3 days trip Capetown area
Dec 23rd, 2009, 04:52 PM
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a driving trip around the cape peninsula is a very enjoyable day....but you have to have a car or take an organized tour--ugh... boulder beach (penguins) and cape of good hope area are both wonderful takes....
the open double decker bus is time well spent in cpt....
the open double decker bus is time well spent in cpt....
Dec 24th, 2009, 11:58 PM
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Shachar,
Relative to your question a lot depends on when you are coming to Cape Town. If you can let me know these dates I might be able to embroider even further in terms of what can or cannot be done in terms of trips outside of the Cape Town city centre. In the meantime here are some suggestions and ideas for you:
1.You can do the Cape Peninsula trip very comfortably in one day. This should include a trip to the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, the Cape of Good Hope national park which will encompass Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, Chapmans Peak, Hout Bay and the Atlantic seaboard. This is a full day journey which is laden with some of the best scenery you will find in the world and is a must do event when visiting our city
2. You should do a Cape winelands journey. At the outset let me mention that even though wine and wine farms are kernel to the winelands there is so much else to see and do in the area that it virtually becomes a misnomer to call it the winelands. What I am trying to say is that when one visits the winelands area it is not just to see wine farms. It is the scenery, people, history and culture of the area that I believe is worth seeing
To do a winelands journey you could elect to travel to Stellenbosch or Franschhoek or possibly even both on the same day. These towns are at the heart of the winelands regions they are in. They are interesting places to visit. Surrounding them are lots of winefarms and fabulous scenery. There are also some excellent restaurants in the regions. All in all a day trip out to the winelands is a fantastic experience for those who visit Cape Town.
3. Depending on when you are coming to Cape Town you could elect to do a journey to Hermanus to see the Southern Right whales who come to the Western Cape shores to have their young on an annual basis between June – November of each year. If you are coming to Cape Town out of the aforesaid period then a drive to Hermanus still remains a spectacular journey scenery wise, as a matter of fact I think that what you see on this drive equates or is even better than the Peninsula drive. The village of Hermanus is a quaint town and very interesting to visit. Going to Hermanus for the day is a definite possibility in terms of doing the journey within daylight hours and is highly recommended when visiting our city.
4. Once again depending on when you are visiting us if you are arriving in our city during Spring (September and October) a drive up the west coast is a great idea as the whole region should be covered in wild flowers. The journey is spectacular and is a must do experience during the aforesaid months. If you do this journey it is well worth stopping at one or two winefarms along the way especially near to Malmesbury (Swartland wine district) as this is an up and coming wine region of South Africa.
5. You could elect to do a day trip into the Hex River Valley region visiting towns like Paarl, Robertson, Worcester and Montagu. Once again this is a spectacular drive with lots of scenery to enjoy. Furthermore this region is also very rapidly becoming a wine region to contend with on the South African wine scene.
Other experiences that you might consider in Cape Town would be:
Visit a township (via a tour)
Take the 2 rides on the hop on hop off bus http://www.citysightseeing.co.za/
Take a boat ride to seal island
Go shark cage diving http://www.ultimate-animals.com/shark_diving.htm
Do the Baboon Matters experience http://www.baboonmatters.org.za/
All that I have told you can be done in either self drive or tour format.
OK the above suggestions should most certainly keep you and your family well occupied when you visit us.
Shachar I hope the above helps and that you have a fantastic stay in our wonderful city.
Selwyn Davidowitz
Very proudly part of the wonderful
nation of South Africa
Relative to your question a lot depends on when you are coming to Cape Town. If you can let me know these dates I might be able to embroider even further in terms of what can or cannot be done in terms of trips outside of the Cape Town city centre. In the meantime here are some suggestions and ideas for you:
1.You can do the Cape Peninsula trip very comfortably in one day. This should include a trip to the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, the Cape of Good Hope national park which will encompass Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, Chapmans Peak, Hout Bay and the Atlantic seaboard. This is a full day journey which is laden with some of the best scenery you will find in the world and is a must do event when visiting our city
2. You should do a Cape winelands journey. At the outset let me mention that even though wine and wine farms are kernel to the winelands there is so much else to see and do in the area that it virtually becomes a misnomer to call it the winelands. What I am trying to say is that when one visits the winelands area it is not just to see wine farms. It is the scenery, people, history and culture of the area that I believe is worth seeing
To do a winelands journey you could elect to travel to Stellenbosch or Franschhoek or possibly even both on the same day. These towns are at the heart of the winelands regions they are in. They are interesting places to visit. Surrounding them are lots of winefarms and fabulous scenery. There are also some excellent restaurants in the regions. All in all a day trip out to the winelands is a fantastic experience for those who visit Cape Town.
