Things to do · Cape Town · South Africa
19 best things to do in Cape Town
19 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
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Quick answer
The essential sights in Cape Town are Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway, Robben Island and Boulders Beach penguin colony. Of the 19 picks below, 8 are free, 4 work on a rainy day and 10 suit children. Allow about 7 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway
- Free sights
- 8
- Good on a rainy day
- Zeitz MOCAA
- Time to see the highlights
- 7 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway | Table Mountain National Park | 3–4 hours | Mid-priced |
| Robben Island | Table Bay | About 4 hours including ferries | Mid-priced |
| Boulders Beach penguin colony | Simon's Town | 1–2 hours | Low cost |
| Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden | Newlands | 2–3 hours | Low cost |
| V&A Waterfront | V&A Waterfront | Half a day | Free |
| Bo-Kaap | Bo-Kaap | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Lion's Head hike | Signal Hill | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Chapman's Peak Drive | Hout Bay | 30–60 minutes | Low cost |
| Zeitz MOCAA | V&A Waterfront | 1.5–2 hours | Mid-priced |
| District Six Museum | City Bowl | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Two Oceans Aquarium | V&A Waterfront | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Castle of Good Hope | City Bowl | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Company's Garden | City Bowl | 45 minutes | Free |
| Iziko South African Museum | City Bowl | 1.5–2 hours | Low cost |
| Signal Hill | Signal Hill | 1 hour | Free |
| Sea Point Promenade | Sea Point | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Kalk Bay harbour and village | Kalk Bay | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Muizenberg Beach | Muizenberg | Half a day | Free |
| Groot Constantia | Constantia | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
The 19 best things to do
Nature · Table Mountain National Park
1.Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway
The flat-topped mountain rises about 1,085 metres above the City Bowl. A rotating cable car climbs to the summit plateau in about five minutes, where paths lead to viewpoints over Robben Island, Lion's Head and the Twelve Apostles. Fit walkers can hike up Platteklip Gorge in about two to three hours. The cableway stops in high wind or cloud and closes for annual maintenance for a few weeks, usually in winter.
Check the cableway's live status on the morning you plan to go and take the first clear, calm day you get; the 'tablecloth' cloud can roll in by midday.
- Time needed
- 3–4 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Buying cableway tickets online lets you skip the ticket queue, which is long in December and January.
- Iconic
- Views
- Outdoors
- Kids
- Nature
Historic site · Table Bay
2.Robben Island
The island prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in detention is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tours leave by ferry from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront, take about 30–45 minutes each way, and include a bus circuit of the island and a walk through the maximum-security prison, often guided by a former political prisoner.
Sit on the left side of the ferry heading out for the classic view back to Table Mountain.
- Time needed
- About 4 hours including ferries
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Tours sell out in summer and are cancelled in rough seas; book online several days ahead and keep a backup day free.
- History
- Iconic
Beach · Simon's Town
3.Boulders Beach penguin colony
A colony of endangered African penguins lives among the granite boulders near Simon's Town, about 45 minutes south of the city. Boardwalks lead to viewing platforms over Foxy Beach, and a separate sheltered cove lets you swim with penguins wandering nearby. It is part of Table Mountain National Park and charges a conservation fee.
Go early in the morning before tour buses arrive, and combine it with Cape Point further down the peninsula.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Nature
- Iconic
- Photo spot
Garden · Newlands
4.Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Set on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch grows plants native to southern Africa, including proteas, cycads and fynbos. The curving Boomslang canopy walkway runs through the treetops of the arboretum, and the Skeleton Gorge trail climbs from the garden to the top of the mountain. On summer Sundays it hosts open-air sunset concerts on the lawns.
Bring a picnic; the lawns below the mountain are one of the best places in the city for a long afternoon.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Nature
- Kids
- Couples
- Outdoors
- Photo spot
Waterfront · V&A Waterfront
5.V&A Waterfront
Cape Town's working harbour is also its busiest leisure district, with restaurants, the Victoria Wharf mall, the Watershed design and craft market, harbour cruises and street performers. Seals often bask on the platforms by the Ferryman's quay, and the Cape Wheel gives an overview of the harbour and mountain.
