wallybrenda

Will be traveling to SA in May/June of 2005.
Our primary interest is the wildlife in Botswana but would like to see either Cape Town or Vic Falls. I am leaning towards Cape town as the winelands are a huge draw but know that the weather can be marginal in May or June.
Is Vic Falls a must see ??
Too much to see and to little time, we are thinking we'll have about 2 weeks.
Thanks for any insight you can provide.
Brenda

Selwyn_Davidowitz

WallyBrenda,

I hold a biased approach towards Cape Town and because of this I wont tell you which of the two places are a better place to visit. What I do want to correct in your mail is that for the past 5 years the weather in May and even the first week of June have been fabulous, contrary to all weather predictions. As a metter of fact we have been enjoying blue skies, no rain as well as warm sun throughout and it seems as if this is the norm for the future. Because of this I now believe that the period April-May is the best time of the year to visit Cape Town as the weather is good and with it being shoulder-low season, prices are lower than normal as well as less visitors are in town making issues like accommodation and restaurant availability, standing in lines etc so much easier.

Just my Capetonian two cents worth.

Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa

Chris_GA_Atl

Having been to both last year, I would definitely say that Cape Town is a more interesting place to visit than Victoria Falls. The Falls are a one-attraction place, while Cape Town has so many interesting things to see and do. If you are forced to choose between the two, I would definitely say Cape Town.

Alisonv

I was in Capetown in May and the weather was spectacular. We had one day of rain but the rest were perfect. We had a fair bit of cloud in the winelands which prevented us from seeing the scenery properly but it did lift. The area is breathtaking. As Chris says there is so much to do in Capetown. We decide to hold off on Vic Falls till our next trip so I can't compare the two. I can just tell you we don't regret the choice and will be including Capetown on our next trip as well as Vic Falls.

uhoh_busted

We were with Alison in Cape Town last May and agree completely! IT WAS WONDERFUL! And having made a "thing" out of visiting wine country all over the world, this is one area you will LOVE!

wallybrenda

Did you do the winelands as day trips from CT or did you stay in that area for several days. Also, wondered about the most central place to stay in CT if one is renting a car.
Thanks for your impute.

Alisonv

You can do the wine district as day trips but we stayed 2 days in Franschhoek. It was really beautiful.
I highly recommend you stay at least one night. If you stay over you can experience the great retaurants and wine without having to drive too much afterwards.
In Capetown, we stayed at the Welgelengen Guest House. It was lovely and close to Kloof Street. Fairly central as far as we know but others may be in a better position to answer your question.

alice13

I must disagree - I love Cape Town - but i wouldn't go there if the main reason for so doing was to do wine tours. Bit like coming to Sydney to visit the Hunter. It is a wonderful place, if you want to go to the top of Table Mtn and are sufficiently interested in all the aspects of its history to check out the architecture and the museums.
Otherwise - go to Vic Falls. Stunning.

It really depends on yr personal agenda - if the winelands are a bigger draw than one of the most spectacular natural sights on the planet - only you know. And only you know how much you will be interested in the non-winelands aspects of CT.

uhoh_busted

Oh, the winelands are extraordinarily beautiful, but combined with the equally fantastic scenery of Cape Town it is a true destination. The two major draws for me were initially the winelands and the penguin colonies on the coast. But the more we read about Cape Town, the more we found we wanted to see. We spent 3 days there before our Botswana safari primarily just for Cape Town, and then 5 days after, when we spent 2 nights in Stellenbosch, then drove to Hermanus for 1 night, along the coast (would have gone to Cape Point but the clouds rolled in) to Simons Town, and then one night in Constantia and our final day seeing Kirstenbosch Gardens, having lunch in town (Kloof) with a view of Table Mt to say adieu. We decided to save Vic Falls for another trip, too.