Cape Town offers visitors endless activities and attractions. It's surrounded by white sandy beaches and mountains which make it one of the top-visited places in the world. Cape Town sightseeing can also include a visit to one of its many restaurants and bars, so it's easy to stay busy here day and night.
If you're looking to get outdoors, the city offers a wealth of adventure activities, whether you like to stay on the ground or would like to take in some epic views from above while tandem paragliding! A tandem paraglide flight in Cape Town is unique because you are flying over a city. This is different to most places in the world that offer tandem paraglide flights over natural features like mountains and forests.
To find out more about Cape Town sightseeing, here is a list of the top places to visit and things to do in the Mother City from a local tour guide.
Table Mountain
Table Mountain is the main natural feature that stands out when you visit Cape Town. It's one of the 7 Wonders of Nature and a must-visit attraction during your stay. You can read more about how to visit Table Mountain in one of our recent blog posts.
Beaches
White sandy beaches with cold water are not everyone's preference when it comes to swimming, but the colder temperatures are very refreshing! The beaches around Cape Town are beautiful and the surrounding scenery will blow your mind.
Camps Bay offers lots of space and safe swimming. There are usually enough people around to make you feel safe too. When you don't want to be on the beach anymore you can walk across the road for something to eat or drink at one of the many restaurants and bars along the Camps Bay strip.
Clifton is smaller but in our opinion more enjoyable than Camps Bay. It's prettier and also very sheltered from the wind, which makes it the best option during the summer months when the stronger South Easter wind is blowing. Clifton has four beaches and you can walk between all of them. Clifton 4 is usually the busiest. Our preferred option is Clifton 2. It has lots of parking at the top along the road and is a really scenic beach that's not as busy as the others.
Other beaches worth visiting include Sandy Bay, which is a nudist beach, and one of the most beautiful beaches in Cape Town. Llundudno is next to Sandy Bay and also a great beach to visit, as it's picturesque and sheltered from the wind. If you don't want to be surrounded by nudists, then go to Llundudno!
For surfing, Muizenberg and Eden on the Bay in Blouberg have surf shops that rent out boards and wetsuits. For the postcard photo of Table Mountain visit Bloubergstrand Beach.
Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve
The Cape of Good Hope is a famous nature reserve. The main places of interest are the Cape Point lighthouse and the viewpoint at the tip of the African continent. Visiting the reserve is easy and anyone can drive in there and explore. After paying the entrance fee at the gate, follow the road to the end. It's about a 15-minute drive through the reserve to the parking area by the lighthouse. On the drive to the parking area, look out for antelope, zebras and ostrich.
To visit the lighthouse, you can walk straight up to it. It's a short and beautiful 15-minute walk to the top. From there the views are incredible as you look back towards the mainland. You'll also see Table Mountain National Park stretching out towards the north while being surrounded by great ocean views. A picture next to the lighthouse is also a must as it seems to be perched dramatically at the end of the African continent!
After a visit to the lighthouse, you can either walk to the Cape of Good Hope (SW tip of Africa) viewpoint or you can drive down to it. We recommend doing the hike there. If you are also willing to walk back, it will take about 45 minutes to get there and you can extend the walk by visiting the beach on the way.
To access the hiking path, look for the toilets in the parking area. The path starts to the left of the toilets and runs to the west down the mountain. Keep following the path towards where the tour buses are parked. It's an easy walk and difficult to get lost when walking towards your destination. At the viewpoint, there is a signboard, where on a busy day you'll have to stand in line to take your picture.
If you want to explore a bit more of Cape Point reserve look for Venus Pools on the map you get along with your entry ticket. Venus Pools is a beautiful natural tidal pool which is great for cooling down in on a warm summer day.
Simon's Town
Simons Town is close to the entrance of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and is a good stop either before or after visiting the reserve. Apart from the views of False Bay from the many restaurants and cafés, there is also a penguin colony here. Simon's Town is famous for having the largest penguin colony on the African mainland. Other places to see penguins are Betty's Bay and Namibia. These birds also live on islands along the Southern Coast of Africa.
The penguin you'll see here in Simon's Town is the African Penguin, previously referred to as the jackass penguin because the sound it makes is similar to that of a donkey. To visit the penguins, go to Boulders Beach. Here, you can visit and sometimes share the small beach with the penguins and even swim with them. If you want to view the main colony, enter the reserve and take a stroll along the walkway. This way, you can get up close to the penguins and view them in their burrows in between the fynbos vegetation, or in their hundreds on the beach.
Top adventure activities
If you're looking for more adventurous activities in the city, we recommend snorkeling with seals in Hout Bay with Seal Snorkeling, as well as sea kayaking in Sea Point with Kaskazi Kayaks for a chance to see dolphins. For those looking to get even more active in the ocean, you can try Hi5 Kitingsurfing in Blouberg. For those who prefer to stay on land, you can give canyoning and abseiling a go on the Kamakaze Kanyon day tour with Abseil Africa.
Go tandem paragliding
Paragliding in Cape Town is popular not only because of the incredible feeling of free flight but also because of the epic perspective you get when flying over the Sea Point neighbourhood. We can guarantee that this is one of the most exhilarating outdoor activities to do in the city.
If you'd like to join us in the sky, remember to book your paragliding flight with us at Sky Safari Paragliding. All you need to do is click on the link to book a tandem paragliding flight and get an unparalleled experience of Cape Town!
Comments