Take a short harbour cruise at sunset for a view of Table Mountain from the water.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Shopping
- Food
- After dark
Neighbourhood · Bo-Kaap
6.Bo-Kaap
The brightly painted houses on the slopes of Signal Hill are home to the city's historic Cape Malay community, descended largely from people brought to the Cape from Southeast Asia in the 17th and 18th centuries. Wale, Chiappini and Rose streets are the most photographed, and the small Bo-Kaap Museum on Wale Street shows a 19th-century home. Cooking classes here teach curries and samoosas.
This is a residential area with mosques; photograph the houses respectfully and avoid posing on people's front steps.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Photo spot
- History
- Food
Viewpoint · Signal Hill
7.Lion's Head hike
The 669-metre peak between Table Mountain and Signal Hill is the city's favourite short hike: a spiral path of about 2.5 km each way with chains and ladders near the top (there is a route that avoids them). The summit looks over Camps Bay, the Atlantic and the City Bowl. Many locals climb it for sunrise or sunset.
If you go for sunset, carry a head torch for the descent and walk down with other hikers.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Views
- Active
- Outdoors
Viewpoint · Hout Bay
8.Chapman's Peak Drive
This toll road carved into the cliffs between Hout Bay and Noordhoek has around 114 bends above the Atlantic, with lay-bys for photographs of Hout Bay harbour and the Sentinel. It is usually driven as part of a loop down to Cape Point. The road closes in heavy rain or rockfall risk.
Drive it from Hout Bay towards Noordhoek in the late afternoon, when the light falls on the bay behind you at the lookouts.
- Time needed
- 30–60 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Views
- Photo spot
- Couples
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Gallery · V&A Waterfront
1.Zeitz MOCAA
The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa occupies a 1920s grain silo whose concrete tubes were carved into a cathedral-like atrium by Heatherwick Studio. Its galleries show contemporary work from Africa and the diaspora across several floors, and the building itself is worth the visit.
Look up from the centre of the atrium, then take the stairs rather than the lift to see the carved tubes up close.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Museum · City Bowl
2.District Six Museum
Housed in a former Methodist church on Buitenkant Street, the museum remembers the mixed inner-city district whose 60,000 or so residents were forcibly removed under apartheid from the late 1960s. A floor map covered with former residents' handwritten notes, street signs and personal stories make it one of the most affecting visits in the city.
Ask whether a former resident is guiding that day; their talks bring the exhibits to life.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
Aquarium · V&A Waterfront
3.Two Oceans Aquarium
The aquarium shows the marine life of the cold Atlantic and warmer Indian Ocean currents that meet off the Cape, including a kelp forest tank, rays, turtles and a large predator exhibit. Touch pools and daily feeds make it one of the best wet-weather options for children.
Time your visit for one of the scheduled feeds listed at the entrance.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Castle · City Bowl
4.Castle of Good Hope
Built by the Dutch East India Company between 1666 and 1679, the pentagonal castle is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa. Visitors can walk the bastions, see the military museum and the William Fehr collection of Cape furniture and paintings, and watch a key ceremony on some weekdays.
Pair it with the District Six Museum, a five-minute walk away on Buitenkant Street.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Architecture
- Kids
Garden · City Bowl
5.Company's Garden
Planted in the 1650s to supply ships of the Dutch East India Company, this shady garden at the top of Adderley Street is now a public park with old trees, a rose garden and tame squirrels. Parliament, St George's Cathedral, the South African Museum and the National Gallery all border it.
Walk through it between Bo-Kaap and Kloof Street; it is the most pleasant route across the city centre.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Kids
- History
Museum · City Bowl
6.Iziko South African Museum
South Africa's oldest museum, at the top of the Company's Garden, covers natural history and early human history, with a four-storey whale well hung with whale skeletons, fossils from the Karoo and a planetarium next door.
