Cape Town is the quintessential melting pot: it is a city alive with creativity, colour, sounds and tastes. While walking through the city's streets and meeting its people, you will fall in love with its natural beauty, creative freedom and incredible spirit.

 

Table Mountain was named among the New 7 Wonders of Nature, and you can get to the top of Cape Town's most famous icon in just five minutes by taking a cable car, or spend the morning hiking up this international treasure. The V&A Waterfront is South Africa's most-visited retail and dining destination, attracting millions of visitors every year - and for good reason. Whether you're looking to go shopping, dine at top restaurants, party at local nightspots, visit tourist attractions and museums or investigate the city's historic harbour, you'll find it all here. (Construction for this harbour began as early as 1860, when Prince Alfred tipped the first stones for the breakwater, hence the attraction's name: V&A after Queen Victoria of England and her youngest son, Alfred.)

 

Cape Point, the most south-westerly tip of Africa, is a spectacular sight, covered in endemic fynbos and home to breathtaking bays, beaches and rolling green hills and valleys. Just 60km outside of Cape Town, Cape Point falls within the Cape Floral Region, a World Heritage Site, and is the most southerly point within the Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park. The Cape Floral Region is one of the richest areas for plant diversity in the world - it is home to nearly 20% of Africa's flora. Enjoy this pristine region with penguins, seals, mountain passes with a private guide, small group, or open-top bus!

 

South Africa's winelands stretch from the Cape Overberg in the south-western Cape, through the Little Karoo and the West Coast into the adjacent province of the Northern Cape. Most Cape wine estates are characterised by classic Cape Dutch-style buildings and massive vineyards with picturesque mountains as a backdrop. There is also a distinct European influence in a number of regions, thanks to the arrival of French Huguenot, Dutch and German settlers during the 18th century. Spier Wine Estate has one of the Cape's the oldest wine cellars, dating back to 1767. The estate continues to produce world-class wines to this day. The Stellenbosch Wine Route, South Africa's oldest, was founded in 1971. JC Le Roux, a world-renowned sparkling wine, is produced here. The town of Robertson, two hours' drive east of Cape Town, is home to the acclaimed Robertson Winery, winner of numerous international awards for its Shiraz, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay varietals.

 

Highlights and suggested day tours during any trip to Cape Town include:

 

• Table Mountain & Kirstenbosch Gardens (Hiking Table Mountain is wonderful)

• The wineries of Constantia

• Chapman’s Peak Drive and the coastal hamlets, with the long white beaches of Noordhoek and Kommetjie

• Spectacular Cape Point and the Boulder’s Beach penguin colony

• A Walk to Freedom Tour including Robben Island

• End the day with sundowners overlooking the beach (a Cape tradition)

• Active travellers can golf on world class courses, surf, skydive, windsurf, abseil, jet ski, kayak or, if they’re feeling particularly brave, go shark cage-diving

• Take a day trip into the winelands of Stellenbosch and Franschoek