About Cape Town
Cape Town has geography that most cities can only dream of — Table Mountain as a backdrop, two oceans meeting at the Cape, vineyards thirty minutes from the city centre. The V&A Waterfront is touristy but functional; the real city lives in the Bo-Kaap's painted houses, the Woodstock street art scene, and the Cape Winelands an hour east. The weather is famously unreliable — come in the Southern Hemisphere summer (Nov–Feb) for the best chance of a clear cable car ride to the top of the mountain.
Highlights
Table Mountain cable car — book online, go on a clear day Boulders Beach — African penguins at close range Stellenbosch wine route — an hour from the city, a world away Hout Bay harbour market — fresh crayfish and craft beer on Sundays Bo-Kaap neighbourhood — Cape Malay culture and the most colourful streets in Africa Chapman's Peak Drive — 114 bends along the Atlantic, free now
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Practical Info
EU, UK, and US citizens can enter South Africa visa-free for up to 90 days for tourism.
The local currency is the South African Rand (ZAR), with roughly 18-20 ZAR to 1 USD. Cards are widely accepted, but carry cash for small vendors and townships.
Tipping is customary, with 10-15% in restaurants if service isn’t included. Tip car guards (1-2 ZAR) and petrol attendants (5-10 ZAR) for small services.
Cape Town is generally safe for tourists in well-traveled areas, but avoid walking alone at night and keep valuables secure to prevent petty theft.
Buy a local SIM from Vodacom or MTN (around 50-100 ZAR for 1GB data) at the airport or convenience stores.
English is widely spoken alongside Afrikaans and Xhosa, making communication easy for visitors.
26 Local Tips
Getting home in the early hours from the City Bowl or Atlantic Seaboard is usually fine with Uber, but book your ride a little earlier than you think you need to — surge pricing and driver availability can get tricky at 2am on a Saturday when everyone decides to leave at once.
The South Easter wind — what we call the Cape Doctor — can completely ruin an outdoor rooftop or terrace night in summer, so always have an indoor backup plan when that wind picks up in the late afternoon. You'll learn to read the tablecloth cloud forming over Table Mountain as your weather warning system.
Cape Town has a serious craft beer culture and locals will happily spend an entire evening bar-hopping through tap lists and talking about hop profiles — lean into it even if beer isn't your thing because it's a great way to fall into conversation with people.
Khayelitsha and Gugulethu have vibrant, locally rooted nightlife scenes centred around township shebeens and jazz that most tourists never experience — going with a local guide or someone who knows the area well is the right way to do this, and it'll genuinely be one of the most memorable nights of your trip.
Sundowners on the Atlantic Seaboard with mountain or ocean views are practically a religious ritual here — showing up just before sunset to grab a spot with that view is something you should do at least once, even if you're not a big drinker.
Long Street is the obvious backpacker-and-tourist corridor and locals have largely moved on from it — it's fine for a casual drink but if you want to be where Capetonians actually go, wander slightly off that strip into the surrounding streets of the City Bowl.
Capetonians are extremely social and will genuinely talk to strangers at bars — don't do the stiff, eyes-forward thing because you'll miss out on half the experience. Ask someone where they're heading next and there's a real chance you end up at an afterparty you'd never have found on your own.
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