Cape Town Tourism
Cape Town is one of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa. This is due to its good climate, natural setting, and relatively well-developed infrastructure. The city has several well-known natural features that attract tourists, most notably Table Mountain, which forms a large part of the Table Mountain National Park and is the back end of the City Bowl. Cape Point is recognised as the dramatic headland at the end of the Cape Peninsula. Many tourists also drive along Chapman's Peak Drive, a narrow road that links Noordhoek with Hout Bay, for the views of the Atlantic Ocean and nearby mountains. It is possible to either drive or hike up Signal Hill for closer views of the City Bowl and Table Mountain.
The city has several notable cultural attractions. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the docks of the Port of Cape Town, is one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with several hundred shops and the Two Oceans Aquarium. Part of the charm of the V&A, as it is locally known, is that the Port continues to operate and visitors can watch ships enter and leave. The V&A also hosts the Nelson Mandela Gateway, through which ferries depart for Robben Island.
The most popular areas for visitors to stay include:
- Camps Bay,
- Sea Point,
- the V&A Waterfront,
- the City Bowl,
- Hout Bay,
- Constantia,
- Rondebosch,
- Newlands,
- Somerset West, and
- Hermanus
For further information about Cape Town, please visit:
Last Updated: 29 January 2010
