All the Things You Need to Know About Visiting Cape Town, South Africa
We recently returned from the most amazing trip to Africa! We spent 4 magical days exploring Cape Town, and today I am going to share some of our must-see places!
Planning the trip
I usually like to plan our trips, but this time we had a travel planner create our itinerary and make plans for us.
This ended up being a great option! Everything was so perfect and he picked out amazing spots for us.
Cape Town overview
The scenery was stunning and I was surprised everyday by new and unexpected places.
Table Mountain is a huge and magnificent backdrop to the city. You can hike it, but it is an extremely strenuous hike.
The city is also right on the ocean and is the most Southern city in Africa.
When should I go?
Everyone that we talked to said September was the best time to go.
It ended up being the perfect shoulder season to visit. Since their seasons are opposite ours, it was basically spring there.
There were some chilly and rainy days, but overall it was great.
Currency
South Africa uses the Rand as their currency.
You can easily go to an ATM and pull out some money.
Most places also take credit cards, and some take US dollars.
We wanted to have cash because we were constantly tipping people. We took about $300 USD and converted it to rands, but we wish we’d had a little more for our two week stay. (Safari guides were tipped about $70 each, which was the bulk of our tips)
Transportation
You could rent a car, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you know you’ll need to drive around a lot.
Uber worked great for us! We didn’t need to drive a ton, so it was perfect.
Our hotel also had a shuttle that took us to all the nearby sites that we wanted to visit.
Accommodations
We stayed at the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa.
The hotel was fantastic and I would definitely recommend it!
It was a little bit out of town, but it was perfect. It’s right by the water and is so peaceful.
However, there is not a beachfront at the hotel. But they do provide a shuttle to the beach.
An amazing buffet breakfast was included at our hotel! So much food!
We also had delicious afternoon tea at The Leopard Bar restaurant in the hotel.
The hotel also has a movie theater room with milkshakes and popcorn.
There is a full spa with a hot tub as well.
Fun things to do in Cape Town
The only thing we planned ahead of time was our peninsula tour. We loved it! The rest of the time we just explored and looked up things to do.
Our travel agent arranged this tour for us. If you google “Cape Town Peninsula Tour”, there are lots of options. I would NOT miss this!
We got to visit the Kirstenbosch Gardens, which were so beautiful.
The best part of the day was seeing the penguins on the beach! We had to pay to go in this area, but it was 100% worth it!
The next stop was visiting Cape Point. We ate at the restaurant Two Oceans and had a gorgeous view and great food. Next we got to take a tram to the top of a mountain with stunning views!
Next was the Cape of Good Hope! This is the most Southwest point of Africa. It was beautiful! We got to see ostriches on the beach!!! It was a highlight and so cool.
On the way back to Cape Town we did “one of the most beautiful drives in the world”. We got to watch the sunset from Chapman’s Peak and it was amazing.
Go hiking! There were some great hiking trails right by the Twelve Apostles hotel.
Another great hike is the mountain Lion’s Head. There are amazing views of the shoreline, downtown, and Table Mountain. There are some ladders and steep sections that I wouldn’t recommend taking small children on. However, you can still see great views without climbing to the very top.
Walk around Camps Bay. This is a beach area with shopping. We didn't spend much time here, but the beach would have been nice on a day with better weather.
Explore the Waterfront. We loved our time walking around the Waterfront. There were musicians, photo ops, and African shops.
I spent about an hour looking around the African Trading Post shop! There are about 5 stories and they are so fun! Make sure to make it to the top of a really cool museum. It was free and fun!
If you walk about 15 minutes from the Waterfront, you will get to the cruise terminal. Inside the cruise terminal is one of the most amazing chocolate shops that I’ve been to! It’s called Afrikoa and it was delicious!
Food
The food in Cape Town was so fresh and delicious.
We ended up eating two dinners at our hotel restaurant. They had amazing sushi!
One night we ate at a restaurant called Gold. It was an experience! Everyone got a drum and was led in playing music. It was a little cheesy and touristy, but ended up being fun! Then we were served 14 courses of delicious food! The courses were small so you can try some of everything.