If you’re from Cape Town you’ll know what it’s like to have foreign visitors or guests from other parts of South Africa come spend time with you, hoping you would show them around your beautiful city. Or even if you’re not from Cape Town but are going there as a group of friends, this quick little list is designed to give you a couple of quick and easy “what to do?” options if you’re here for a couple of days or longer.
Showing the city off to your foreign friends is also a fantastic way for locals to take time off and act like tourists themselves so without further ado, let’s jump into it …
Five Places to take your Friends in Cape Town
1. The Red Bus
Everyone in Cape Town has, by now, definitely seen or heard about “The Red Bus.” Run by City SightSeeing, the red bus is a “hop on – hop off” bus that takes you around to most of Cape Town’s most beautiful attractions and allows you the freedom to spend as much time there as you’d like, or until the next bus comes along and picks you up. The bus is also equipped with audio guides designed to answer all the questions you might have, but if you’re not interested then simply put the earphones asides and enjoy.
2. Shopping in Kalk Bay
One of the most unique suburbs in Cape Town is Kalk Bay. Kalk Bay is a rustic & bohemian affair and is utter coastal bliss. Filled with interesting alleyways, antique stores and clothing shops, Kalk Bay is the perfect place to spend a few hours breakfasting in the morning and also for dinner in the evening. Enough cannot be said of its “quaintness.”
3. Boulders Beach & Penguin Colony
Boulders Beach, just outside of Simon’s Town, is one of the spots in Cape Town that people just love. This part of the city is truly beautiful and what’s more, how often do you really get to go to a beach filled with little penguins marching up and down in their tuxedos?! The beaches are pure white and the water, although not warm, is an intoxicating shade of blue. While in the area you can explore Simon’s Town and perhaps even Cape Point.
4. The Chart Farm
Slightly off the regular tourist route (but not too much) is one of the Cape’s most beautiful tea and rose gardens. Don’t be alarmed if the only other people tend to be in the older or even ‘elderly’ age category , it does one good to look away from the bronzed masses every once in a while and to drink in the tranquility of it all. The Chart Farm is actually very well known for their wonderful summer English breakfasts and also because you can walk around helping yourselves to a wide variety of roses in their gardens (for a small fee of course.)
5. Table Mountain (at sunset)
Of course Table Mountain is in this list, or did you think your friends just want to see the insides of fine roasteries and white sandy beaches? No. They want to see Table Mountain, so give to them (at sunset). Table Mountain is an incredibly special place. To look down upon the city bowl, Lions Head and Devil’s Peak fills one with a sense of wonder. It is absolutely spectacular. Even more so when the sun isn’t beating down on you and washing out all the colour from your photographs. Go for sunset and take a picnic. Trust me.
And to help your friends plan their trip, they can start by looking for accommodation in Cape Town or checking other Things to Do. See below.
Destination Links
