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The Ultimate Cape Town Bucket List: 15 Things to Do at Least Once
15
items From the top of Table Mountain to penguins on the beach, these are the Cape Town experiences that belong on every bucket list, picked by a local photographer. Whether it's your first visit or you've lived here for years and still haven't done them al...
Sections
3
Nature, Beaches & Views
History & Culture
City, Food & Fun
Nature, Beaches & Views
The non-negotiable first stop. The rotating cable car glides up to the summit in about five minutes, giving you a full 360-degree view on the way. Up top, walk the easy paths for views over Camps Bay, Lion's Head and Robben Island. Check the cableway...
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway
One of the great botanical gardens of the world, planted on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain and devoted almost entirely to South Africa's indigenous plants. Walk the Boomslang canopy walkway, look for proteas and sunbirds, and bring a picnic. In...
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Where else can you share a beach with a colony of endangered African penguins? The boardwalks at Foxy Beach give close views of the birds nesting, waddling and braying, and next door you can actually swim among the granite boulders in calm, sheltered...
Boulders Beach Penguin Colony
The wild, windswept tip of the Cape Peninsula inside Table Mountain National Park. Ride the Flying Dutchman funicular up to the old lighthouse, then hike down to Diaz Beach or pose at the famous Cape of Good Hope sign. Watch out for baboons, bring a ...
Cape of Good Hope & Cape Point
Four sheltered coves of powder-white sand separated by granite boulders, with the Twelve Apostles and Lion's Head behind you. Clifton is where Cape Town comes to be seen on a hot, windless summer day. The Atlantic is icy, so a quick dip is all most p...
Clifton Beaches (1st to 4th)
The most rewarding short hike in the city: about 90 minutes up a spiralling path with chains and ladders near the top (there's an easier route too). Go for sunrise over the city bowl, or join hundreds of locals on the monthly full-moon hike and watch...
Lion's Head Sunrise or Full-Moon Hike
History & Culture
The island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most moving experiences in South Africa. Tours leave from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront and are often guided by f...
Robben Island
To understand Cape Town, you need to understand District Six, a vibrant mixed community that was declared ‘whites only’ in 1966, with more than 60,000 people forcibly removed and their homes bulldozed. This small museum in a former church tells their...
District Six Museum
The world's largest museum of contemporary African art, carved out of a 1920s grain silo at the V&A Waterfront. Architect Thomas Heatherwick hollowed out the concrete tubes to create a cathedral-like atrium that is worth the visit alone, and the ...
Zeitz MOCAA
Built by the Dutch East India Company between 1666 and 1679, this pentagon-shaped star fort is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa. Walk the ramparts, see the old cells and the military museum, and time your visit for the key cerem...
Castle of Good Hope
The candy-coloured houses on the slopes of Signal Hill are Cape Town's most photographed street scene, but Bo-Kaap is a living neighbourhood with deep Cape Malay roots, not a backdrop. Visit the small museum on Wale Street to learn its history, take ...
Bo-Kaap & the Bo-Kaap Museum
City, Food & Fun
Touristy? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. The working harbour at the foot of Table Mountain is packed with things to do: the Watershed craft market, the Time Out Market food hall, the Cape Wheel, boat trips and seals lounging by the docks. Come at dusk wh...
V&A Waterfront
Saturday mornings in Woodstock mean the Neighbourgoods Market, the food market that kicked off Cape Town's whole artisan scene. Graze your way through oysters, bao, bobotie pies, craft beer and fresh juice, then browse the design shops around the old...
Neighbourgoods Market, Old Biscuit Mill
Cape Town sits where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, and this aquarium at the Waterfront showcases the life of both. The towering kelp forest exhibit is mesmerising, the predator tank has ragged-tooth sharks and turtles, and kids love the touch ...
Two Oceans Aquarium
Hout Bay's fishing harbour is full of character: colourful boats, fish and chips on the quay and the Sentinel peak towering over the bay. From here, short boat trips head out to Duiker Island, a rocky outcrop crowded with thousands of Cape fur seals ...
Hout Bay Harbour & Seal Island Boat Trip