The Wonders of Cape Town

After having recently moved from New York to Cape Town I am often asked, particularly by my American friends why? what? where? I have created this list to shed some light on the matter. For the Capetonians among you, if you have a better photo or think I have missed a spot, please leave a comment and I will add the item to the list.

Please note that the items on this list are in no particular order.

1
Table Mountain
- Table Mountain
This is our beloved mountain. Everything you see on this list has its bearing around this mountain. We love it. We walk on it, climb it, picnic on it and occasionally set fire to it.
2
Greenpoint Stadium
- Greenpoint Stadium
No description of Cape Town would be complete without a mention of the upcoming World Cup Soccer in 2010. This state of the art stadium is being constructed right next to the city center and will be amazing.
3
Cape Town City Center
- City Center
Yes - there are some tall buildings where people work. We also call the general city area the "city bowl" because its basically surrounded by mountains on one side forming a bowl. The other side is obviously the sea, notably The Waterfront.
4
Camps Bay
- Camps Bay
Camps Bay has now probably taken over as the best known and hippest area on the Atlantic seaboard. In the holiday season the whole world makes a beeline for Camps Bay and it can get extremely hectic. On a windy day it can also get really pounded but as you can see in this picture, on a perfect day it is unbeatable.

Occasionally I have a business lunch here. It's about 10 minutes from the city center.
5
Clifton Beach
- Clifton Beach
There are 4 beaches at Clifton. Creatively named Clifton 1, Clifton 2, Clifton 3 and Clifton 4. People who live in Clifton usually don't do very much but if they do anything they probably have something to do with the hipper Cape Town industries like fashion or modeling or more likely, they really want to have something to do with these industries and think by living in Clifton there is a chance they can break in.

Clifton is also a favorite place for wealthy people from other part of the country, or the world, to have holiday homes.
6
Kirstenbosch Gardens
- Kirstenbosch
Kirstenbosch Gardens is probably one of the most famous and ecologically diverse gardens in the world. As shown in this picture they have gorgeous sweeping lawns which are quite handy for the odd classical music concert or other, very civilized form of entertainment.

Kirstenbosch is nestled in among Bishops Court and Newlands.
7
Bishops Court
- Old dude relaxing in his pool.
Bishops Court is one of the most prestigious suburbs on the other side (i.e. non seaboard side) of the mountain. The houses are large and the gardens leafy with amazing mountain views. This swimming pool scene is quite typical. I have no idea what people here do for a living but there is certainly lots of "old money" in these parts.
8
Hout Bay
- Hout Bay
No its not Rio. Hout Bay is a gorgeous, natural area and probably the furthest of the establish neighborhoods, away from the city. It could take all of 25 minutes drive to get to the city center from here. This mountain you see in the picture has recently been up for sale with bids from Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump. It has caused quite the controvery with the very eco friendly residents. We really, really don't want someone building a hotel there!
9
Jonkers Huis
- Jonkers Huis
This is the gorgeous manor house of Simon Van de Stel build in 1689. Van de Stel was the first governor of the Cape and he certainly had a taste for style. His original estate is now the suburb of Constantia which is a most beautiful, leafy, somewhat horsey, suburb still dominated by some stunning vineyards - and all this pretty much in the middle of suburban Cape Town.

These days we all go there for picnics on the lawn or to drink too much wine on Friday nights.
10
Newlands Cricket Ground
- Newlands Cricket Ground
Arguably one of the most majestic cricket grounds in the world, no list of Cape Town would be complete without a mention of Newlands.
11
Newlands Rugby Ground
- Newlands Rugby Ground
Like Cricket the Newlands rugby ground has over 100 years of rich tradition. Scoring tries against Australians being one of them.
12
The Mount Nelson
- The Nelly
The Mount Nelson is one of the most stunning and oldest hotels in the Cape, founded in 1899. We call it the Nelly and its very pink. When Bill Clinton visited Cape Town they refused to have him because his security guys wanted to cut down the palm trees.
This lovely hotel is 5 minutes from the city center. It has an amazing pool and the most flamboyant afternoon tea (high tea) you can imagine. However, unless you are a guest don't dare go near the pool even if you have spent a fortune in their restaurant, they have some very vigilant staff who very rigidly apply poolside policy.
13
The Waterfront
- The Waterfront
Developed from scratch over the last 20 years and recently purchased by a syndicate from Dubai, the Warerfront area is now one of the central Cape Town tourist destinations for shopping, eating and entertaining people from cruise ships. It is 5 minutes from the city center.
14
Franschoek
- Franschoek
Franschoek is to me, one of the most beautiful and stylish wine growing regions in the world and it has a particularly fascinating history. In 1688 it was settled by the French Huguenots who were fleeing religious persecution in France - they were protestants, very unpopular in France at the time...The first nine farms were allocated by Simon Van der Stel, the Govenor of the Cape, in 1694. The area was originally known as Oliphantshoek (elephants corner), as it was very popular with vast heards of elephant. You won't find any elephant here anymore, they mess up the vineyards.
The French quickly assimilated into the Dutch community as the French legacy was what they were fleeing in the first place. However, thankfully, their biggest legacy remained intact and we are forever thankful and that was wine!
15
Stellenbosch
- Stellenbosch
This is another beautiful wine growing region, probably even more famous than Franschoek and just as accessible from the city. Taking in lunch at a wine farm and them stocking up on the wine supplies is a favorite weekend pastime for most Capetonians.

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Comments

nontoxicmike (1 year ago)

Wow. Absolutely beautiful. This will be high on my list of places I want to go.
preetkomal (1 year ago)

thanks a lot for this information.This information is both interesting and meaningful and I hope that it will be very helpful to those people who are planning a trip to Cape Town.
tanzanyt (9 months ago)

wow... I've been living in Cape Town all my life and thanx to you, you've made me appreciate our beautiful city so much more! Well done... I couldn't have presented Cape Town any better =]
sthomasrikhav (4 weeks ago)

gorgeous,what a beauty, Cape town is one of my favorite place, I've been there once, but after getting more information about the places in cape town where I've never been last time, I'll go again.
sthomasrikhav (4 weeks ago)

website : cape town tourist attractions