How to make the most of a 3-day trip to Cape Town?

Uncover the beauty of Cape Town, a gem in the South African continent

The magnificence of Cape Town startled me. In this surprising corner of South Africa, I found vibrant art and culture splashed with lots of history, plus a harmonious blend of urban charm and natural beauty. The scenery in Cape Town far surpasses anything I have ever seen anywhere else… much more than what my disillusioned eyeballs could absorb. This is probably why ‘San Junipero’ was my favourite episode in the Black Mirror series.

Cape Town is where the Indian and the Atlantic oceans meet. The country has an impressive backdrop of the world’s famous mountains and a vibrant range of flora and fauna, cuisine, and nightlife.

A fabulous way to explore Cape Town is with the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. I purchased the ticket online and it was fantastic hopping places with the convenience of a double-decker red bus that came with an audio guide. You can choose to purchase a 1-day (classic), 2-day (premium), or the 3-day (deluxe) sightseeing tour that includes a combo with the Sunset Bus and Harbour Cruise. Buses run on all four routes between 8 am and 5 pm during summer (November – February), and a little later during winter (June – August). Check out the schedules on their official website and also make note of the days when the tours are not running.

Pro Tips:

• Buy the Hop On Hop Off bus tickets online to avail a cheaper deal.
• Keep your ticket handy at all times to show to the driver each time you get on.
• Choose to sit at the top for better views.
• Bring your own earphones for a better sound quality experience.
• Entrance fees to various attractions and experiences are not included in the tour bus ticket. If you’re keen on doing a lot of them, get the Mega City Pass that will allow you cash free entry to your choice of top experiences in Cape Town.

There are four different routes you can choose to do. There’s the City Tour to Table Mountain (RED), Downtown Tour (YELLOW), Mini Peninsula Tour (BLUE), and Wine Tour (PURPLE).

🚀 The Red City Tour has 11 stops and starts at V&A Waterfront, then brings you to Clock Tower, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Jewel Africa, Table Mountain, Camps Bay, President Hotel, St. John’s Road, Winchester Mansions Hotel, Green Point and back to V&A Waterfront. The pickup frequency is every 15 minutes.

🚀 The Yellow Downtown Tour has 7 stops and starts at 81 Long Street and brings you to St. George’s Cathedral, South African Museum, Mount Nelson Hotel, SA Jewish Museum, District Six Museum, Castle of Good Hope and back to where it started. The pick up frequency is every 15 minutes.

🚀 The Blue Mini Peninsula Tour from the city is well known for the best views of Cape Town and the ocean. It’s a circular tour around the back of Table Mountain. There are 14 stops in the route. It begins at V&A Waterfront, then goes to Foreshore, 81 Long Street, Mount Nelson, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Constantia Nek that serves as a change point for the Purple Wine Tour. Following that, the Blue bus goes to World of Birds, Imizamo Yethu, Mariner’s Wharf, Camps Bay, President Hotel, St. John’s Road, Winchester Mansions Hotel, Green Point and finally back to V&A Waterfront. The pickup frequency is every 20 minutes.

🚀 The Purple Wine Tour serves as a great opportunity to taste and purchase wine from 3 different farms. It begins at Constantia Nek and brings you to 3 different wine estates namely Groot Constantia, Eagles’ Nest, Beau Constantia.

I chose the Blue Mini Peninsula Tour and here are some of the highlights:

🚀 V&A Waterfront

The Cape Town V&A Waterfront is a great place for tourists to start their city sight-seeing. There are plenty of restaurants, two shopping centers, and a few sights such as the 19th-century Clock Tower and the Two Oceans Aquarium. It’s the perfect place to ease into your exploration of the city as it feels very European… and do take delight in the traditional South African music played by the incredibly talented bands at the Noble Square.

🚀 Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

The Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens is located on the eastern slopes of the Table Mountain. Being 528 hectares large, 36 hectares of it is a cultivated garden, and you’ll find hiking routes that go up the mountain. There are gardens of different themes, there’s a canopy walk, a restaurant, and a visitor center with a shop. A lot of educational activities happen here which is why you will find the education center, a research center, The Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, a herbarium, and the Harry Molteno Library. One can easily spend more than 2 hours when exploring the garden.

🎫 Entrance fee of The Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden isn’t included in the Hop On Hop Off bus fare. Entry fee is R 40 (USD 3) for adults, R 25 (USD 1.8) for local students (carry proof of entitlement), R 10 (USD 0.7) for children ages 6-18. Children under 6 years can enter for free.

🚀 Groot Constantia Winery

Next, at Constantia Nek, I switched to the Purple Wine Tour bus and headed to the wineries for a lovely countryside experience. At Groot Constantia Winery, I walked through the fields and enjoyed succulent grapes more than grape juice that burns!

🚀 Mariner’s Wharf and Hout Bay

The bus then drove through Mariner’s Wharf, then all the way to Hout Bay, and then up to the city again along the gorgeous western Cape Town beaches. Pictures and words will fail to describe how breath-taking the coastal drive was!

Following that, the bus dropped me to Sea Point Promenade and it was a great way to end the day’s explorations by walking up to Green Point for sunset before boarding the bus one final time back to the city where we began!

🚀 Lion’s Head

Next day, I went hiking to Lion’s Head on my own since that’s something that is not included in the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tours. The steep but doable trail up the peak takes about 1.5 hours to complete at a moderate pace. The The Atlantic seaboard view from Lion’s Head and views of the Table Mountain on the opposite side are really quite stunning!

🚀 Table Mountain

To reach the Table Mountain, there are free shuttle buses at the base that drive you up. Once you reach the top, you can watch the sunset in the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway. The highest point of the Table Mountain is the Maclear’s Beacon which is 1086m above sea level.

If you’re up for some adventure, take a walk on the wild side and join the free guided plateau walks that depart from the Twelve Apostles Terrace (below the shop and the café). They run on the hour from 9am to 3pm and there are three walks namely:

• The Dassie Walk (15 mins, very easy, offering spectacular views of the north, west, and south)
• The Agama Walk (30 mins, very easy, offering spectacular 360° views of Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula
• Klipspringer Walk (45 mins, very easy, offering wonderful views running along the plateau edge to above the Platteklip Gorge.

Did you know? Table Mountain was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature is 2011. The other Wonders of Nature are: Amazon (South America), Iguazu Falls (Argentina), Komodo (Indonesia), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Jeju Island (South Korea) and Puerto Princessa Underground River (Philippines).

If you’re keen on going off the beaten path, walk into a little pathway that’s located right next to the road going towards Table Mountain. Trek up for about 15-20 minutes until you will reach a wooden bench with an incredible vista – the Atlantic Ocean in the distance, some settlements, a curvy road, plenty of verdure, a scatter of trees, and partially rugged mountains on the left.

Three days is too short of a time to spend in the gorgeous city of Cape Town. The views are incredibly breath-taking and another visit is definitely warranted (for me at least)! Next time I visit, I will definitely check out Bo-Kaap District, one of the most popular Cape Town neighborhoods. Not to mention the Two Oceans Aquarium and Robben Island are fabulous places as well! And it’ll be great to do a road trip to the Cape Town Peninsula all the way down to the Cape of Good Hope and say hello to some penguins there!

To discover another jewel of South Africa, read about Johannesburg here!