The good, bad and ugly sides of Cape Town – world’s No 2 destination in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2017 guide
Given its bucket-list credentials, the fact that Cape Town ranks as leading travel guide’s second best city in the world should come as no surprise – but beware of gang-related crime and shark attacks
THE GOOD
From winter sunbathing to wine tasting, whale watching to paddling with penguins, Cape Town offers a unique introduction to the African continent. Regular appearances in “world’s best city” polls, including second spot in prestigious travel publisher Lonely Planet’s 2017 ranking, emphasise Cape Town’s bucket-list credentials. If it’s sightseeing you’re after, you’ve come to the right place.
Table Mountain is unmissable – and hard to miss. The 3km-wide granite and sandstone plateau seems to follow you around the city, especially in the afternoon, when a sheet of cloud known as the tablecloth rolls over the flat-topped rock like a waterfall. Head to the summit by cable car or hike up – it takes only a couple of hours.
From the top, Cape Town unfurls like a giant map. The city stretches out in one direction and the deep blue of the South Atlantic Ocean extends towards Antarctica in the other. In the distance, coastal communities shimmer in the heat haze all the way to Bloubergstrand and the bleak windswept outcrop of Robben Island is anchored 12km offshore. The prison and world heritage site where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated would become a byword for brutality during the apartheid era. Today it’s a popular day trip.
Venturing beyond the confines of the Mother City is rewarding and exhilarating. Set out from beneath the knobbly peaks of the Twelve Apostles, which form a spectacular backdrop to the inviting white sands and turquoise seas of Camps Bay. The views become even more mesmerising towards Hout Bay and along Chapman’s Peak Drive, a dramatic marine road of towering cliffs, stunning seascapes and brain-bending vistas.
Pause for a swim at Fish Hoek or Muizenberg then drop by and see the penguins at Boulders Beach, near Simon’s Town. At Hermanus, gawp and gasp at tail-flipping southern right whales, either from dry land or an excursion boat, then loop back to Cape Town via the vineyards and Cape Dutch architecture of Stellenbosch. Don’t forget to appoint a designated driver.