We are planning our trip to SA in September 2019. A hotel in the Newlands area (The Vineyard) has been recommended to us during our 4 night stay in Cape Town. I have read where many people stay near the V&A waterfront area. Which area would you suggest? We may rent a car or Uber during our stay.

I just returned from spending 6 days (5 nights) in Cape Town. We visited the waterfront & enjoyed it for what it is, but I am so glad we didn't stay there...it's lovely and safe and tourist-friendly, but it's like Disneyland, imo: it's not "real" somehow. Just not my thing.

We stayed at the Mount Nelson, which we loved and would return to in half a second; but I know it's not for everybody, being that its location is in the heart of a rather rough area (the hotel itself is kind of an oasis, with its Colonial vibe, its lovingly-tended gardens and spectacular view of Table Mountain.) We loved being able to walk out the back door and be on the rough-and-tumble streets of CT. We Ubered everywhere...majorly inexpensive, majorly convenient, as well as majorly prompt and unfailingly lovely drivers.

If you're into wine, you'll probably enjoy the Newlands area, but it is a bit far from things.

I agree with LucieV. I spent 4 days in August in Cape Town and visited the waterfront several times, but it is not where I would want to stay. It is a made-for-tourists location. We stayed at the Southern Sun Cape Sun, a rather generic convention hotel, but it was a convenient location. & provided a frequent shuttle to the waterfront (We were at the beginning of a 21 day tour.) If I were traveling on my own for a return visit, I think I would find a well-reviewed guest house.

Like Lucie, we Ubered everywhere - very inexpensive and readily available.

I stayed last time at the Mt, Nelson, just near Kloof Street..walked around from there all along the strip with no issues. Now debating between returning there and to One and Only.....tough decision. Bigi issue for me is ability to swim in Sepotember, in outdoor heated pool.

Are there nice shops in the Waterfront area or are they mostly lower end chain stores? I know there is a great bookstore, or at least there was a few years ago....apart from that, and a good safari outfitter, I remember very little about shops but do recall that there were many restaurants, but probably not where I would choose to dine given limited time...

I don�t think it makes that much difference if you are going to be using Uber, but I would stay in the waterfront over Newlands.

Thank you all for your input. Good to know Uber is readily available and not outrageous in cost. We tend to enjoy a more quiet atmosphere and I think the Newlands might be a good fit for us.

Dear Marlene, I assume this trip is meant for leisure, not work. Newlands is a lovely, quiet neighborhood, tucked behind Table Mountain, with the beautiful Kirstenbosch Gardens right next door. What you must realize though is that traffic on the main artery, M 3, to e.g. downtown CT or to the ocean can at times be horrendous, especially during rush hour(s). We once rented a beautiful house near Newlands and really had to time our visits in order not to get stuck.
Tamboerskloof or Gardens might be an option but my favorite place to stay is at Sundown Manor in the ocean facing suburb of Fresnay. https://www.sundownmanor.co.za

HI Marlene. I live in Cape Town and I would go with staying at the Vineyard rather than the V&A. As previous posters mentioned about the Mount Nelson being a tranquil oasis, so to is the Vineyard. It has beautiful grounds that you can stroll around with a resident tortoise
It is a hop and a skip from there onto the M3 highway which then either takes you into the CBD / Waterfront area or onto the N2 which you would take to get to the various winefarms - Stellenbosch and Franschhoek area.
It has Kirstenbosch on it's doorstep and the City Sightseeing Tour buses all go via Kirstenbosch so, if that is your thing, you could take an Uber to Kirstenbosch and use Kirstenbosch as your starting point for the City Sightseeing Tour.
There are several restaurants in the immediate vicinity which you could Uber to (please do not walk in the dark to or from the restaurants - daytime is fine).
The Vineyard itself has a fantastic restaurant - Myoga. I would highly recommend doing their tasting menu (with wine pairing) - it is sooooooo good!
If you are flexible, try to schedule your stay at the Vineyard during the Cape's school holiday because, as Elizabeth54 says, traffic can get a bit hectic in that area. Next year the school holidays are from 20 Sep to 1 Oct. During school holidays the traffic is an absolute breeze.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about Cape Town and I will help where I can.

We definitely considered staying at the Vineyard, which does indeed look lovely (and being near the Heaven-like Kirstenbosch is a big plus!) Unfortunately, at the time we were there (last month), they were apparently in the process of noisy renovations, which a number of reviews on booking.com mentioned. So, if noise is a consideration for you, you may want to be certain the renovations are completely done before reserving there.

