At the end of our 2-week trip in South Africa, we spent two nights (48 hours) in Cape Town. We would’ve loved to spend more time in Cape Town, but we figured Cape Town is easy enough to get to, so we could visit it again in the future.
After spending the night in Mossel Bay, we started the 4-hour drive to Cape Town. We got up early, and made a stop at Broodmandjie Die bakery to pick up some baked goods for the road. From the bakery, our next stop was to get lunch about an hour outside Cape Town at Peregrine Farm Stall. This roadside stop has been operating since 1964, and it has a coffee shop, bakery, deli and a farm stall. Their lunch menu was full of yummy treats!
Kids will love the nature play area behind the restaurant. We found a great used books bookstore next to the restaurant, which our kids loved!
Where To Stay
We arrived in Cape Town mid afternoon and headed straight to our Airbnb. We stayed in a nice LGBTQ-friendly area called De Waterkant. The apartment was walking distance to several restaurants and shops, and an easy 15 minute walk to the waterfront. People recommended we stay near the waterfront, and this apartment really was in the perfect location to explore on foot, even in the evening.
What To See And Do
Boulder Beach
As soon as we decided we’d be going to Cape Town, I knew I wanted to go see the penguins at Boulder Beach. This colony is home to a unique and endangered land-based colony of African penguins. These penguins have been listed as endangered since 2010 due to more than 80% loss of breeding pairs in just 50 years. The number of penguins in the area has actually decreased over the past few years, so seeing these guys in the wild felt very special!
A really great tip we got about visiting Boulder Beach was to spend some time on Middle Beach, the beach next to the boardwalk that takes you to see the penguins. When you buy your tickets at the entrance, you can enter Middle Beach directly to the right of the ticket office if you park on this lot. If you walk to the left, you’ll follow the path that will take you to the boardwalk to see the penguins. There is another ticket office by the Seaforth Square parking lot, so you just show your tickets and go in.
We chose to see the penguins on the boardwalk first, and then head to the beach. The weather was lovely and we were able to go swimming. Apparently, sometimes penguins will swim to this beach so you might be lucky enough to swim with one of them! We had packed some picnic ingredients and ended up spending a couple of hours hanging out at Middle Beach.
After Boulder Beach, we headed to Simon’s Town for lunch. We ate at The Hickory Shack, a great BBQ and craft brew place with a Wild West vibe. The food was delicious, and so was their IPA beer.
Right next door to The Hickory Shack, and up some stairs is the Collectables Hub & Cafe, where we had a pretty great espresso and cafe cortado. This quirky store/coffee shop is full of unique treasures, including funny signs, that would make great souvenirs!
After lunch and coffee, we got in the car and drove to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Set against the eastern slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain, the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is one of the best botanic gardens in the world. The garden is part of the Cape Floristic Region Protected Area that became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. The garden was beautiful, and you could easily spend the whole day walking around its many trails.
If you visit the gardens, you shouldn’t miss the Boomslang Tree Canopy Walk. This curved steel and timber bridge winds and dips its way through the trees of the arboretum. It gets its name because it is inspired by a snake skeleton. The walkway takes you up 12 meters from the forest floor into the tree canopy, giving you a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.
We loved exploring Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden! We spent about 2 hours there before heading back to Cape Town.
Cash payments are not accepted, so you’ll need a credit card to pay for entrance tickets.
Zeitz MOCAA
On our last morning in Cape Town, we visited the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA). This museum showcases contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. We found the exhibits very interesting, and thought-provoking. Not to be missed is the fact that the museum venue used to be a grain silo. Most of the concrete silo tubes have been replaced with open spaces better suited to display art. However, the central atrium of the museum still preserves parts of the concrete cylinders. Apparently, it took countless hours to cut through those concrete silos to transform the space into what it is today. It truly is a work of art to be admired!
V&A Waterfront
This Cape Town neighborhood is not to be missed when visiting Cape Town! The V&A Waterfront is filled with restaurants, shops, great places to walk around, live music, a luxury shopping mall, and even a ferris wheel! We had a great time walking around the Waterfront and enjoying the views of Table Mountain in the background.
The V&A Waterfront is a great place to get food! There are a ton of options to choose from. This is also great place to look for locally made souvenirs. I did a little shopping at AAFRICAA and found some really cool handmade goods to take home
Final Thoughts
A lot of people had warned us to be cautious in and around Cape Town, but we overall never felt unsafe while walking around. We checked with our Airbnb host about safety, and he said the area around his apartment and the waterfront were totally fine to walk around. He just suggested we don’t go out walking late at night, but that’s something we would avoid doing in most cities.
Originally, we had thought about hiking to Lion’s Head on Table Mountain, but we heard from acquaintances, as well as from the internet, that there had been a wave of muggins in the area so we decided to skip it. We could’ve taken the cable car up, but we ended up checking the Botanical Gardens instead. We figured Cape Town is a city we might go back to, so we don’t felt pressured to see and do it all on this visit.
To learn more about our time in South Africa, go here. If you want to explore more places to travel with your family, visit our Places page.
