Several companies offer guided tours of the city center, the south peninsula, the Winelands, and anyplace else in the Cape you might wish to visit. They differ in type of transportation used and tour focus.

Bike Tours

BazBus tours the south peninsula with a trailer full of bikes. You cycle the fun parts and sit in the bus for the rest. It costs about R385. Daytrippers specializes in bike tours but uses all sorts of modes of transportation, from bus to boat to foot, to explore the area.

Tour Operator

BazBus (021/439-2323. www.bazbus.com). Daytrippers (021/511-4766. www.daytrippers.co.za).

Boat Tours

The Waterfront Boat Company offers trips on a range of boats, from yachts to large motor cruisers. A 1½-hour sunset cruise from the V&A Waterfront costs about R190, and includes a glass of bubbly. Tigger 2 and Drumbeat charters both run a variety of trips in the Hout Bay area, ranging from sunset cruises to full-day crayfishing expeditions. A trip from Hout Bay to Seal Island with Drumbeat Charters costs R50 for adults, R20 for kids. The only boat trip to actually land on Robben Island is the museum's ferry.

Tour Operators

Drumbeat Charters (021/791-4441 or 021/790-4859. www.drumbeatcharters.co.za). Tigger 2 Charters (021/790-5256. www.tiggertoo.co.za). Waterfront Boat Company (021/418-0134. www.waterfrontboats.co.za).

Bus & Car Tours

Large- and small-group bus tours are operated by African Eagle Day Tours, Hylton Ross, Springbok Atlas, and Windward Tours, among many others. Expect to pay R300-R350 for a half-day trip and about R450-R600 for a full-day tour. There's a wide selection of tours to choose from. A day trip might include such Cape Town highlights as the Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope nature reserve, Chapman's Peak, and then onto Stellenbosch for some wine tasting; a half-day trip could involve a visit to a local township. Many of the companies will also tailor private trips to suit your needs.

Hylton Ross also sells tickets for the hop-on/hop-off CitySightSeeing Cape Town bus; a day ticket costs R100, and there are two routes to choose from. The Red Route runs through the city, and you can get on and off at major museums, the V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Two Oceans Aquarium, and other attractions. The Blue Route takes you farther afield—to Kirstenbosch National Botanic Gardens, Hout Bay, World of Birds, and Camps Bay, to name just a few destinations.

In addition to running the usual tours of the peninsula, city, and Winelands, iKapa Tours & Travel has a full-day Cape Safari tour, which is great if you won't have a chance to make it up north to one of the big-game reserves. The trip departs at around 6:30 AM and takes you over du Toit's Pass and on to the Aquila Private Game Reserve in the Southern Karoo Highlands. In addition to seeing animals on your three-hour game drive with an experienced ranger, you'll also get to visit world-renowned rock-art sites. Breakfast, lunch, a snack, and champagne are included in the tour.

Legend Tours offers a range of half- and full-day tours that include highlights of the peninsula, Table Mountain, and the city. With visits to the Bo-Kaap, District Six, and the Cape Flats, the comprehensive township tour demonstrates just how fragmented South African society is. The full-day version of this tour includes Robben Island as well.

Paradise Touring leads tours all around the Cape Town area. In addition to the usual Winelands and scenic peninsula tours, there are tours specifically designed to keep kids happy. The half-day family tour includes Two Oceans Aquarium, Table Mountain, and the South African Museum, plus time to play miniature golf and feed squirrels. The company also offers a township dinner-and-jazz experience and some exciting day courses with acclaimed local chefs. But if you want something really different, opt for the full-day trip around the peninsula in a World War II sidecar (your guide drives and you sit in the sidecar).

Friends of Dorothy leads small group tours of the Winelands, the peninsula, and more for gay travelers. Quite a few cultural tours are also offered. Thuthuka Tours leads music and gospel tours of the townships. You can develop your understanding of the destruction brought on by apartheid's forced removals while touring District Six with Our Pride-Bonani. A group of MK veterans (former cadres of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe), going by the name Western Cape Action Tours, provides insight into Cape Town's experience of apartheid and resistance. Tours include scenes of struggle and other historical sites as well as development projects, township markets, and housing programs. A half-day tour is R290 per person (minimum two people), a full-day tour including lunch costs R590 a head (minimum four people), and a customized day trip for a single individual is R950. Though these operators specialize in niche tours, most of them cover mainstream trips like Cape Point and the Winelands, too.

