Discovering the Western Cape

The city of Cape Town, watched over by the unique and majestic Table Mountain is South Africa's old­est town and one of South Africa's jew­els. With its melt­ing pot of cul­tures, rich his­tor­ical and cul­tural her­it­age and the pristine white beaches that sweep along its coast­line, the Western Cape has much to offer any vis­it­ing tourist.

The Western Cape is both the gate­way to Africa and a major tour­ist attrac­tion in its own right.

In Cape Town itself, there is jux­ta­pos­i­tion of old and new, with major shop­ping cen­ters, such as the Canal Walk Mall, sand­wiched tightly with his­tor­ical land­marks such as the Castle of Good Hope, the fort built by Jan Riebeeck on estab­lish­ing a sup­ply sta­tion at the Cape. 

The city is vibrant and cos­mo­pol­itan offer­ing excel­lent Cape Town hotels, res­taur­ants and night­life and and has long been a hot­spot for film and mod­el­ing shoots. For beachlovers, Camps Bay beach, Clifton and many oth­ers offer the per­fect oppor­tun­ity to soak up the sun. For surfers, there are ample surf­spots, from Long Beach to Kogel Baai, near Gordon's Bay at the foot of the Helderberg Mountains.

Slightly fur­ther afield are the many winer­outes that offer his­toric estates, unri­valled nat­ural beauty and some of the best wine tast­ing in the world. The area is criss-crossed with wine routes, with the Durbanville Hills route a mere twenty minute drive from Cape Town. Continuing fur­ther one finds the renowned wine-producing areas of Paarl, Franschoek, and Stellenbosch. (See The Cape Winelands).

On the west coast of the Cape, it seems time has stood still, with small fish­ing vil­lages such as Paternoster hav­ing changed little since their found­ing, over a cen­tury ago. But for the vis­itor, there is choice. In the town of Langebaan, for instance, visit the Mykonos Casino com­plex for gambling and night­life, or take a break at the Strandloper sea­food res­taur­ant loc­ated on the white beach sands.

In the spring and sum­mer months, Hermanus on the east­ern coast of the Cape draws count­less vis­it­ors, who con­greg­ate to view the annual passing of the Southern Right Whale and watch the world's only whale-crier. Small towns like Swellendam, loc­ated just off the N2 high­way are also well worth a visit, offer­ing, in this case, unique attrac­tions such as the Faerie Sanctuary, while oth­ers, like McGregor, are a haven for artists and craftspeople.

Also within the bor­ders of the Western Cape is the Garden Route, aptly named for its breath­tak­ing nat­ural veget­a­tion. Towns worth vis­it­ing in the area include Knysna, famed for its twin heads, pro­tect­ing a warm and peace­ful lagoon, where it is pos­sible to hire a house­boat and idly drift on the water as well as for local events such as the annual oyster festival.

Mossel Bay is another town in the area worth a visit, with its mild cli­mate, and his­toric sig­ni­fic­ance, being a reg­u­lar stop for the Portuguese sail­ors who traveled around the Cape to India, cen­tur­ies ago. Their influ­ence remains recor­ded in the unique post office tree, and in the Bartholomew Diaz museum.

Wilderness, on the N2 en route to the Eastern Cape, lives up to its name and is ideal for those who wish to get away from it all, while Plettenberg Bay is fam­ous both for its dol­phin sight­ings and its gen­teel atmo­sphere, where yacht­ing and polo are the order of the day. The Western Cape has a host of attrac­tions to sat­isfy even the most dis­cern­ing vis­itor and offers some­thing to suit every taste.

With so much to see and do how­ever, you would be well advised to plan your trip care­fully and budget for a longer stay.

Useful Links:
For fur­ther inform­a­tion see:
Western Cape Attractions
Western Cape Accommodation
Cape Town Accommodation