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Cape Town hotels

What's On?                     Overview                     Prepare                     Highlights 

Cape Town is one of the world's most beautiful cities and Cape Town hotels offer some of the most exciting locations of any throughout Africa.  Sitting practically at the end of this vast continent, Cape Town occupies a stunning position, below Table Mountain with its breathtaking views across the bay.  Hotels in Cape Town vary from simple guest house style accommodation through self catering and up to luxurious 5* properties.

Cape Town hotels offer some of the most exciting locations of any throughout Africa...

There are several main areas you can choose to stay in such as the city itself, the waterfront area around the Victoria and Albert harbour and in the many beach areas to the South of the city such as Camps Bay.  All have their attractions and benefits so it is important to research the areas in order to select the correct one for your needs.  Outside of the city there are several areas within easy reach where you can stay in properties that are on wine estates giving you the added benefit of wine tasting to add to he countryside setting.

Image of a beach and mountains in Cape Town

Cheap hotels in Cape Town are generally available during the off peak summer of May through to August although it is always best to shop around for prices.  Some of the more expensive hotels such as the Mount Nelson and the Cape Grace are icons in themselves and well worth the consideration for a special occasion or to simply enjoy the world known hospitality that they offer.

Overview

Overview

Laid-back Cape Town feels Mediterranean in style and sophistication. Yet an African heart beats to the rhythms of the mountains, the oceans and the multitude of cultures in its midst.

See

Table Mountain looms large over the city giving views across the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront complex to Nelson Mandela’s prison Robben Island. Beaches line either side of the Cape peninsula all the way down to the very tip of Africa at Cape Point.
Spend

Buy crafts from all over Africa at the outdoor Greenmarket Square, or find drums, masks and artefacts at the Greenpoint Market, right next to Greenpoint Stadium. Canal Walk is one of the continent’s largest shopping malls and the Young Designers Emporium – with outlets at Cavendish, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and Century City – showcases fashion from new local talent.
Get Out

Mingle with the locals at the summer Sunday concerts in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. People-watch from a Camps Bay pavement café to see the bold and beautiful emerge from an icy dip in the Atlantic Ocean (surfers and divers wear thick wetsuits). Mountain lovers should head to Table Mountain National Park to climb, hike or paraglide off the peaks.
Culture

Artscape and The Baxter have seven theatres between them where you can catch international and local performers, and the International Comedy Festival. Theatre on the Bay shines out among the more intimate theatres around the peninsula. City galleries showcase talented South African artists, sculptors and ceramicists, while the SA National Gallery hosts exhibitions such as Picasso’s African-inspired works.

Eat & Drink

Devour fresh seafood straight from the ocean outside your restaurant window in Camps Bay, Kalk Bay, Simon’s Town, Fish Hoek and Blouberg, with an abundance of choice in the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. In the Cape Malay Bo-Kaap district the air is scented with the spices used to flavour gentle curries and syrup-drenched pastries.
New Perspective

Watching the full moon rise from Lion’s Head is a Cape Town tradition. Time your one-and-a-half-hour ascent to reach the peak as the sun sets into the Atlantic Ocean, then relax with some local bubbly and wait for the moon to appear. The light of the moon illuminates your path down.

Prepare

Prepare

Pack for four seasons in one day and don’t forget walking shoes to get out and about in the mountains. Beachwear is essential; so is a hat and sunscreen. Bird lovers and game spotters shouldn’t forget their binoculars.

Cape Town Year

Listen to the Kirstenbosch outdoor concerts on summer Sundays, and catch the J&B Met Horserace in January. In March, join 35,000 cyclists on the 109km Cape Argus Cycle Tour and put your running shoes on in April for the Two Oceans Marathon. Eat and drink your way through May at the Good Food & Wine Show. In September, commune with the gentle giants of the sea at the Hermanus Whale Festival.
Public Holidays

New Year’s Day (1 Jan), Human Rights Day (21 Mar), Good Friday and Easter Monday (Mar/Apr), Freedom Day (27 Apr), Workers’ Day (1 May), Youth Day (16 Jun), Women’s Day (9 Aug), Heritage Day (24 Sep), Reconciliation Day (16 Dec), Christmas Day (25 Dec) and Boxing Day (26 Dec).
Weather

