We’re visiting Cape Town and considering a hike on Table Mountain. The website has lots of information about getting lost and criminal activity. Wondering if we should attempt a climb or just take the cable car up and down. Does anyone have any experience? Tips? Thoughts? Thank you!

We were happy enough to walk about at the top, there are plenty of short trails. It depends how keen you are on hiking and if you are there at a popular time when there are other people also hiking. Four of us did a day hike down the back of table mountain to Constantia years ago but I much preferred the hike up Lion's Head, which has the benefit of great views of Table Mountain.

I would definitely recommend hiking Table Mountain, it is a far more rewarding experience and should take you less around 2 hours to get to the top. The cable car is really cool, especially with the rotating floor, but is expensive and will often require you to wait in a queue for over an hour.

For me, the most beautiful trail is the India Venster trail, that runs right under the cable car. It is also probably the most physically demanding trail, requiring light scrambling, however, from here you can catch the cable car down. This is only really a viable option from the India Venster or Platteklip Gorge trails, as other trails can end over 6 hours from the cable car.

Another option is climbing Skeleton Gorge (starting in Kirstenbosch Gardens) and descending down Kasteelpoort (ending in Camps Bay). This route means you climb the one side of the mountain and come down the other and only adds around 30 minutes to the walk.. While skeleton Gorge means a shaded descent through a forest, the views of Camps Bay Beach from Kasteelpoort are incredible.

Private message me for a Google Maps route of the trail I just described. Unfortunately I have not posted enough to use links