12 of the best · Cape Town, South Africa
The cableway to the top of Table Mountain, the boat to Robben Island, the V&A Waterfront, the Castle and the Bo-Kaap, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Cape Point and the penguins at Boulders.
Our 12 favourites, listed A–Z · Updated October 2026
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Three Cape Town addresses we return to, chosen from this list by people who know the city well.
Weather permitting
The cableway to the top of Table Mountain, from the lower station on Tafelberg Road.
UNESCO World Heritage
The island in Table Bay where political prisoners were held, now a museum and World Heritage Site; boats leave the V&A.
The end of the peninsula
Cliffs, lighthouses and the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of the peninsula, in Table Mountain National Park.
The mountain, the island and the drive to the Point: the city in four days.
The back story
The cableway to the top of Table Mountain, the boat to Robben Island, Kirstenbosch on the mountain’s back and the drive to Cape Point: how to see Cape Town in four days.
Table Mountain and its park.
Weather permitting
The cableway to the top of Table Mountain, from the lower station on Tafelberg Road.
From Signal Hill to Cape Point
The national park that runs down the whole peninsula, from Signal Hill and Table Mountain to Cape Point.
The V&A and Robben Island.
UNESCO World Heritage
The island in Table Bay where political prisoners were held, now a museum and World Heritage Site; boats leave the V&A.
A working harbour
Cape Town’s working harbour, with shops, restaurants, hotels, the aquarium and the boats to Robben Island.
The Castle and the Bo-Kaap.
Painted houses
The painted houses and cobbled streets on the slope of Signal Hill, the historic heart of the Cape Malay community.
A 17th-century fort
The five-pointed stone fort built by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century, with museums inside.
Down to Cape Point.
African penguins
The colony of African penguins among granite boulders near Simon’s Town, seen from boardwalks.
The end of the peninsula
Cliffs, lighthouses and the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of the peninsula, in Table Mountain National Park.
A toll road on the cliffs
The toll road cut into the cliffs between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, one of the great coastal drives.
Cape Dutch manor and wine
A historic wine estate in Constantia, with a Cape Dutch manor house, tastings and restaurants.
