I’m going to start off by saying up front that Cape Town is probably one of my favorite cities I’ve ever visited. For reference, Farzan and I visited the city in February 2023 and it was both of our first time there. Luckily, we had several friends who had spent a long time in Cape Town, and they all gave us very detailed recommendations, which is probably a big part of why we had such a great trip. We also consulted several online blogs/vlogs about things to do in the city. I’m now going to list out my recommendations in order of importance, or from favorite to least favorite. There are so many guides online about what to do in Cape Town, so I won’t be going in depth on what each place is. This is more my personal ranking of what to do and some tips on when to do each thing.
Sightseeing
Chapman’s Peak Drive – Do this drive slowly on a non-cloudy day – there are many points along the way where you may want to stop for photos. Probably some of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen. There’s one spot where the mountains kind of come together and you see the entire bay that’s really nice.
Table Mountain – We took the cable car up because I’m not much of a hiking girl. If you’re a big hiker, I think this 3-4 hour hike would probably be fun for you. The views at the top were stunning. Again – I recommend going on a day that’s not cloudy for the best views. It would be fun to bring some food and have a picnic at the top since there’s a ton of space and even seating, but there is also a mediocre cafe/restaurant at the top if you don’t bring food.
Cape Point/Peninsula Drive – We loved this drive because we saw so many cool animals along the way. I think ostriches and baboons, you’re pretty much guaranteed to see, but we also saw a zebra and some antelope. I recommend doing the drive slowly and if you see 3 or 4 cars stopped, check out what they’re looking at – it’s probably some cool animal.
Stellenbosch – This town is 40 minutes outside Cape Town and there are several wineries and farms there. We don’t drink, so the wineries weren’t of much use to us, BUT many of the farms have these gorgeous spas and farm-to-table restaurants on site. We went to Lanzerac Spa, which we loved. If you go there, definitely get the biscuits with clotted cream and jam from the Deli (it’s a restaurant, not a deli). I never understood why the Brits were obsessed with scones and biscuits and then we had these biscuits and it suddenly made sense why the queen – one of the richest ladies in the world – was always eating biscuits. I will think about these biscuits for ever. The spa was delightful as well. Besides Lanzerac, Babylonstoren is another famous farm/winery and I’m sure they have a nice spa. Their restaurant, Babel, is super famous and you absolutely must make a reservation the minute you book your trip if you want to go. We booked our trip last minute and when we called Babel, they were booked out for 2.5 months and we couldn’t try the restaurant.
Hike Lion’s Head – Supposedly this is an easy hike, but I definitely think it’s AT LEAST an intermediate level hike. Bring a backpack so you can have your hands free because you WILL need both of your hands to hold on to the chains and ladders and things. Great view, but not as good as Table Mountain’s view since you aren’t quite as high. Best if you can start the hike early before it gets too hot, but also check the forecast and make sure it’s not going to be a cloudy day or else the view might not be worth it.
Camp’s Bay – Really pretty beach with the mountainous backdrop and touristy area with restaurants along the waterfront. I actually really liked this area and we did a couples photoshoot here because it’s so iconic Cape Town.
Boulder’s Beach – Most famous for the penguins and honestly, they’re pretty cute. There are two entrances, one of which allows you to get closer to the penguins, but there’s no guarantee they will be there. The other entrance has way more penguins but there is a little bit of fencing that separates the tourists from them.
Signal Hill – Another scenic drive that is best to do on a sunny day.
Llandudno beach – The beach faces west so you get that perfect sunset view where the sun actually sets on the water.
Game Drives – There are quite a few of these outside of Cape Town and I feel like if you’re in the area for more than a week you probably have time to drive out to a game reserve. We did one that was closer to Knysna and it was fun but not a must-do item. I’d definitely prioritize seeing everything in the city of Cape Town and Stellenbosch first. If you have enough time to do a proper safari at Kruger, that would be much better, but we didn’t go to Kruger on our trip, so we didn’t mind doing a 2 hour game drive.
V&A waterfront – For some reason, this is listed as one of the first few things to do on every tourist attraction list for Cape Town, but we were a bit underwhelmed. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s really nice, but we realized it doesn’t compare as much to the other Cape Town attractions.
Muizenberg Beach – This beach with the colorful houses shows up in some movies and it’s pretty famous for some reason, so we made the trip out. There were so many huge pieces of seaweed on the sand, it was honestly kind of gross, and I don’t know that it was worth the short trip out just to see the colorful houses.
Bo-Kaap – This was another attraction that’s listed on every tourist attraction list for Cape Town, but I feel like you only need 5 minutes to see the area and maybe take a photo if you want. It’s pretty, but it is a residential neighborhood at the end of the day.
Outside of these specific attractions, I think it’s so fun to walk around the different neighborhoods and just experience the city – Sea Point and Green Point and Camp’s Bay area were some of my favorite neighborhoods with great restaurants and dessert places.
Restaurants
I will start out by saying that we did quite a bit of fine dining in Cape Town – much more than what we would do in NYC. Part of that was because we were on vacation, but it was also because the conversion rate between USD and Rands was so high. A fancy meal in Cape Town came out to so much less than what it would cost us back home in Manhattan that it kind of just..made sense to try all the best restaurants. These are some restaurants we tried and really enjoyed – there are a few that didn’t make it to this list but here are ones we would visit again.
Pot Luck Club – loved the fish sliders, the broccoli penang, the smoked beef filet, and the Eton Mess
Saturday neighborhood market at Old Biscuit Mill – there are so many different stalls to try out and they are all so delicious
Lanzerac Deli in Stellenbosch – you have to get the biscuit with clotted cream & jam and then the salads are delicious also
Jason Bakery – loved the donut, the avocado toast, the juices, the coffee, everything
Haiku – loved the chili chicken and the hakka noodles, but everything was good
Toni’s – the Peri Peri chicken is the star here
La Parada – the lamb rump was amazing
Brad’s Grill Sea Point – this restaurant is famous for pepper steak
El Burro – the chicken tacos and the steak quesadilla were my favorite, but the fish tacos are good too!
Olympia Bakery Kalk Bay – the Passionfruit granadilla really wowed me, but everything was very good!
Bombay Brasserie – more for the ambiance and show of it all; I actually wasn’t blown away by the biryani but the starters and butter chicken were pretty good
12 Apostles Azure – I kind of chickened out but they have Springbok on the menu if you want to try a game meat; otherwise just a nice fancy restaurant
Any fresh fish restaurant near the water for hake & chips