Combine it with a planetarium show on a rainy afternoon with children.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Rainy day
- History
Viewpoint · Signal Hill
7.Signal Hill
The rounded hill above Sea Point and the Waterfront can be driven almost to the top, where lookouts face the Atlantic, the stadium and the city. It is a classic spot for sunset with a picnic, and paragliders launch from its slopes. The Noon Gun, fired daily from the hill's lower slopes above Bo-Kaap, has been a city ritual since the 19th century.
Arrive at least 45 minutes before sunset on summer evenings, when the parking area fills up.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Views
- Couples
- After dark
Waterfront · Sea Point
8.Sea Point Promenade
A paved seafront path of several kilometres runs from Mouille Point lighthouse past Sea Point to Bantry Bay, with lawns, outdoor gyms, playgrounds and public art. At the southern end, the Sea Point Pavilion has large saltwater pools that are warmer than the Atlantic beside them.
Walk or cycle it in the early evening and stop for an ice cream as the sun sets over the ocean.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Active
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Neighbourhood · Kalk Bay
9.Kalk Bay harbour and village
Kalk Bay is a fishing village on False Bay where boats unload their catch in the small harbour and seals wait for scraps. Main Road has antique shops, bookshops and cafés, and tidal pools sit below the railway. It is a good stop on the way to Boulders Beach.
Buy fresh fish straight from the boats when they come in, or eat hake and chips by the harbour.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Food
- Off the beaten path
- Photo spot
Beach · Muizenberg
10.Muizenberg Beach
Muizenberg's long sandy beach is lined with colourful Victorian-style bathing huts and has gentle, consistent waves that make it the city's main beginner surf spot. Surf schools along Beach Road rent boards and wetsuits. Shark spotters monitor the beach and fly flags to show conditions.
Book a surf lesson in the morning before the wind picks up, and check the shark-spotter flag before swimming.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Kids
- Active
- Outdoors
- Free
Historic site · Constantia
11.Groot Constantia
Founded in 1685, Groot Constantia is South Africa's oldest wine estate, with a Cape Dutch manor house museum, cellar tours and tastings below the mountain. It is about 20 minutes' drive from the city, so you can taste wine without a full winelands day.
Arrange a ride-hail or driver so nobody needs to drive after tasting.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Couples
- Food
- Architecture
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Zeitz MOCAA, District Six Museum and Iziko South African Museum |
| History | Robben Island, Bo-Kaap, District Six Museum and Castle of Good Hope |
| Views | Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway, Lion's Head hike, Chapman's Peak Drive and Signal Hill |
| Outdoors and nature | Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway, Boulders Beach penguin colony, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and Lion's Head hike |
| Food and markets | V&A Waterfront, Bo-Kaap, Kalk Bay harbour and village and Groot Constantia |
| After dark | V&A Waterfront and Signal Hill |
| With children | Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, V&A Waterfront and Boulders Beach penguin colony |
| On a rainy day | Zeitz MOCAA, District Six Museum, Two Oceans Aquarium and Iziko South African Museum |
What to book ahead
- Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway: Buying cableway tickets online lets you skip the ticket queue, which is long in December and January.
- Robben Island: Tours sell out in summer and are cancelled in rough seas; book online several days ahead and keep a backup day free.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Cape Town?
Table Mountain and the Aerial Cableway. The flat-topped mountain rises about 1,085 metres above the City Bowl.
+What can you do for free in Cape Town?
V&A Waterfront, Bo-Kaap, Lion's Head hike, Company's Garden and Signal Hill. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Cape Town when it rains?
Head indoors to Zeitz MOCAA, District Six Museum, Two Oceans Aquarium and Iziko South African Museum.
+What is there to do in Cape Town at night?
V&A Waterfront and Signal Hill are best after dark.