In reply to your question re shops at the Waterfront - whilst there are your regular chain stores the Waterfront is known for it's wide selection of exclusive shops. This is the link to all the stores - https://www.waterfront.co.za/leisure/stores/

I agree, Kaapie, that the shops are very nice. But it's like being in an American mall, imo. Enjoyable for a short visit, but nothing I would go out of my way for.

HI LucieV. Yip, I totally agree with you on that count. My reply was to ekscrunchy where they asked if there were only lower end chain stores at the V&A or if there were other nice shops. I only go to the V&A if I'm looking for something different.

Thanks for the heads up,@LuciV regarding the construction. We would certainly be disappointed if we had to put up with noise.

@Kaapie, so great to get your input and suggestions. We were leaning toward going the early part of September next year. (better weather? more wildflowers in bloom?) I am curious about the school holiday, though. Will the “attractions” be busier with school being out during Sept 20-October 1? We will likely rent a car but might Uber into down on occasion. We plan to spend 4 nights in Cape Town, drive to Mosselberg for 2 nights, drive back to Cape Town and fly to our safari destination near Krueger. A friend rather scared us about driving ourselves. I know any city at night is a gamble and we would likely do all of our driving during the day. What are your thoughts on safety?

I've driven in and around Cape Town many times, both during the day and night. During the night, I've limited driving to Camps Bay, Hout Bay, Sea Point etc, those types of areas. I try not to drive at night in and around JNB.

My comment re the school holidays was more geared towards if you stay at the Vineyard Hotel as then you will have heavy traffic getting from there into the CBD in the morning and the reverse route coming back. But, having said that, that will only be an issue during peak times and only when heading into the CBD or out onto the N1. If you head out on the N2 in the early morning then you will have about 20 minutes of traffic and then it will ease up. Because the September holidays are fairly short there is not a huge influx of other South Africans to Cape Town. Your shopping malls, restaurants, beaches etc will however be slightly busier than usual though because of the local children being on holiday.
Re weather - Early September in Cape Town is still pretty chilly. As you head towards October, the winter chill starts to leave the air and the days become a bit warmer but night time is still chilly. This past September was really cold and we are only feeling the warmer weather now - I'd say our daytime temps are currently (October) averaging around 22 deg Celsius with nighttime dropping to around 14 /15 degrees Celsius.
Re the flowers - the West Coast Flowers start blooming from the beginning of August until the end of September with the best flowering period being the end of Aug/ beginning of Sep. Probably the best place to see them is Postberg. (I see you mention Mosselberg - I am not sure where this is. Is this where you are staying when you go to view the flowers?) Viewing the flowers can easily be done as a day trip as it is only a 2 hour drive there.
Re safety and driving - that's a tricky one for me to answer as we (as South Africans) don't realise how 'practised' we are at knowing the dos and donts. 1000s of people rent cars in South Africa everyday and they are fine. Just be careful and be aware. Otherwise, just use Uber. They really are great guys and you'll get to know a bit more about Africa and it's people if you drive with them.

Could not agree more. We had nothing but 100% positive experiences with our Uber drivers in Cape Town, both day and night. (Contrast that with our recent hellish experience with a driver here in SF!)

Sorry for the confusion... Mosselberg is the hotel we are staying at on Grotto Beach. We’d like to visit Fernkloof Nature Reserve close to there and maybe do some whale watching from shore(?) or is a tour better?

While in Cape Town (Vineyard Hotel) here is what we were thinking of doing:
(BTW..we are two active 65 yr olds)
Day 1: Fly into Cape Town from USA...totally jet lagged
Day 2: Travel to the city, go to Table Mountain, Company Gardens, V&A Waterfront and hit Kirstrnbosch Gardens on the way home.
Day 3: Cape Point Day..Chapman’s Peak drive, Boulder Beach and Cape of Good Hope.
Day 4: Drive to wine country.
Day 5&6: Grotto Beach (see above)
Day 7-10: Return to Cape Town to fly to Timbavati Reserve for 4 nights of Safari
Day 11 Fly out of Johannesburg to USA.

We could easily add a day or two. We are open to your suggestions! Thank you!

You must have the stamina of 40-year-olds, because that's a really ambitious itinerary!
Table Mountain can take a good half day, if not more. The lines are long, both going up and going down (though well worth it, imo.) You also can't count on its being "open" every day in September (last month, we had to wait 2 days before the fog/"tablecloth" lifted).
We also spent a half day at Kirstenbosch.
V&A we spent maybe two hours at most.
Anyway, whatever you do, do leave time to wander around the city a bit. It's a trippy city. One of my all-time favorites.

Can you possibly stay longer? My 1st trip was 3 weeks and that was not enough