Cape Town’s climate is difficult to predict because of two opposing ocean currents and a mountain range creating micro-climates. Summer temperatures (Dec-Feb) often exceed 30°C, but are cooled by a strong south-east wind; the Winelands get considerably hotter. Winter (Jun-Aug) sees cold fronts bringing some spectacular storms. These are interspersed with beautiful sunny days reaching into the low 20s. Nights are cold but not frosty on the coast, although snow does fall on inland peaks.
Electricity

220/230V AC with 15amp round three-pin plugs, different from UK, Europe or USA. 110V shaver sockets are standard.
Dialling Code

+27 (national), (0) 21 + seven-figure number (Cape Town).
Money

South African Rand (ZAR) is the currency.
GMT

GMT +2 (+1 in summertime).
Cape Town Info

Cape Town Tourism website

Fit In

Afro style meets Euro chic in the city centre, but the further south you go down the peninsula the more laid-back it becomes. Eventually barefoot supermarket shopping is perfectly acceptable, as is unkempt sun-bleached hair matted from a day’s surfing.

Get Around

Get Around

You can’t really get lost in Cape Town as Table Mountain is always there to guide you.

Cape Town is a very compact and manageable city as its growth is restricted by mountains on three sides and the Atlantic Ocean to the front.

The city centre’s cultural sights are within walking distance of each other, but the attractions of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and the Table Mountain cable car are a little too far to walk. Get a tan on the Atlantic seaboard beaches, and let loose with your credit card in the glitzy malls of the Southern and Northern Suburbs. If you simply want a holiday by the seaside head to the South Peninsula.
Car

Public transport is geared towards getting people from the townships to the city, so the best way to get around is to hire a car. Signposts are generally good, although your route is not always direct as mountains get in the way.
Train

The train from Cape Town to the end of the line at Simon’s Town joins the coast at Muizenberg, giving fantastic sea views, which may include whales (Jul-Oct). Book seats in Biggsy’s carriage for breakfast or lunch on board.
Taxi

Metered taxi cabs don’t cruise the streets waiting to be hailed (except outside nightclubs), they are usually ordered in advance. When locals talk about taxis, they are referring to battered minibuses that cram in as many people as possible and drive like lunatics to and from townships.
Walk

Discover the small and quirky by walking the streets of Cape Town, which will come alive all the more if accompanied by a guide. Take the precautions of removing flashy jewellery, keep handbags closed and cameras tucked away.
Boat

Boating is less a form of transport and more a way to relax and enjoy the scenery, and the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is the place to do it. Choose between an old sailing schooner, dinky steam boat, adrenaline-inducing speed boat or a Robben Island high-speed catamaran.
Transport Tips

At some petrol stations you cannot buy petrol with a credit card, you will need cash. You don’t have to serve yourself – refuelling, plus a windscreen clean, water and oil check is done for you in anticipation of a small tip.
Time Travel

Travel to the Castle of Good Hope – Cape Town’s first building – dating back 350 years. Then wander past the plaque in Spin Street that reminds you where slaves were sold, and up busy Long Street where Dutch and British architecture rests beside new office blocks.
Cape Town Transport Link

Automobile Association of South Africa website

Highlights

Highlights

Dominating Cape Town, from Table Mountain’s kilometre-high vantage point it is possible to see the world curve on the distant watery horizon.

Table Mountain dwarfs the city that lies on its slopes, and more than 800,000 people per year ascend by cable car. The view puts the whole of the Cape into perspective, with peaks rising and falling all the way down to Cape Point. The Townships of the Cape Flats are on low-lying ground, with the mountains of the Winelands beyond.

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront can entertain a family all day long, and it is from here that the ferry departs to Robben Island to see Nelson Mandela’s prison home for 18 years.
Sightseeing Tips

The only thing stopping Table Mountain’s cable cars from running every day of the year is the weather. Closure is usually attributed to a howling summer south-easterly creating a tablecloth of cloud. Avoid Cape Point on windy days and head to the wine estates for tastings.

Content provided by Frommer's Unlimited © 2009, Whatsonwhen Limited.