3. Depending on when you are coming to Cape Town you could elect to do a journey to Hermanus to see the Southern Right whales who come to the Western Cape shores to have their young on an annual basis between June – November of each year. If you are coming to Cape Town out of the aforesaid period then a drive to Hermanus still remains a spectacular journey scenery wise, as a matter of fact I think that what you see on this drive equates or is even better than the Peninsula drive. The village of Hermanus is a quaint town and very interesting to visit. Going to Hermanus for the day is a definite possibility in terms of doing the journey within daylight hours and is highly recommended when visiting our city.
4. Once again depending on when you are visiting us if you are arriving in our city during Spring (September and October) a drive up the west coast is a great idea as the whole region should be covered in wild flowers. The journey is spectacular and is a must do experience during the aforesaid months. If you do this journey it is well worth stopping at one or two winefarms along the way especially near to Malmesbury (Swartland wine district) as this is an up and coming wine region of South Africa.
5. You could elect to do a day trip into the Hex River Valley region visiting towns like Paarl, Robertson, Worcester and Montagu. Once again this is a spectacular drive with lots of scenery to enjoy. Furthermore this region is also very rapidly becoming a wine region to contend with on the South African wine scene.
Other experiences that you might consider in Cape Town would be:
Visit a township (via a tour)
Take the 2 rides on the hop on hop off bus http://www.citysightseeing.co.za/
Take a boat ride to seal island
Go shark cage diving http://www.ultimate-animals.com/shark_diving.htm
Do the Baboon Matters experience http://www.baboonmatters.org.za/
All that I have told you can be done in either self drive or tour format.
OK the above suggestions should most certainly keep you and your family well occupied when you visit us.
Shachar I hope the above helps and that you have a fantastic stay in our wonderful city.
Selwyn Davidowitz
Very proudly part of the wonderful
nation of South Africa
Dec 28th, 2009, 11:15 AM
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Thank you! The trip will be in mid-march!
Is it safe to self-drive on these routes you mentioned, incl. townships?
Anohter issue - how much should we plan as daily expensses (not including accomodations)? meals, entrance fees to attractions, gas??
Is it safe to self-drive on these routes you mentioned, incl. townships?
Anohter issue - how much should we plan as daily expensses (not including accomodations)? meals, entrance fees to attractions, gas??
Dec 28th, 2009, 11:35 PM
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Shachar,
It is perfectly safe to travel on a self drive basis on most of the routes that you might attempt in Cape Town. Bear in mind that when you travel on your own one party (the driver) is not going to see as much as when you are on guided tour. Then you also need to factor in that a guided tour will be more expensive than a self drive tour.
When it comes to a township I would opt for a guide to take you through the township as you will attain nothing by doing this journey on your own.
In terms of expense its a case of how long is a piece of string. What one person spends on touring differs entirely to what another spends. The below should give you a sort of guideline to fixed type costs.
In terms of entrances the following would apply:
Peninsula drive:
----------------
Penguin colony - R 35/person
Cape of Good Hope entrance – R 75/person
Cape Point funicular - R 42/person
Chapmans Peak - R 32-R38/car
(depending on size of car)
Table Mountain - R 170/person
Winelands drive
---------------
Winetasting on winefarms - Work on an average of R20/person
Gas costs
---------
You could bank on spending about R250/days in your vehicle on most tour days.
Meal costs
----------
Impossible to budget as it depends on where and what you eat which is a personal choice to make.
If you are travelling in March I would not recommend a trip up the west coast or to Hermanus (whales wont be there) in the short period of time you have for your stay in our city.
I would still suggest the Baboon Matters journey and if time allows (half day) I would consider doing the journey to Robben Island.
Another idea is to do one of the two if not both routes that the Cape Town hop on hop off bus ride offers.
http://www.citysightseeing.co.za/ This is a fantastic way to see our city and could include amongst others your seeing the Waterfront area, Table Mountain where you can elect to ascend the mountain, the aquarium and many other Cape Town places of interest. The bus has various stop points with one of them being in the Waterfront. For R110/person (internet booking) one can do one of these fantastic rides. Highly recommended.
