Scenic
Cape Point
A lighthouse on a cliff at the end of the peninsula.
Half a day, or a full day combined with the penguins
Western Cape
The Cape Peninsula
Forty miles of mountain and ocean, ending at a lighthouse.
The tail of land running south from the city to Cape Point. It holds the best drive in the country, a penguin colony on a suburban beach, and the harbours the boats go out from.
Almost everyone drives the peninsula the same way round on the same schedule. There is no reason to.
The peninsula is a forty-kilometre spine of sandstone running south from Table Mountain and ending in a cliff at Cape Point. The Atlantic is on one side and False Bay on the other, and the two are different enough in temperature and temperament that you can swim on one and shiver on the other in the same afternoon.
The drive
Chapman's Peak Drive is the reason people come. A toll road blasted into the cliff face in 1915, a hundred and fourteen curves, and a drop to the water on your seaward side for the whole nine kilometres. It closes in high wind and after heavy rain, and your guide will know before you set off.
The harbours
Hout Bay is a working fishing harbour first and a tourist stop second, and it is where the seal island boats and most of the deep-sea charters leave from. Simon's Town, on the False Bay side, is a naval town with a Victorian main street, the penguin colony at the end of it, and calmer water for anyone who would rather not be thrown about. There is a bronze on the quay of Just Nuisance, a Great Dane enlisted into the Royal Navy in 1939 and the only dog ever formally to have been, which every guide in the Cape will tell you about whether you ask or not.
Noordhoek
The Atlantic side of the peninsula, below Chapman's Peak, and the longest beach in the Cape. Eight kilometres of sand with nothing built on it, a wrecked steamer half buried a kilometre along, and horses out on the waterline most afternoons.
Staying out here
Most guests keep Cape Town as their base and treat this as a day. If you are fishing or on a boat two mornings running, a night at Simon's Town or Noordhoek saves you two hours of driving and gets you on the water at first light.
The practical detail
- How long to stay
- 0 to 2 nights
- Best months
- September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May
- Getting there
- Thirty minutes from the city centre to Hout Bay, an hour to Simon's Town, and about ninety minutes to Cape Point itself. Most guests do it as a day out from Cape Town rather than staying, though Simon's Town and Noordhoek both make a good night if you want an early start on the water.
Local knowledge
Things worth doing here
Wildlife
The penguins at Boulders
Two thousand African penguins on a suburban beach.
An hour and a half, usually part of a peninsula day
Adventure
Horse riding on Noordhoek beach
Eight kilometres of empty sand, and nothing else on it.
Two hours, or a half day with the wine estate ride
Scenic
Boat trips and sunset cruises
Seal Island out of Hout Bay, or a glass of something off Clifton.
Forty minutes to three hours, depending on the boat
Adventure
Fishing charters
Yellowtail and tuna out of Hout Bay, or calmer water in False Bay.
Half day from four hours, full day from eight
Scenic
Helicopter flights
Twenty minutes over the peninsula, or a valley-to-valley transfer.
Twenty minutes to an hour, plus briefing
Itineraries that include it
4 days · 3 nights
Four Days in Cape Town
The city, the mountain and the peninsula, with a spare day for the weather.
7 days · 6 nights
The Classic Cape Week
The city, the peninsula, the Winelands and the whale coast, in one region.
8 days · 7 nights
A Family Week in the Cape
Penguins, a canopy tour, a boat and a beach, with the driving kept short.
7 days · 6 nights
A Cape Honeymoon
Seven days, two people, and a guide who knows when to disappear.
10 days · 9 nights
Ten Days in the Cape
The unhurried version, with time on the water and two nights on the coast.
More about this region
Often combined with
Cape Town
A working city wedged between a mountain and two oceans.
4 to 6 nights
The Whale Coast and Overberg
Whales below the cliff path, and a forest gorge on the way there.
1 to 3 nights
Worth reading
Planning ·
The peninsula day, in the right order
Almost every visitor drives the Cape Peninsula the same way round, at the same time, and meets every coach in the Western Cape at Cape Point. There is no reason to, and the day is transformed by running it backwards.
Safety ·
Is Cape Town safe for a family holiday? An honest answer.
It comes up in about half the enquiries we get, usually apologetically. Here is what the risk actually consists of in this city, what changes it, and what we think is genuinely worth planning around.
Planning ·
When to visit Cape Town, month by month
High summer is not the best month here, and winter is a great deal better than its reputation. A month-by-month guide to the Cape, with the trade-offs stated plainly.
Build a trip around this
Tell us where you are drawn and how long you have, and we will tell you straight what fits and what does not. Six questions, about three minutes.
We reply to every enquiry within one working day.