a toll road.
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The V&A Waterfront
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The V&A WaterfrontBuilt
on top of part of the docks of the Port of Cape Town, the V&A
Waterfront is one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with
several hundred shops and the Two Oceans Aquarium. Part of the charm of
the V&A Waterfront, as it is locally known, is that the Port
continues to operate and visitors can watch ships enter and leave.
The
V&A Waterfront also hosts the Nelson Mandela Gateway, through which
ferries depart for Robben Island. It is possible to take a ferry from
the V&A to Hout Bay, Simon's Town and the Cape Fur Seal colonies on
Seal and Duiker Islands.
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