Cape Town City Guide - Sightseeing

There is so much to do and see in Cape Town that the first-time visitor will find it difficult to fit everything in. Nevertheless, the city centre itself is small and compact, and easy and pleasant to navigate on foot. Table Mountain watches over the proceedings, providing not only a beautiful backdrop but also a handy point of orientation, which makes getting lost quite difficult.

There is an amazing variety of architectural styles, including Cape Dutch, Victorian and Edwardian buildings wedged in between modern skyscrapers. The Foreshore's V&A Waterfront is a stunning example of urban regeneration, where old-style harbour warehouses and buildings have been transformed into beautiful shopping centres, luxury hotels and a multitude of restaurants.

Spreading west toward Signal Hill is the Bo-Kaap (Top Cape) area, also known as the Malay Quarter (Malay is a misnomer for Cape Muslims of Asian descent). This area was home to the freed slaves - their descendants resisted all attempts at removal by the apartheid authorities. They were much more successful than the District Six (now Zonnebloem) inhabitants, whose homes were bulldozed, following then Prime Minister Verwoerd's enforcement of racial segregation laws.

Offshore, north of Table Bay, lies Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela and many of the other top political activists of South Africa were gaoled by the apartheid regime.

The outlying areas of Cape Town are also of great interest to visitors and an organised ‘township tour', which explores the predominantly black areas of Kayalitsha, Langa and Gugulethu, is an increasingly popular item on the tourist agenda. A typical tour will include a visit to a significant site of The Struggle (for democracy), a drink in a shebeen (township pub), a visit to a craft market and a stop at a self-help development project or school. It is inadvisable for visitors to venture into the townships without a guide, as crime levels are very high and tourists are often easy targets.

To the west of the city centre and extending south toward Cape Point, the Atlantic Seaboard incorporates the upmarket Sea Point, Clifton, Camps Bay, Llandudno, Hout Bay, Noordhoek and Kommetjie seaside suburbs. Meanwhile, curling around the eastern side of the Table Mountain range is the Southern Suburbs, with the world-renowned Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and the Constantia and Tokai Winelands. These connect to the cosy coastal towns of False Bay's Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon's Town. The two sides of the peninsula meet at the windswept and breathtakingly beautiful Table Mountain National Park at Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope.

Cape Town Tourism Visitor Information Centre
Pinnacle Building, corner of Burg Street and Castle Street
Tel: (021) 426 4260.
Website: www.tourismcapetown.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1900, Sat 0830-1400, Sun 0900-1300 (summer); Mon-Fri 0800-1800, Sat 0830-1400, Sun 0900-1300 (winter).

There is also a visitor information centre at the Clock Tower Precinct, at the V&A Waterfront (tel: (021) 405 4500). There are many other information centres situated around the peninsula, including Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, The Pavilion in Muizenberg, Sivuyile College in Gugulethu, the Tyger Valley Shopping Centre and Cape Town International Airport.

The Cape Town Pass (tel: (021) 409 7038; website: www.thecapetownpass.co.za) gives free entrance to over 50 tourist attractions and includes 20 special offers and a free tourist guide with maps. The pass is available for one, two, three or six days and can be purchased online; at the Waterfront Tourism Centre, The Clock Tower, V&A Waterfront; Ashanti Lodge, 11 Hof Street, Gardens; Village & Life de Waterkant, 1 Loader Street, de Waterkant; and Village & Life Camp's Bay, 59 Victoria Road, Camps Bay. Attractions included on the pass are a number of museums, the Cape Town Explorer bus (see Tours of the City), the Two Oceans Aquarium, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Koopmans de Wet House, Groot Constantia and the GrandWest Casino.