Trip to Cape Town in Sept
 

Hi, Is September a good time to visit Cape Town? I heard that although it's not the rainy searcon it is quite cold with a high/low of 18/9 degrees C. Is it sunny or windy? would the top of table mountain be too cold/windy? Am planning a 5 day trip, any must visit places, so far i have the table mountain, wineland (any advise on which one), beach, ?? Please advise. thanks.

September is still fairly chilly in CT yes. Your temps aren't far off in general, but the days are quite sunny and pleasant, unless you get a bad windy day. Thing is that weather in CT in winter or early spring can be very fickle, you may get wonderful warm days and then a few windy, cold days. Things to do depends on your interests, but highlights would be a visit to wine farm, such as Spier, Constantia, etc. It's quite viable to do a full day wine tour and visit three or four farms within a particular region. For instance you can make your destination Franschhoek or Stellenbosch and visit the farms on the road there from Cape Town. (Spier is on the latter route).

My favourite CT beach is still Llandudno (a locals beach), but within Cape Town itself Camps Bay is lovely, as well as the three Clifton Beaches. For sundowners there's nothing like the rocks at Bakoven, especially if the weather's good.

A nice full day excursion is to take the train from CT to Simonstown. Once the train get to Muizenberg, about halfway, it runs along the ocean, quite a scenic route. You can get off at Kalk Bay, a small village that has lots of good restaurants, coffee shops (Olympic is the best), and gift shops. Then on to Simonstown, catch a taxi to Boulders and go see the penquin colony there. You can then come back the same route, there are lots of trains every day. You can look at my photo blog at www.pearlandjamboree.blogspot.com, I have one or two photos taken from the train on there. Return ticket is about $4.

After posting I thought that I've really given you 'off the beaten track' options. The real touristy to-do's in CT are a trip to Robben Island (look out for white South Africans guilt tripping there), the Waterfront (good for overpriced curios), St Georges street/Greenmarket square in centre of town (lots of antique & art shops with some sidewalk cafes), Long Street (younger crowd, backpacker places etc), and yes, the cable car to Table Mountain.

thanks for the advice charl. the pics on ur website are really nice...will def try to schedule that day trip. cheers.

Sunscreen, as a white South African I take exception to your statement "look out for white South Africans guilt tripping there" Exactly what are you trying to say?

Charl
You recommend the train from CT to Simonstown. I used to catch this train regularly as far as Rondebosch, but friends of mine living in CT have become increasingly paranoid about using the Metro - are the just exaggerating?

I'd add to the "tourist route" the drive from Cape town via Chapman peak, Noordhoek, Cape Point nature reserve, and back up through Simonstown, Kalk bay etc.

Table mountain can get freezing cold at any time- even if warm in the city.

Mischka: If you've done the Robben Island trip I'm sure you'll agree there's an interesting dynamic between the foreign tourists, (black/ex-inmate) tour leaders and white locals. I'll leave it at that. For a perceptive traveller that in itself would add spice to the tour!

Willit: The train's perfectly safe. But like in most other major cities in the world, avoid travelling late at night. The train is used mostly by commuters travelling to the centre of town from the suburbs, so it's fairly full during peak hours, but nothing like Tokyo or London, both of which I've experienced in peak time! We took my 76-year old mother on a nostalgia trip, she grew up taking the train to college. She's the epitome of paranoia, but nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Sunscreen, I also take exception to your comment on white south africans on a quilt rip to Robben Island!!!!!!!!!