Cheryl

My husband and two of our children will be in Cape Town this Christmas. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to spend Christmas Day? ie. nice dinner, etc. <BR> <BR>We are staying in Greenpoint and will have a car. <BR> <BR>Also, is anything open on the 26th? <BR> <BR>Thanks for the help.

local

Hmm, Cheryl, tough one.... Christmas in SA is very much a family affair with people retracting into their homes with families, presents, etc. so I would be lying to you if I say that there would be anything open on the 25th. I always get the feeling that it is the only day in SA that everything closes down! <BR> <BR>However, the restaurants on the Waterfront may be open - many restaurants have special Christmas day lunches. Depending on your preferences you could try that. <BR> <BR>Alternatively you could try a restaurant in the Stellenbosch or Franschhoek area (both a little out of town, the latter a little further.) <BR> <BR>If you just want to do some driving, I would recommend a drive through the peninsula and maybe a little further out of the city to Paarl and Stellenbosch. Very nice scenery here. <BR>Or a trip up Table Mountain with the cable car; or a visit to the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens; or just sitting next to the sea at Melkbosch or Blouberg beach (with an excellent view of Table Mountain but the sea water here is very cold!) There are also some nice restaurants in the Green Point/Sea Point area, all within walking distance from a nice promenade on the sea. <BR> <BR>More shops, etc would be open on the 26th. <BR> <BR>Just a friendly word of advice - Christmas is peak tourist season in Cape Town and there are many(!) people around so advance booking anywhere is crucial. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

james

Walk down the seafront to Winchester Mansions hotel and have lunch in the courtyard.

Lisa

Our favorite place to spend Christmas Day is at Boulders Beach at Simonstown swimming with the penguins. There is an entry fee as it is a wildlife refuge. Beautiful beach, beautiful scenery, warm(for Cape Town) water and great photo opportunities with the thousands of penguins who live there. Take a picnic and get there early. Beaches tend to get very crowded on Christmas Day (and all public holidays)

Christine

A beach picnic for Christmas is a good idea. You can drive up the West Coast to Paternoster (a quaint fishing village)or east towards Gordon's Bay, Pringle Bay or Hermanus. Another idea is to check if any of the wine estates in the Stellenbosch/Franschoek area are open. They do excellent lunches. There are so many things to do around Cape Town it could keep you busy for weeks!! Just one warning, Cape Town and surrounds is absolutely packed for the whole of December due to local school holidays).

Penelope

This is, undoubtedly, the most old fashioned suggestion in the world: go to the service at the Anglican cathedral downtown in the morning, then have lunch with the locals at some place like the Lord Nelson Inn in Simonstown (where the piped music is more likely to be "On Top of Old Smokey" than "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"). After that, drive down to the Cape of Good Hope and enjoy an historic place. (Pick up a few shells as souvenirs.) P