Things to do in Cape Town

Cape Town wraps around Table Mountain. The City Bowl sits on one side, the Atlantic beaches of Camps Bay and Clifton on the other. Bo-Kaap and the V&A Waterfront are both walkable from the centre, and a cable car reaches the summit.

Mountain on one side, ocean on the other

• City Bowl and Bo-Kaap. The old centre and the pastel-painted Cape Malay quarter on Signal Hill's lower slope.
• V&A Waterfront. Harbour, shops and the ferry departure point for Robben Island.
• Atlantic Seaboard. Camps Bay, Clifton and Sea Point, beach suburbs strung along the coast road.
• Cape Peninsula. Table Mountain National Park runs south to Cape Point and the penguins at Boulders Beach.

Where the day trips go

Most of what fills a Cape Town itinerary actually lies outside it. Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, the Winelands towns south-east of the city, are under an hour and a half away by car. Hermanus adds whale watching in season.

A half-day township tour is common too, usually paired with a wine estate on the way back. Both are half-day trips. Shark cage diving now runs further along the coast, out of Gansbaai.

Practical

• Weather. Mediterranean and reversed from Europe's: dry, warm summers (20-26C, December-February) and wetter, cooler winters (10-18C, June-August), with a stiff wind picking up on summer afternoons.
• Getting around. MyCiTi buses cover the centre, the Atlantic seaboard and the airport route; Uber and Bolt fill in the rest and are the easier choice after dark.
• What to book ahead. Robben Island ferries run a handful of fixed departures a day and sell out in season, so book that one first.
• Tipping. Ten percent in restaurants is standard. Round up for a MyCiTi or Uber ride rather than fixing a percentage.