An Immersive Guide to Cape Town, South Africa

Table Mountain

Let’s start with Cape Town's most famous landmark - the iconic Table Mountain cable car ride. This gives you an aerial view of all sides of the city, all the way to its most southern tip, Cape Point Nature Reserve. Be flexible about when you visit Table Mountain as the weather can impact cable car operations.

Table Mountain Lunch: There is a restaurant at the top, but Cape Town has so many amazing restaurants to choose from. I would suggest lunch at Fyn. People don’t realize that South Africa is culinary/foodie destination. South Africa has world-class restaurants. Fyn is a short drive from Table Mountain in the city center and was voted 93 on the World's Best Restaurant List 2021. I had the Lambert’s Bay abalone, truffle kaeshi - was amazing, and the Poached kingklip, rack seaweed, crayfish espuma and black caviar.

FYI. There are vegetarian options. We have two others in the top 100, Wolfgat.

Cape Peninsula Drive

Tour around the Cape Town peninsula. Depending on where you stay (see my where to stay in Cape Town guide...) I would drive over Kloof Nek road (the road that takes you to Table Mountain) over to Camps Bay where you should stop for lunch or cocktails. Amazing views over the Atlantic and white sand beaches. We ate the Bungalow which was delicious. I had the baby squid appetizer. (So tender!) The rest of my group all raved about their meals.

If you have time, take a drive through Clifton to the most expensive houses in South Africa, and then head back south on your peninusla drive.

Boulders Beach

On your Cape Peninsula drive, visit the crowd pleaser - Boulders Beach! This is where you can see the little African penguins swimming in between the rocks at Boulders Beach in Simonstown. When I was growing up in Cape Town no-one knew about the penguins, but they have become famous!

South Africa’s penguins are under threat from the loss of habitat, declining fish and their ever-encroaching human neighbors. However, by visiting them leads to more money to help boost the penguin conservation efforts. As more people started visiting the penguins, it was decided to protect the penguins from causal beach goers and this has strengthened conservation efforts. The beach is cordoned off from people and interacting with them is strictly prohibited.

Cape Point via Simonstown

After Boulders Beach, drive through Simonstown home to South Africa’s navy - quaint town, on the way to Cape Point. This is a must where you see the two Oceans meet - the cold Atlantic and the warm Benguela current from the Indian Ocean. This is set in a pristine preserve with wild baboons roaming around. There is a funicular to help you get to the top, for hikers, their are steps down to the beaches, but a steep climb back up. There is a restaurant and snack shop at Cape Point if you get hungry, but I have better restaurant recommendations for you that will delight you.

I would suggest either Camel’s Rock, Sopra or the next town over Jakes in Noordhoek. My fave is the calamari at Jakes.

Chapmans Peak Drive/Constantia

This is one of the most picturesque drives in the world. The road is set right on the edge of the mountain. Many car commercials have been filmed here, including BMWs. This will take you back towards the city center either through Camps Bay or Constantia. If you have the time, Hout Bay is a gorgeous little fishing town nestled at the bottom of Chapman’s Peak.

Constantia has some of the most beautiful gardens and properties. It is also home to several wine farms. This is handy if you have limited time and can’t make it to the Stellenbosch or Franschhoek region on the outskirts of greater Cape Town. See the Cape Town Winelands guide for wine farm recommendations.

Restaurant recommendations in Constantia

The BlockHouse Kitchen on the Constantia Uitsig Wine Farm is a great lunch or dinner place and you can do some wine eating at the same time. I had the slow braised lamb shoulder - sublime. Another fave of mine is the Bistro at Klein Constantia Wine Farm try the prawns and Chorizo.

White wine, cream and tomato sauce, grilled baguette!

Cape Town has so many great restaurants that you can’t go wrong. The food and produce is of a high quality and fresh.

City Center/Waterfront

Robben Island/Nelson Mandela Tour

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront is a huge tourist attraction on the water - Table Bay. It has hundreds of restaurants, ships, curious and entertainment. If history is your thing, I highly recommend a tour to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was kept prisoner. I can hook you up with a tour! My favorite restaurant at the Waterfront for lunch is Den Anger - great mussels.

For dinner in the city I would recommend the Test Kitchen in Woodstock. Try their 7-course discovery menu. My best meal was the Coconut Laksa Line-fish/ Scallop and Langoustine Mousse/ Tomato & Galangal Salsa.

I would recommend making reservations at all of these restaurants and I can do that all for you!

For antiquing, art galleries and fresh fish markets I would suggest a trip to Kalk Bay over Boyes Drive. Beautiful scenery and views over False Bay. Meander a round the little town and have a delicious coffee and party at Olympia cafe, a fave with the locals so you know its good.

Fyn voted 93 on the Worlds' Best Restaurant List 2021. I had the Lambert’s Bay abalone, truffle kaeshi - was amazing and the Poached kingklip, rack seaweed, crayfish espuma, black caviar. There are vegetarian options.

We have two others in the top 100, Wolfgat (west Coast) and La Colombe (Franschoek - 1 -hour drive from Cape Town City Center). See my guide on the Cape Wine Route and West Coast Guide.

Bungalow Camps Bay. I had the baby squid appetizer. (So tender!) The rest of my group all raved about their meals.

The BlockHouse Kitchen on the Constantia Uitsig Wine Farm is a great lunch or dinner place and you can do some wine eating at the same time. I had the slow braised lamb shoulder - sublime. Another fave of mine is the Bistro at Klein Constantia Wine Farm, try the prawns and Chorizo White wine, cream and tomato sauce, grilled baguette!

For Dinner in the city I would recommend the Test Kitchen in Woodstock. Try their 7 course Discovery menu. My best meal was the Coconut Laksa Line-fish/ Scallop & Langoustine Mousse/ Tomato & Galangal Salsa.