Captivating Cape Town
We opted to stay at the Waterfront and chose The Cape Grace and this was the perfect choice for us. This is a lovely 5-star hotel in a quiet location but just steps to the heart of the Waterfront with its vast array of restaurants, bars and shops.
The hotel offers a range of wonderful rooms and as a small group of 4, we opted for a two-bedroom suite which was perfect. Two large en-suite bedrooms and a very spacious lounge area with small kitchen and additional bathroom and a large balcony overlooking the port and with great Waterfront and Table Mountain views. The Signal restaurant offers a great range of food options and the Bascule whiskey bar is a firm favourite with guests and locals with its enticing array of over 400 whiskies. The pool area at the back of the hotel is small but perfectly formed and a great place to relax.
The service and facilities were impeccable. The concierge was able to get us reservations for drinks and dinner wherever we wanted to go, and the hotel offers a car service to take you anywhere within a 10km radius on a first come basis. We used this to go to Camps Bay to watch the fabulous sunset and to go to the Belmond Mount Nelson for Sunday High Tea. The car can also drop you at Table Mountain.
We visited the awesome One & Only at the Waterfront and had a wonderful dinner in Reuben's restaurant sampling the very best local fish, meats and wines.
We watched the sunset one evening from the roof terrace of the new 5-star Silo hotel which I can highly recommend – but book in advance as limited availability for non-residents. If you’re looking for something fun, there’s a great Comedy Club – although some of the local humour was lost on us, but still a great night out.
From our base at the Waterfront we were able to get out and really explore the local area and with so much to see and do, we had to plan our itinerary in advance to fit everything in! Some highlights and my personal recommendations would be Simons Town to see the African penguins and Houts Bay to see the seals.
Table Mountain was amazing and is a complete ‘must-do’. We were travelling in September and we went up first thing in the morning and were lucky enough to have a clear and beautiful day. Queue times can be very long so be prepared to wait – especially in peak December time. Also, the cable car will not run in windy weather and it had been closed the day before and day after we went, so worth bearing in mind you may need to be flexible when planning. I would strongly recommend buying your tickets beforehand to avoid queuing for tickets and then queuing again for the cable cars.
We also visited Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope – again in peak December time, I would recommend leaving Cape Town by 0730 in order to avoid the very long queues. The views were outstanding and well worth a visit and the funicular railway was a fun way to reach the top. Keep a close watch on your bags as the baboons are very quick!
Robben Island is another ‘must-do’ activity and you can take the boat from the Waterfront. It takes around 45 – 60 minutes to get there depending on the weather and the water. The tour will not operate in bad weather when the swell is too high and we were lucky to manage to re-book our tour when our original tour was cancelled. The tour includes a coach drive around the island with a guide to explain the history of the prison and then you can go inside with an ex prisoner for a more in-depth insight to life inside.
As we were in Cape Town on a Sunday, we visited the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel for High Tea in the lovely gardens and with the largest selection of cakes I have seen! A visit to the wine region of Stellenbosch was another highlight. Whilst you can do this as a day trip from Cape Town, if you have the time, it is well worth adding a one or two night stay here or Franschoek as the surrounding area is stunning and there’s a large choice of fabulous hotels and guest house and some of the best wines and restaurants in South Africa.
Given the number of different vineyards, it can be hard to know what to choose, so my tip would be to take the Hop on Hop off Wine Tram and the different coloured lines visit different vineyards. We opted for the curated tour. This is a small group tour – up to 10 people – with an experienced guide who will take you to three different vineyards and includes wine tastings, behind the scene tours and a 3-course lunch.
We took the wine tram and transferred by tractor to Rickety Bridge. After a behind the scenes visit to the cellars and some wine tasting, we had a fabulous three course lunch. Next stop was Grand Provence, where the private wine tasting was in a lovely private lounge area and there’s a fabulous art gallery to wander around. Our last stop was La Bri where we tried wine pairing with chocolate before heading back to the centre of Stellenbosch.
Cape Town has the most amazing sunrise and sunsets and watching the sunset from a bar in Camps Bay was another highlight. This is a bustling beach area with a great choice of bars and restaurants and only a short drive from the Waterfront.
After Cape Town, we headed to Shamwari Game Reserve via Hermanus and the Garden Route and you can read all about that in my next blog.
There is so much more I could tell you about Cape Town and I can recommend so many fabulous hotels and restaurants in Cape Town and would be more than happy to tailor-make your prefect trip. If you want to chat and find out more, please get in touch.