Cape Town, South Africa

Table Mountain over a two-ocean city, Winelands an hour away, and December summer while Europe freezes.

beachcitywinehikingpenguins

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	26°	17°	13 mm	prime
Feb	26°	18°	11 mm	prime
Mar	24°	16°	18 mm	prime
Apr	22°	14°	34 mm	prime
May	19°	12°	61 mm
Jun	17°	10°	94 mm
Jul	16°	9°	89 mm
Aug	17°	10°	83 mm
Sep	18°	11°	45 mm
Oct	21°	13°	30 mm
Nov	22°	14°	27 mm	prime
Dec	24°	16°	18 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $120 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cards everywhere, including car parks and most markets. Tipping is expected in restaurants, for guides, and for the informal car guards who watch parked cars.
money · editorial
Table Mountain sets the itinerary rather than the other way round: go up the first clear morning, because the cableway shuts in wind. Water is tight in dry years and you will be asked to keep showers short.
know before · editorial
Winter is the wet season here, with the mountain in cloud and the beaches cold. In midsummer the southeaster can blow for days, closing the cableway and the Robben Island boat.
when not to go · editorial
City Bowl and Gardens under the mountain for walkable central, Sea Point and Green Point for the promenade, Camps Bay for beach and sunsets, Constantia for gardens and wine estates, Woodstock for warehouses and galleries. Stellenbosch or Franschhoek if the Winelands are the point.
where to stay · editorial
A car for the peninsula, Chapman''s Peak and the Winelands, all of which are spread out and poorly served by public transport. In the City Bowl and along the Atlantic seaboard the MyCiTi buses and walking are enough.
getting around · editorial
Cape Town International is twenty minutes to half an hour from the city by road. There is no useful rail link from the airport, so it is a car or a transfer.
getting there · editorial

Table Mountain
Go up by cable car or on foot via Platteklip. If the tablecloth is laid, come back tomorrow.
Bo-Kaap
The painted houses and the cobbled street. Ask before photographing somebody's front door.
V&A Waterfront
A harbour that is still a working harbour. The boats for Robben Island leave from here.
Boulders Beach
The African penguin colony at Simon's Town. Wooden boardwalk, distance kept.
Cape of Good Hope
The south-west point of the continent. Constant wind and baboons that open backpacks.
Kirstenbosch
The botanical garden pressed against the mountain. The walkway suspended through the canopy.
Camps Bay
White sand, genuinely freezing water. The sun sets on the far side of the Twelve Apostles.
Signal Hill
The noon gun fires at twelve exactly, Monday to Saturday.

Eat a bunny chow, or a neighbourhood braai
Try a whole gatsby, split between two people
The sandwich of the Cape Flats. One of them feeds two.
Eat fish and chips on the quay at Kalk Bay
Standing up, wrapped in paper, with a gull watching.

Be at Boulders Beach early, while the penguins are still asleep
Watch the south wind lay the tablecloth of cloud over the mountain
It happens in minutes. Blink and it is gone.

Climb Lion's Head to the top
A little over an hour, with two chain sections and iron rungs.
Climb Table Mountain by Platteklip Gorge
Three hours of step after step, with no shade after ten.