Tour Operators

African Eagle Day Tours (021/464-4266. www.africa-adventure.org/a/africaneagle). Friends of Dorothy (021/465-1871. www.friendsofdorothytours.co.za). Hylton Ross Tours (021/511-1784. www.hyltonross.co.za). iKapa Tours & Travel (021/510-8666. www.ikapa.co.za). Legend Tours (021/674-7055 or 082/456-2014. www.legendtours.co.za). Our Pride-Bonani (021/531-4291 or 082/446-7974). Paradise Touring (021/713-1020. www.paradisetouring.co.za). Springbok Atlas (021/460-4700. www.springbokatlas.com). Thuthuka Tours (021/433-2429 or 083/979-5831). Western Cape Action Tours (021/448-5760. www.dacpm.org.za). Windward Tours (021/419-3475. www.windwardtours.co.za).

Helicopter & Airplane Tours

Helicopters fly from the V&A Waterfront for a tour on a three- or four-seater chopper. Most operators charge between R1,300 and R1,800 for a 20-minute trip, and R4,900 to R5,400 for an hour in the air. Civair and NAC/Makana offer tours of the city and surrounding area ranging in length from 20 minutes to several hours. Custom tours can also be arranged, and the price varies according to how many people are flying. Downhill Adventures offers trips in a variety of light aircraft, including helicopters.

Tour Operators

Civair Helicopters (021/419-5182. www.civair.co.za). Downhill Adventures (021/422-0388 or 021/422-1580. www.downhilladventures.com). NAC/Makana Aviation (021/425-3868. www.nacmakana.com).

Jazz Safari

Cape Town Jazz Safari offers jazz aficionados (and everyone else) a unique experience that takes you into the homes of some of Cape Town's greatest musicians. Visitors can relax in the lounge while the likes of the legendary Robbie Jansen, Mac McKenzie, and Hilton Schilder work their magic. This is a unique opportunity to experience the complexity of Cape Town jazz and get to know the musicians behind the music. The tour costs around R500 per person and a minimum of four people is needed to make the reservation.

Tour Operator

Cape Town Jazz Safari (084/762-4944. www.jazzsafari.com).

Walking Tours

Cape Town on Foot offers fun city walking tours lasting 1½-2½ hours. The tours cover major historical attractions, architecture, and highlights of modern-day Cape Town. A separate Bo-Kaap tour, which includes the Bo-Kaap Museum, is one of the best ways to explore this neighborhood. Expect to pay around R100 for 2½ hours.

Footsteps to Freedom has two really good walking tours—one of the city and its historical sites and the other of the V&A Waterfront. The guides are friendly and well informed, offer a rare insight into the city, and can help you with tours of the Bo-Kaap and townships. They also have great maps of the city, peninsula, and Winelands called Serious Fun Guides, which you can pick up at various outlets.

You can also do a walking tour of Langa township as part of Ilios Travel's Walk to Freedom portfolio. The guides explain the social structures and lifestyles of Cape Town's oldest African precinct, as well as the cultural history of the area.

Take some of the mystery out of Table Mountain with a guide who can share information on the incredible diversity of flora and fauna you'll come across. Join walking and climbing tours with Venture Forth International, or tag along on a group walk open to everyone (most are on weekends). Pick up a Cumhike timetable from any Cape Union Mart outdoor store (found in almost every mall). Pamphlets for a self-guided walking tour of city-center attractions can be picked up at Cape Town Tourism. Longer walking tours (four days and longer) outside Cape Town can be arranged through Active Africa, specialized birding walks through Bird-Watch Cape.

Tour Operators

Active Africa (021/788-6083. www.active-africa.com). Bird-Watch Cape (021/762-5059. www.birdwatch.co.za). Cape Town on Foot (021/462-4252. www.wanderlust.co.za). Footsteps to Freedom (021/426-4260 or 083/452-1112. www.footstepstofreedom.co.za). Ilios Travel (021/697-4056. www.ilios.co.za). Venture Forth International (0861/106-548. www.ctsm.co.za).