Hope all of the above helps and that you have a fabulous time in Cape Town when you visit us.
Selwyn Davidowitz
Very proudly part of the wonderful rainbow nation of South Africa
It is perfectly safe to travel on a self drive basis on most of the routes that you might attempt in Cape Town. Bear in mind that when you travel on your own one party (the driver) is not going to see as much as when you are on guided tour. Then you also need to factor in that a guided tour will be more expensive than a self drive tour.
When it comes to a township I would opt for a guide to take you through the township as you will attain nothing by doing this journey on your own.
In terms of expense its a case of how long is a piece of string. What one person spends on touring differs entirely to what another spends. The below should give you a sort of guideline to fixed type costs.
In terms of entrances the following would apply:
Peninsula drive:
----------------
Penguin colony - R 35/person
Cape of Good Hope entrance – R 75/person
Cape Point funicular - R 42/person
Chapmans Peak - R 32-R38/car
(depending on size of car)
Table Mountain - R 170/person
Winelands drive
---------------
Winetasting on winefarms - Work on an average of R20/person
Gas costs
---------
You could bank on spending about R250/days in your vehicle on most tour days.
Meal costs
----------
Impossible to budget as it depends on where and what you eat which is a personal choice to make.
If you are travelling in March I would not recommend a trip up the west coast or to Hermanus (whales wont be there) in the short period of time you have for your stay in our city.
I would still suggest the Baboon Matters journey and if time allows (half day) I would consider doing the journey to Robben Island.
Another idea is to do one of the two if not both routes that the Cape Town hop on hop off bus ride offers.
http://www.citysightseeing.co.za/ This is a fantastic way to see our city and could include amongst others your seeing the Waterfront area, Table Mountain where you can elect to ascend the mountain, the aquarium and many other Cape Town places of interest. The bus has various stop points with one of them being in the Waterfront. For R110/person (internet booking) one can do one of these fantastic rides. Highly recommended.
Hope all of the above helps and that you have a fabulous time in Cape Town when you visit us.
Selwyn Davidowitz
Very proudly part of the wonderful rainbow nation of South Africa
Dec 29th, 2009, 05:48 AM
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Shachar
We spent almost a month in Cape Town and traveling up the coast last fall. (without the benefit of all of Selwyn's advice!) He has given you GREAT suggestions! We did most of these.
We were lucky to have lots of time. Given Selwyn has already laid out great options (we loved visiting Bouders beach and we stayed 5 days in Franschoek, so that tells you how much we liked the Stellenbosch region.)
We were two women and we always felt safe driving around-and learned to embrace some of the more unusual driving customs! Just don't leave anything visible in your car when you park it.(same as any big city) We did avoid night time driving though. Many of the roads outside the city center are quite twisty and dark. (I am not a fan of this anywhere.)
One other thing we enjoyed in Cape Town were the botanical gardens. Very beautiful, but this likely is influenced by time of year.
Have a wonderful time-we LOVED Cape Town and long to return.
best,
Nancie
oh yes-not sure where you are from, but as far as affordability, we were thrilled with how inexpensively we could eat and drink in the city and enjoyed everything from seafood to Turkish food to banana and bacon pizza. Always washed down with a local wine. ;-)
We spent almost a month in Cape Town and traveling up the coast last fall. (without the benefit of all of Selwyn's advice!) He has given you GREAT suggestions! We did most of these.
We were lucky to have lots of time. Given Selwyn has already laid out great options (we loved visiting Bouders beach and we stayed 5 days in Franschoek, so that tells you how much we liked the Stellenbosch region.)
We were two women and we always felt safe driving around-and learned to embrace some of the more unusual driving customs! Just don't leave anything visible in your car when you park it.(same as any big city) We did avoid night time driving though. Many of the roads outside the city center are quite twisty and dark. (I am not a fan of this anywhere.)
One other thing we enjoyed in Cape Town were the botanical gardens. Very beautiful, but this likely is influenced by time of year.
Have a wonderful time-we LOVED Cape Town and long to return.
best,
Nancie
oh yes-not sure where you are from, but as far as affordability, we were thrilled with how inexpensively we could eat and drink in the city and enjoyed everything from seafood to Turkish food to banana and bacon pizza. Always washed down with a local wine. ;-)
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