Romantic Guide to Cape Town

Cape Town Romance

Paris may have an inter­na­tional repu­ta­tion as the City of Love, but that’s more than likely only because it had an his­tor­ical head start on Cape Town. True, the men in South Africa’s Mother City aren’t likely to treat their inten­ded con­quests to moon­lit violin ser­en­ades, but what we do have is some fine places to go and things to see and do if it’s a romantic party for deux you’re after.

It might seem a bit of an obvi­ous choice, but Table Mountain leads a double life as a tour­ist attraction/postcard seller and a lov­ers’ get­away in the middle of the city ... What could be more romantic than hop­ping on a cable car to the seem­ingly isol­ated top (R145 per per­son return) with a bottle of wine, a couple of glasses and a  blanket, and watch­ing the sun set rather spec­tac­u­larly over the Atlantic? And the nice people at the Cableway make it even easier for you by run­ning a dis­coun­ted rate after 6pm in the sum­mer months, ostens­ibly for this very pur­pose. Just don’t for­get the bottle opener.

Cape Town Romance

If heights or gor­geous sun­sets aren’t your thing, you could always keep both feet firmly on the ground at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens (R30 per per­son entrance). The gar­dens, nestled into the Eastern slopes of Table Mountain and stretch­ing over 528 hec­tares, are the per­fect spot for a lazy, romantic pic­nic. Pack a bas­ket, com­plete with straw­ber­ries and spark­ling wine, and enjoy the sweep­ing views while sur­roun­ded by mostly indi­gen­ous flora.

For the slightly more adven­tur­ous couple, few things say hero and heroine of a romantic novel more than gal­lop­ing on horse­back along the water’s edge, and Cape Town’s Noordhoek Beach seems to have been per­fectly designed by nature for a romantic trot. Local stables offer beach trails for begin­ners, includ­ing sun­set rides, so you’ll be can­ter­ing along the miles of white sand, wind in your hair, before you can say Mills and Boon.

Cape Town Romance

And if it’s on the water you want to be, rather than beside it, you can’t go wrong with a romantic cruise around the Cape’s coast­line. The Waterfront Boat Company offers a daily Sunset Champagne Cruise (R200 per per­son, includ­ing com­pli­ment­ary glass of spark­ling wine) with vari­ous routes, includ­ing Milnerton Lighthouse and Clifton Beach. They require only two pay­ing cus­tom­ers to depart (have couple, will cruise) so don’t be sur­prised to find your­self on a very cosy, private jaunt. Peckish? Cape Town’s cruis­ing res­taur­ant, The Sea Horse, offers lunch, cock­tail and din­ner cruises (from R220 per per­son), depart­ing from the V&A Waterfront. Or, hey big spender, why not charter a cruise? Baron Charters offer fully catered, stewardess-serviced yachts for charter - start­ing at R15 000 for a two hour scenic cruise.

Of course, one needn’t pull out all the stops to be romantic in the Mother City. Every day of the week there are any num­ber of world-class, low-lit res­taur­ants, cock­tail lounges and live gigs ready to accom­mod­ate a starry-eyed pair.

Romantic Links:
Find more romatic des­tin­a­tion info at:
Cape Town Weddings
Cape Town Honeymoons
Things to Do in Cape Town