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Cape Town is a city which offers endless options for every kind of visitor. From fitness people looking for places to exercise to foodies always in search for the next outstanding meal, it’s a place to visit at least once-in-a-lifetime. Here I will show only a “taste”of what you can do if you had about 5 days to explore the town.
Day 1. Stroll Around the V&A Waterfront Area
This is a program that must be included in every itinerary, even if if you have only a day in Cape Town. It’s not because it’s a touristic place, but because you can have wonderful views of the Table Mountain from the V&A and you can also have a delicious meal at an oceanfront restaurant, as we did at The Harbor House. A definitely must do experience while visiting the city.
Watch the Sunset from the Table Mountain
To go up to the most iconic place of Cape Town, you can either take a cable car or hike it up. It’s about two hours walking and then you can take the cable car to go down. By cable car is about a 10 mins ride in a spinning panoramic gondola. Once you are up there, you can choose a place, open a wine (that we brought with us) and enjoy absolutely amazing views of the whole city.
Day 2. Drive Along the Peninsula
If you have only two days in Cape Town, besides walking along the V&A Waterfont and watching the sunset at the Table Mountain, as I mentioned before, you can rent a car or hire a driver/uber (as we did) to have a scenic tour along the Peninsula. It takes at least 4 – 5 hours to do it properly., or a whole day if you have this time. I recommend you to start clockwise, from Muizenberg, so you will always drive with the ocean on your left hand (remember it was a British colony – left hand drive).
You will pass through Simons Town, a beautiful british style beach. We stopped at Boulders Beach to have a look at the Penguins Colony, where you can see thousands of cute penguins. Then, if you have time, you can drive through the Cape of Good Hope, or you can directly drive to the other side of the Peninsula, passing through beautiful beaches and finally entering in one of the most scenic roads I’ve ever seen (it’s similar to Highway 1, in California, but smaller). You must reserve at least 30 mins to drive the famous Chapman’s Peak Drive in a slow pace, stopping as much as you want along the route. It’s definitely breathtaking!!!
Take a look at the Llandudno Beach, the most beautiful one in my opinion. And finally you can ended up your tour at the beautiful and lively Camps Bay.
Watch the Sunset from Camps Bay
This is definitely one of the best places to have amazing sunset views while tasting a good South African wine. I recommend you to choose either to stay in the middle of the action, at Zenzero or Chinchilla, or move to a more private sunset from the beautiful and trendy Bungalow. In this area you can also ride a bike and cycle along the charming beachfront promenade.
Day 3. Ride a Bike Through Scenic Beachfront Roads
My husband loves to cycle, so I decided to contact Bike & Saddle and choose their Half Day Fitness Cycle. It’s a vigorous ride from Camps Bay climbing up the scenic Chapman’s Peak Drive. Before we start, we thought we wouldn’t be able to accomplish it, but then we realized we were cycling along absolutely breathtaking views – literally. It was one of the higlights of the whole trip and I higly recommend it for those who are adventure seekers. It’s not that difficult and I can affirm you will cycle the most wonderful kilometers of your life.
Have a Feast of the Gods – or many of them
Cape Town is well know for its high standard culinary. As we had only 5 nights there, we couldn’t try it all, but I can definitely affirm its cuisine is absolutely outstanding. We had the most spectacular tasting menu at the Greenhouse Restaurant, one of the Top in Africa, a succulent brandy & truffled prime rib at the Shortmarket Club, a delicious and elegant dinner at the Signal, inside the Cape Grace Hotel, but there is so much more, such as the TestKitchen, La Colombe, Foxcroft and so many others we would have to spend a full month there to experience it all.
Day 4. Try Some Good Wine Minutes from the City Center
As you may know by now, South Africa is acknowledge for its wine production, particularly in the Winelands Region – Stellenbosch and Franschhoek as the most famous cities. But maybe you don’t know that only a 20 minutes drive from the V&A there is a wine region they call New Winelands, more specific the Constantia neighborhood. It’s where we stayed at the beginning of the trip. These estates had their first wine production back there in the XVIII century. We visited the Klein Constantia Estate because of their Vin de Constance, one of the most awarded dessert wines of the world. You can also have a delicious lunch there to balance your body after so much wine.
Day 5. Visit The Beautiful Kirstenbosch Gardens
If you are the kind of visitor that loves to mix your itinerary with some beautiful parks, than you should visit this place. It’s absolutely beautiful, different from any other place I’ve ever visited before. You have to pay a fee to get in and you can also pay for a tour with a golf cart. Along the way, you will see ancient trees widespread along a vast terrain. Or you can take a basket of your favorite delights and have a delicious picnic beyond nature.
As you can see, Cape Town has so much to offer, it has everything for every taste. Pick your selection and have a wonderful experience!
