What to do in Cape Town, South Africa for two days??

[Kiwi_cruiser]

We have never been to Cape Town, South Africa before.

 

We are docked in Cape Town overnight, so we got two full days here.

 

I was wondering would you recommend doing here??

 

If you have been to Cape Town before, what things did you do here??

 

Also is the waterfront area safe at night??

 

Any ideas / suggestions are very welcome 🙂

 

PS: We are thinking about doing the Hop on / Off Bus for one or both days while we are there.

[John Bull]

One day is enough for the hop-on, and you can consider combining it with going up Table Mountain.

Be flexible and plan for that for your first day, but if the the top of Table Mountain is totally shrouded in cloud (it usually has its "tablecloth" but thats not a hindrance) or the line for the cablecar line is ridiculously long, consider switching your days round.

The cablecar stop for Table Mountain is one of the early stops on the route. Worth mebbe 90 mins then take the cablecar down & catch the next hop-on bus for the bulk of its route. If you're still in good time you could hop off at Hout Bay for some seal-watching from behind a cold beer or a snack at Mariners Wharf. 

 

Three possibilities I can think of for your other day - 

- boat to Robben Island

- vineyard tour (the ho-ho bus goes through vineyards but I don't recall the stops & don't know whether vineyard tours have to be pre-booked).

- by tour or rental car past Hout Bay, along Chapman's Peak Drive to the Cape of Good Hope (worth an hour or more). If possible make the day a circular tour by returning to Cape Town along the eastern shore of the Cape, a stop at Boulder Beach and thro Simonstown & back to Cape Town.

Something like this....

https://goo.gl/maps/Hif8VyrG7h2Bo2wUA

 

JB 

Edited November 14, 2019 by John Bull

[sailco]

Cape Town is a great city and if you're happy to do it yourself, I'd recommend a two day pass on the hoho. It has two or three routes and you really need to allow time to actually get off at a few stops.
 

If there's no cloud cover you'll want to take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain. The hoho also drops you at one of South Africa's oldest wineries, Groot Constantia, where you can taste the famous pinotage and the Hout Bay Green Point beach front has heaps of seafood cafes. There are included walking tours, in a township and in the old city centre, and an interesting harbour cruise. There's also a small sea lion colony at the wharf in front of the aquarium (entry included with your hoho ticket) where you board the cruise. 

 

If you want to go further afield you can take a day trip to Cape of Good Hope via the fairy penguin colony at Boulders Beach, a day trip to the wine growing region of Stellenbosh and Franschoek, or a boat trip to Robben Island. You could of course plan to include these things in a two day private tour.
 

The waterfront area is full of eateries and is quite safe although I don't know where the cruise ships dock. There's also a ferris wheel, shops, and a wonderful sculpture of the four most influential Sth Africans of our time. 

[Trend]

Thanks that helps us also as we have a few days before and at end while ship is docked.

[sailco]

1 hour ago, Trend said:

Thanks that helps us also as we have a few days before and at end while ship is docked.

The hoho has special deals and inclusions for multi day passes. A little planning will get you great extra experiences. We like to explore new cities by hoho and the Cape Town bus has an exceptionally good commentary. One of the best.

[Mrs f.]

Robben island....book online. 

If you are looking for a great dinner, try Carne S.A. on Kloof street.

We used uber in Cape town.  From Hilton city center to pier was around $5 u.s.

We Went to wineries with a private GUIDE. The HOHO bus stops at a bunch. You have to check which ones are within walking distance from bus...

A young couple we met said they were not permitted entrance to one winery because the gate guard said it was too far to walk from bus..

 

De pending in while cruise line you are using, buy some wine in town to bring onboard. We found a goid place across the street from New  York Bagel.  Wineries boxed up the wine we bought from them.  We brought along a roll of duck tape to reinforce.

 

Company Gardens....Holocaust Museum...in downtown area

[sailco]

8 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

Robben island....book online. 

If you are looking for a great dinner, try Carne S.A. on Kloof street.

We used uber in Cape town.  From Hilton city center to pier was around $5 u.s.

We Went to wineries with a private GUIDE. The HOHO bus stops at a bunch. You have to check which ones are within walking distance from bus...

A young couple we met said they were not permitted entrance to one winery because the gate guard said it was too far to walk from bus..

 

De pending in while cruise line you are using, buy some wine in town to bring onboard. We found a goid place across the street from New  York Bagel.  Wineries boxed up the wine we bought from them.  We brought along a roll of duck tape to reinforce.

 

Company Gardens....Holocaust Museum...in downtown area

I think you're confusing the vineyards of Stellenbosh and Franschoek with the little hoho wine route which basically only stops at Groot Constantia. It's very close to Cape Town.

