Cape Town, Western Cape

Cape Town – Simply the Best City in the World

Cape Town is undoubtably South Africa’s gem in the tourism industry, a place both South Africans and foreigners choose as a holiday destination. The Mother City continues to pull out all the stops, promoting her undeniable beauty to tourists and gathering awards around the globe!

The 2015/2016 Telegraph Travel Awards chose Cape Town as the “Best City in the World” for the fourth year running, beating Vancouver and Venice which took second and third place respectively in the Best City category. Cape Town also took the honours as the number one food city in the world in the Condé Nast’s Readers’ Choice Awards.

Cape Town is the heart of the Western Cape with something for everyone from beautiful beaches, hiking or mountain bike trails, water sports and shark cage diving to Museums, historical sites, art galleries, superb shopping and the most divine restaurants and cocktail bars with five star chefs and breath-taking views all round!

The city’s coastline is just as vibrant as the inner city with white sandy beaches perfect for sunbathing and swimming, despite the chilly waters, to stormy shores with cashing waves which offer spectacular view points. Cape Town also offers some of the best spots for whale and dolphin watching.

The Mother City is home to some of the world’s best tourist attractions such as the world famous Table Mountain, Robben Island and recently added the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa which has been compared to attractions such as the Louvre and the Metropolitan in New York!

Cape Town has a buzz about it no matter what time of year and hosts many food, music, wine, sport and nature festivals throughout the year and of course the Cape is famous for its wine so visits to some of the world’s best Wine Estates is a must and boy are there many to choose from!

Come visit rain or shine, cold or warm – Cape Town could never disappoint!

Places to Visit

Things to do and see

• V & A Waterfront
• Table Mountain
• Robben Island
• Cape Point
• Groot Constantia
• Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
• The City Walk
• Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
• District Six Museum
• Cape Medical Museum
• The Company’s Gardens
• Boulders Beach
• Dolphin Beach
• Big Bay Beach
• Two Oceans Aquarium
• Tranquillity Cracks Hike
• Cape Camino Hike
• Arderne Gardens
• Bay Harbour Market

Climate

Cape Town receives approximately 788 mm of rain annually with the majority of its’ rainfall occurring during the winter months.

Summer months, November to March will have average temperatures of between 15˚C and 26˚C.

Winter months, May to August will have average temperatures of between 7˚C and 16˚C.

Transport

There are daily flights into Cape Town International Airport, the city centre is about 20 km away. At the airport you can hire a car, call Uber, take a metered taxi or catch the MyCiti shuttle bus into the city centre.

History

On 6 April 1652 Jan van Riebeeck gazed in wonder at Table Mountain, dropped anchor in Table Bay, hoisted the Dutch flag, and a city was born! Before long he had built an earthen-walled fort and planted a vast garden of fruit and vegetables and the new city began to grow.

Table Mountain, often visible 200 km out at sea, now beckoned like the gigantic sign of an Inn. Here was not only shelter from the stormy seas but meat, vegetables, fruit and wine could be bought, ships repaired and the sick cared for in a large hospital.

Before Van Riebeeck landed, others with their history lost in legend, had long lived in the blue shadow of the mountain. They were Hottentot pastoralists, with flocks of fat-tailed sheep; Bushmen hunters who lived off game animals and primitive beachcombers who searched the shores for seafood. Of their origin only a few tantalizing clues remained - bones, fragments of ancient tools and myths which had somehow survived the graveyard of the past.

Legends of earlier visitors also lingered. Phoenicians and Arabs from the days of Sindbad the Sailor are reputed to have been among the many who floundered in storms off the Cape Peninsula. Others are said to have found the eggs of giant birds on the shores of Table Bay.