Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
The Best Day Trips from Cape Town for Epic Photos
15
items One of the best things about living in Cape Town is how much jaw-dropping scenery sits within a few hours' drive. These are my favourite day trips for photographers and road-trippers: mountain passes, whale-watching cliffs, wildflower fields, penguin...
Map
About 1h15 from Cape Town. Wind up the pass above Franschhoek and pull into the lookout for a sweeping view down the whole valley, with vineyards laid out like a patchwork between the mountains. On winter mornings, mist often fills the valley below y...
Franschhoek Pass Lookout
About an hour from Cape Town, just outside Stellenbosch. A dramatic mountain valley with hiking and mountain-bike trails, waterfalls and fynbos, and far fewer people than Table Mountain. The Panorama and waterfall routes are the photographers' picks....
Jonkershoek Nature Reserve
About 45 minutes to Gordon's Bay, where the R44 coastal road begins: Clarence Drive hugs the cliffs of False Bay all the way to Rooi-Els and Kleinmond, and it rivals Chapman's Peak with far less traffic. Stop at the pull-offs and at Kogel Bay beach f...
Clarence Drive & Kogel Bay
About 1h30 from Cape Town along Clarence Drive. A colony of endangered African penguins on the rocks at Betty's Bay, with a boardwalk that gets you surprisingly close. It's quieter and cheaper than Boulders, with mountains as your backdrop instead of...
Stoney Point Penguin Colony
About 1h30 from Cape Town. Hermanus is one of the best places in the world for land-based whale watching: from roughly June to November, southern right whales come right into Walker Bay, often just metres from the rocks. Walk the cliff path that runs...
Hermanus Cliff Path
About 1h45 up the West Coast. A tiny fishing village of whitewashed cottages, colourful boats pulled up on the beach and some of the best seafood restaurants in the country. The light here is clean and bright, and sunsets over the Atlantic are specta...
Paternoster
About 1h30 from Cape Town. The Langebaan lagoon's turquoise water looks almost tropical, and Kraalbaai is one of the most photographed spots on the West Coast. The real showstopper is the Postberg section, which only opens during flower season (rough...
West Coast National Park
About 1h15 from Cape Town, beyond Wellington. Built by Andrew Geddes Bain and opened in the 1850s, this historic mountain pass winds through a rugged kloof with rock overhangs and crystal-clear river pools below. In summer, locals pull over to swim i...
Bainskloof Pass
About 1h30 from Cape Town. Tulbagh's Church Street is lined with beautifully restored whitewashed Cape Dutch houses, many of them national monuments rebuilt after the 1969 earthquake. It feels like stepping back in time, especially in soft morning li...
Tulbagh Church Street
About 3 hours from Cape Town, so leave early. This is the true southernmost tip of Africa, where a simple plaque marks the official meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Climb the historic red-and-white lighthouse for the view, then walk t...
Cape Agulhas
About 1h30 from Cape Town in Betty's Bay. A wild, beautiful botanical garden where cultivated fynbos meets untouched mountain slopes, with forest trails leading up a kloof to a waterfall. In summer, look for the striking red disa orchids near the wat...
Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens
Bonus pick, best as an overnighter: about 3 hours north of Cape Town. Squeeze through towering sandstone cracks, then carry on to the Wolfberg Arch, a giant natural rock arch in a landscape that looks like another planet. You need a permit, sturdy sh...
Wolfberg Cracks & Arch, Cederberg
About 1h15 from the city, via Chapman's Peak or the False Bay coast. The wild tip of the peninsula: towering sea cliffs, the old lighthouse, the famous Cape of Good Hope sign and empty beaches where you might spot ostriches and bontebok. Watch out fo...
Cape Point & Cape of Good Hope
About 45 minutes from Cape Town. South Africa's second-oldest town is all oak-lined streets, whitewashed Cape Dutch buildings and university energy, surrounded by some of the most beautiful wine estates in the world. Wander Dorp Street in the morning...
Stellenbosch
About 3 hours from Cape Town, so pair it with Cape Agulhas nearby. A huge sea cave near the fishing village of Arniston, big enough to hold an ox wagon (which is where its name comes from). You can only walk in at low tide, so check the tide tables a...
Waenhuiskrans Cave, Arniston