The back story
-
Neighbourhood guide
The City Bowl and the Bo-Kaap: under the mountain
The city centre, the painted Bo-Kaap, the Company’s Garden, and Gardens and Tamboerskloof on the slopes: museums, Bree Street and the Mount Nelson.
Neighbourhood guide · Cape Town
The City Bowl and the Bo-Kaap: where to go
The Castle and the Company’s Garden, the painted Bo-Kaap, Bree and Kloof Streets, FYN and the Mount Nelson.
What's onThis week in Cape Town
What to see and do
-
Weather permitting
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway
The cableway to the top of Table Mountain, from the lower station on Tafelberg Road.
-
A 17th-century fort
The Castle of Good Hope
The five-pointed stone fort built by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century, with museums inside.
-
Painted houses
The Bo-Kaap
The painted houses and cobbled streets on the slope of Signal Hill, the historic heart of the Cape Malay community.
-
Iziko Museums
Iziko South African National Gallery
The national art collection, in the Company’s Garden.
-
Memory and community
District Six Museum
The museum of District Six, its community and the forced removals, in a former church on Buitenkant Street.
15 Buitenkant Street, Cape TownExplore View on map
-
Education and remembrance
Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre
A centre for Holocaust and genocide education, in Gardens.
88 Hatfield Street, Cape Town, 8001Explore View on map
-
Opera, ballet and drama
Artscape Theatre Centre
The city’s big theatre centre on the Foreshore, with opera, ballet, drama and concerts.
D.F. Malan Street, Foreshore, Cape Town, 8001Explore View on map
-
Concerts all year
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
The city’s orchestra, playing at the City Hall, Artscape and beyond.
-
On Orange Street
The Labia
An independent cinema on Orange Street, for art-house and independent films.
68 Orange Street, Gardens, Cape TownExplore View on map
-
In the heart of the city
The Company’s Garden
The city’s historic garden, between Parliament, the museums and the National Gallery.
-
Organic, in the city
Oranjezicht City Farm
An organic urban farm on the slopes above the city, on Upper Orange Street.
-
On foot
The Bo-Kaap and the Company’s Garden
Up through the painted streets of the Bo-Kaap, then across the city to the Company’s Garden and its museums.
Where to eat
-
The great tables
FYN
Modern African fine dining, in its own words, on the fifth floor of Speakers’ Corner.
5th Floor, Speakers’ Corner, 37 Parliament Street, Cape Town, 8001Explore View on map
-
A Cape Town favourite
Kloof Street House
A Victorian house on Kloof Street, with a garden and a lot of atmosphere.
30 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape TownExplore View on map
-
A Cape Town favourite
Belly of the Beast
A small set-menu dining room on Harrington Street.
110 Harrington Street, Cape TownExplore View on map
-
A steampunk roastery
Truth Coffee Roasting
A roastery and café in the city centre, dressed in the steampunk style.
-
A Cape Town institution
Afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson
Afternoon tea at the pink grand hotel in Orange Street, with the gardens and the mountain beyond.
76 Orange Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001Explore View on map
Bars
-
More gins than you can count
The Gin Bar
A gin bar in the city centre, which is also a beer, wine and bubbly bar.
-
On the rooftop
Tjing Tjing House
A rooftop bar and Japanese-inspired dining room in a Longmarket Street building.
165 Longmarket Street, Cape Town, 8001Explore View on map
-
Motorcycles and cocktails
House of Machines
A bar, coffee shop and motorcycle workshop under one roof, with live music.
Where to stay
-
In its own gardens
Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel
Cape Town’s pink grand hotel in its gardens below the mountain, famous for afternoon tea.
76 Orange Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001Explore View on map
-
In the old Reserve Bank
Taj Cape Town
A hotel in the restored South African Reserve Bank building on Wale Street, its vault turned ballroom.
1 Wale Street, corner of St George’s Mall, Cape TownExplore View on map
Health and wellness
-
Indian therapies
J Wellness Circle at the Taj
The Taj Cape Town’s spa, with Indian and international therapies.
Share your The City Bowl & the Bo-Kaap tips
Been to The City Bowl & the Bo-Kaap? Tell the next visitor what you found there.
- Loading the conversation…