Cape Town advice

Hi,

I would recommend staying at the Victoria and Albert harbor front and taking the HOHO bus (a short walk away from the harbor front) which will give you a good overview of the city and environs. You can make a stop at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden along the way which is well worth a stop.

I would stay in town since there is so much to see and do in Cape Town. An Uber seems to be about $15 and takes about 30 mins into the central part of town.

I will be doing my 2nd visit to Cape Town next May and have planned for 4-5 nights with 3 in the central part of town and 1 around Simon’s town while exploring the Cape peninsula all the way to the cape of Good Hope. The last night may be closer to the airport or I may fly on to either Durban or Joburg late depending on the fligh schedules.

Places to visit would include Table Mountain (if the weather is good), Robbin Island, V&A waterfront, the wineyards if wine is your thing and a trip to the towns and places on the way to Cape Point.

Even though Cape Town is not the focus of your trip, I would urge you to consider spending more time there. It happens to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world with lots to keep you busy.

What time of the year is your trip?

Thank you, Mary. I was thinking HOHO would serve the overview purpose. I would be tempted to rent a car and drive but we’ll still be jet lag “fuzzy” so the opposite side driving may be too stressful

Arnold, we’ll be there last week of August. We’ll stay V&A and try to add another night there.

Appreciate the responses

Susan, if you have an extra day and can find a tour, go to the wine lands. I loved the Cape Dutch architecture, the gorgeous scenery and the wine was really good, too.

My recommendation if you have an extra day is to rent a car and drive down the peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope - lots to see with neat little towns and even some penguins. Alternatively, if you don’t want to drive, it will be easy enough to find a driver and car.

My reason for asking about your timing was to see what the volume of water coming over Vic falls will be. I believe, I saw the falls towards the end of June and the flow was great. I’m assuming in May it would be too heavy with a lot of mist and spray that will impede your view. I’m guessing you should be good in August and would assume that later in the year the flow will be quite low but more knowledgeable folks can chime in.
- my recommendation is to see the falls from both sides (Zambia and Zimbabwe)

The area around the airport is not where you want to stay. It's mostly townships and you would not want to walk anywhere around there without a local. If at all.

The V&A is a shopping mall; many people like to stay there but I would choose either one of the wonderful small B&Bs I the Garden District or elsewhere, or the Mt Nelson, wifi you can bear the price...

It's very easy to find a guide to drive you to Cape Point; I also love Kirstenbocsh Gardens... But in no way a you get an overview in one day, given that much of that day would likely be spent on the drive to Cape Point. (Cape of Good Hope). I've been about 5 times now, for many days each time, and there is still much more to see in that city....

You could go to a winery closer to the city if you don't have time to go to Franschhoek or Stellenbosch.

CapeTown, for me, is way more interesting than Vic Falls.
Where do you go from there?

Thank you for your advice. We were thinking near the airport when we were going to be there one day. We will stay V&A and utilize HOHO and possibly a guide. Our trip purpose is Kruger National Park. We just felt like we wanted to see VF having come this far and being (relatively) that close. Going to Victoria Falls is complicating transportation so we’ll see.

My wife and I flew from Seattle to Cape Town last October and spent 7 days in Cape Town. We used an app called Timeshifter to help with the jet lag and would recommend it (or other similar apps). We stayed in the Sea Point neighborhood - an easy less than 30 min Uber ride (cost was ~ $17.00). There is a ton to do and see in Cape Town. We also went to Victoria Falls and Krueger NP. You will have a great time no matter what you do, but as others have said there is a lot more to see and do in Cape Town than Victoria Falls.

Ken

I would skip Vc Falls and spend more time in CT and on safari.
Where are you headed in Kruger?

Actually not Kruger NP, but Sabi Sands Reserve. Have you any thoughts on adding Drakensberg Mountains to our plans?

Do you mean to take the Panorama Route to Sabi Sands?

Truly, if this is your first visit, I would advise again, to skip Vic Falls entirely and spend more time in Sabi Sands. How many nights do you have there and at which camp, or camps?

Are you panning to visit Vic Falls to see the actual Falls, or for other reasons? Which side will you be staying on and where?

If you like, you could post the entire itinerary and we could advise....

Whilst Kirstenbosch and the winelands would both make an excellent day trip, if you have not been to Cape Town before then a trip to Robben Island is essential for me.

IMO, you will not receive much of an overview with only one full day. I would highly recommend that you hire a guide and take a tour of the gorgeous Cape Peninsula; visit the Cape of Good Hope & Boulders Beach. We stayed in the Higgovale area of Cape Town. Our hotel advised that we use Uber Black for transportation, and it was efficient and inexpensive.

We will be in Sabi Sands for 5 nights … happy with that number. Have added 2 nights to Cape Town per everyone’s advice. Still going to Vic Falls at this point for the last 2 nights, staying Zimbabwe. Appreciate all the input.

Thank you for this good information. We will be in Cape Town four nights.

Never been there but seeing the Namaqualand flowers, July-Sept would be a highlight for me.

https://loelwiudw.blob.core.windows.net/sto1gxwery/best-time-of-year-for-namaqualand-flowers.html

You would have to go with a tour and might be a lot of driving, but these Southern Hemisphere garden zones like this one and another in SW Australia are unique to the world.

Speaking of unusual plant life, the fynbos in Kirstenbosch Gardens (and all over the landscape) are magical, I thought.

https://www.sanbi.org/gardens/kirstenboch/seasons/winter-flowering-plants-at-kirstenbosch/kirstenbosch-fynbos-walk/

SA is such a diverse, fascinating and beautiful country for visitors..

Thank you for this great advice and information.