 

The hoho company, City Sightseeing, do have a full day tour to the big vineyards at Stellenbosh and Franschoek. It includes two vineyards for tasting but drops you in Franschoek to find your own way. The vineyards there are mostly uphill and accessible by taxi or tuk tuk, if you can believe that! Franschoek itself has some wonderful cellar door type restaurants and cafes but this tour is completely separate to the Cape Town city hoho. Perhaps the young couple who complained to you didn't understand the difference?

[Omega1]

52 minutes ago, sailco said:

I think you're confusing the vineyards of Stellenbosh and Franschoek with the little hoho wine route which basically only stops at Groot Constantia. It's very close to Cape Town.

 

The hoho company, City Sightseeing, do have a full day tour to the big vineyards at Stellenbosh and Franschoek. It includes two vineyards for tasting but drops you in Franschoek to find your own way. The vineyards there are mostly uphill and accessible by taxi or tuk tuk, if you can believe that! Franschoek itself has some wonderful cellar door type restaurants and cafes but this tour is completely separate to the Cape Town city hoho. Perhaps the young couple who complained to you didn't understand the difference?

Just to add that if you take the City Sighseeing hoho bus to Franschhoek, it is very easy to transfer to the Franschhoek Wine Tram who different routes to wineries in the valley. No long walks necessary.

However, with only two full days in Cape Town, it’s necessary to be selective. If visiting a winery is high on the to do list, then the Constantia wineries are probably the way to go. The wine route hoho is a loop off the blue route hoho and starts and finishes at the Constantia Nek stop.

[vada_9]

Whilst in Cape Town earlier this year, we purchased the city sightseeing Hoho for 3 days. - You can also buy a 2 day pass. Very reasonably priced compared to other cities around the world. Go to their website and check out the map - fairly sure there is a stop on the red route just outside where cruise ships dock. There are 4 routes as well as walking tours. We visited in no particular order - Red route - Table Mtn and Camps Bay, Blue route- Kirstenbosch Garden (there are free tours with volunteers), Tea bag shop, Hout Bay, also transfered to purple wine route and visited Groot Constantia and Eagle Hts wineries. Just did a circuit on Yellow route. We were staying near the V and A waterfront so caught the bus there. We also visited Robbin Is (pre buy tickets if that is of interest). The V an A waterfront is very busy and seemed safe - good craft outlets in the shed? and food in another building, also a brew house also the Cape Wheel is here - we walked around here a lot. Other things you might be interested in - Afternoon tea at Mt Nelson hotel, there are many museums - we didn't visit any including the Springbok museum and District 6, We also did a walking food tour - but you probably don't have the time for that

[tiggerman101]

Aside from everything mentioned, I would like to suggest a township tour. I spent a week in Cape Town this summer and that was the most impactful thing I did. You can do it with City Siteseeing. They will take you to two of the oldest townships (if you went to the District Six museaum then this is where the poeple ended up). The tour was led by two men who grew up in the townships. It was just me and a couple from Australia and it was a very informative tour that really reached into an area of Cape Town most people overlook. It was only a 4 hour tour.
   Yes the V&A Waterfront is safe at night. It is nothing but tourist stuff. 

[bearette]

I did 10 days in the city last year and there are tons of things to do.  If you are comfortable driving on the left it would easier by far to do Cape of good hope with Simons town and the penguins- that is an all day thing in my opinion you could also do it on a tour.  

Robben island is accessed via the  V And A waterfront so plan your first to both.  Many shops and restaurants are here so you could make this area a full day. (We did).

 

We did the castle of Good hope and then went to one of the open air markets.  

 

If you like wine then Groot Constantia is great and local or if you are more selective a tour/ car out to the wineries.

 

Also any of the beaches (surfs up!) could be a nice afternoon. Even if it is just a lunch and ocean view.

 

Lastly, absolutely do the botanical garden.  It was gorgeous with the mountain view and we polished off our visit with a table mountain cable ride.

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2019 by bearette

[Solent Richard]

On 12/9/2019 at 3:13 AM, bearette said:

I did 10 days in the city last year and there are tons of things to do.  If you are comfortable driving on the left it would easier by far to do Cape of good hope with Simons town and the penguins- that is an all day thing in my opinion you could also do it on a tour.  

Robben island is accessed via the  V And A waterfront so plan your first to both.  Many shops and restaurants are here so you could make this area a full day. (We did).

 

We did the castle of Good hope and then went to one of the open air markets.  

 

If you like wine then Groot Constantia is great and local or if you are more selective a tour/ car out to the wineries.

 

Also any of the beaches (surfs up!) could be a nice afternoon. Even if it is just a lunch and ocean view.

 

Lastly, absolutely do the botanical garden.  It was gorgeous with the mountain view and we polished off our visit with a table mountain cable ride.

 

 

 

 

Couldn't agree more with your recommendation Bearette.

 

Indeed, I covered Simons Town, The Cape and the Penguins in my review of our visit earlier this year...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2019/09/07/one-way-to-do-cape-town/

 

 

*****