Here are several highlights you can check out on our Cape Town tours—either on a guided tour or during your free time:
Table Mountain. Visible from throughout Cape Town, Table Mountain is famous for its long, flat top and dramatic slopes. Travelers on our Cape Town tours can ride a cable car to the top for sweeping, panoramic views of the city and coast.
Robben Island. Between the 17th and 20th centuries, Robben Island— located off the coast of Cape Town and accessible by ferry—served as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups, and a military base. Most notably, it’s where the late Nelson Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in prison before making history as South Africa’s first Black president. Travelers on our tours of Cape Town can visit during an optional excursion.
The Bo-Kaap. This iconic Cape Town neighborhood, which is famous for its candy-colored homes, dates back to the 1760s, when dozens of rental houses were built and leased to Cape Malays—enslaved people who were brought to Cape Town from Malaysia, Indonesia, and other parts of Africa to work in the Cape Town area. The neighborhood, whose name means “above the Cape” in Afrikaans, remains a hub of Islamic culture in Cape Town today.
Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. This lively, mixed-use area at the edge of Cape Town’s working harbor is packed with restaurants, bars, shops, and entertainment venues. It’s also home to can’t-miss cultural landmarks, such as the ultra-modern Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), which opened in a massive, former grain silo in 2017. Looking for a million-dollar shot of the Mother City? Snap one from the top of The Cape Wheel, a giant observation wheel whose 30 air-conditioned cabins offer 360-degree, bird’s-eye views of Cape Town and its surroundings.
City Hall. On February 11, 1990, just hours after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech from the balcony of this grand, Darling Street building that was built in 1905. City officials and South African luminaries unveiled a bronze statue of Mandela on the same balcony in July 2018, the centenary of Mandela's birth.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Travelers on our group tours to Cape Town who want to enjoy a bit of nature in the city can head to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, which is situated at the foot of the eastern end of Table Mountain. In addition to housing thousands of plants, trees, flowers, and insects, the garden plays host to indoor and outdoor art exhibitions and is filled with sculptures.
District Six Museum. Exhibits inside this poignant museum memorialize the 60,000 displaced residents of Cape Town’s District Six who were forced to move to shanty towns on the city’s outskirts in 1966, when pro-apartheid officials declared the area a white neighborhood. Travelers on our tours to Cape Town can explore the district alongside a District Six Museum Foundation guide.
Boulders Penguin Colony. One of the best things to do in Cape Town if you love animals is to pay a visit to Boulders, a protected marine habitat that’s home to a thriving colony of more than 2,000 endangered African penguins. Travelers on our South Africa: Cultural Cities & Wildlife Safaris tour can visit during an included guided tour of the Cape Peninsula.
Officials’ efforts to protect and grow the colony landed South Africa on our list of the world’s top destinations for responsible wildlife experiences.
The Cape of Good Hope. This dramatic seascape at the very tip of the Southern Peninsula is where the Indian and Pacific oceans me
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