What do you love most about traveling? For me it’s exploring new countries, sights, quaint towns and metropoles. Road trips, enjoying nature, admiring animals, architecture and experience new cultures, traditions and great food! If those are the things that make you happy too and you want to combine all of it in just one trip South Africa is the country for you!
They call South Africa a world in one country, and since our trip there a few weeks ago I can only agree that this is the perfect description for such a diverse and wonderful country.
We booked our trip as a fly drive round trip through 333travel, a Dutch travel agency. We were able to customize it to our own wishes, as we prefer slow travel and a bit of luxury. We wanted to have enough time in Cape Town, to explore the city and the surrounding area, visit Stellenbosch, drive the original Route 62 and the chique Garden Route and of course do a few safari’s. This was all combined perfectly by them in our 2 week road trip, including stays at 7 different accommodations along the way and a flight back home from Port Elizabeth through Cape Town.
On below map you can see our exact route, the stars indicate all the places we stayed overnight and visited for several days.
In this blog I will show you all our favourite sights in and around Cape Town which is an absolute must visit! And in the next blog I will continue on with more pics and highlights from the rest of our trip.
Join me through many of my personal pics, which are all original and taken by us during our trip in this beautiful country. I am happy to inspire and share my tips with you!
Cape Town Area
Cape Town is huge and a real metro pole, but what makes it unique opposed to other big cities is that it has several mountains and beautiful nature reserves and beaches all around it. We had 4,5 days to spend in Cape Town which was not nearly enough to see all that the city has to offer, but we certainly did our best and our favourites are indicated with green circles on below map.
Table Mountain & Lion’s Head
Wether you prefer hiking or taking the cable car up, both mountains are worth a visit. Table Mountain is iconic for ‘’the Mother City’’ and a must, as the view at the top is amazing! But we are definitely coming back to climb Lion’s Head as well, as I was told this view is equally beautiful and certainly worth the climb.
Castle of Good Hope, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and V&A Waterfront
The castle can be found in the middle of the city and has nice views upon Cape Town center. Unique as it is the oldest building in South Africa, dating back from 1666 with a big Dutch heritage, which was great for us Dutchies to learn more about.
Kirstenbosch is one of the biggest and most beautiful Botanical Gardens in the world, and is located at the foot of Table Mountain. Unfortunately we haven’t seen much of it as it was raining when we visited and almost everything in the gardens is uncovered.
V&A Waterfront is perfect for shopping and lunching or dining, although a bit commercial it has many restaurants to choose from, a ferris wheel and one of the best views upon the Table Mountain.
Groot Constantia and the Constantia Wine Route
The area around Cape Town is maybe even more beautiful than the city itself. Make sure to drive towards Constantia to do the wine route and visit the oldest vineyard and wine estate in South Africa: Groot Constantia. Founded in 1684 and renowned for its fabulous wines! This estate can be entered free of charge and you can walk around the grounds freely. The buildings in Kaaps-Hollandse style are stunning, not to mention the exquisite wines.
Camps Bay, Hout Bay, Noordhoek, Muizenberg & 12 Apostels
As you can see on above map there are many beaches around Cape Town, so a drive around the coastline is a must! In my opinion the beaches on the west side are the most beautiful and the view upon them from the road is amazing already:
(Remember to click on the smaller tile pics to scroll through the gallery and see the bigger version and description)
Boulders Beach
There are beautiful beaches along the east coast as well and a visit to the penguin colony of South Africa can not be missed. One of the few places in this world where you can witness these unique animals in their natural habitat.
Cape Point & Cape of Good Hope
When you drive to the most southern tip of Africa make sure to walk up to Cape Point. This national park is one of the most incredible nature areas I visited so far. And standing on Cape Point truly feels like the edge of the world with its view towards 2 seas colliding and the stunning Cape of Good Hope.
Chapman’s Peak Drive
On your way back to Cape Town take the western route past one of the most impressive coastal drives I’ve ever experienced! You do have to pay the enter this route, as in South Africa they charge you for almost anything, but the fee is low and certainly worth it, just see for yourself:
(Remember to click on the smaller tile pics to scroll through the gallery and see the bigger version and description)
But I still have many more pics to share! Go to my next blog for more of our South Africa road trip. And for daily pics you can follow me on social media via the icons at the bottom of
Have you ever been to Cape Town, did you see Cape Point, visited the penguins on Boulders Beach or drove the iconic Chapman’s Peak route?
Tell me all about your experiences, trip plans or let me know if you have more questions or need more details so I can answer them here below!
