noraeileen

Hello Fodorites! In a couple of weeks my husband, myself, and some friends are traveling to South Africa. We will be in Pretoria for 2 nights, then a Phinda safari for 5 days, and then will spend 9 nights in Cape Town.

We enjoy seeing the sites and good food and right now, we have the following items on our MUST see/do list:

Garden Route
Stormsriver
Wineries - are there any that you recommend? (I've been looking at Stellenbosch)
Cape of Good Hope
Robben Island

I am hoping some of you have some suggestions or memorable moments you've had in Cape Town and any restaurants that you've loved in the area that you think are MUSTS for us on our trip.

Thanks so, so much!
Nora

sdb2

I stopped at several wineries but my favorite was Neethlingshof Estate with its beautiful tree-lined driveway.

I recommend at least a day trip to Hermanus (about 1-1.5 hr from CT) to see the whales, which can easily be done from the shore. The bay and town are scenic.

Have a great time. Steve

atravelynn

Penguins in Boulders Bay, Simons Town, a 30 minute drive from Cape Town or a shorter train ride--spend from 10 minutes to several hours.

Great White Shark watching--I went with African Shark Eco-Charter from Simons Town to False Bay where the sharks breach as part of their seal hunting technique. You can very safely cage dive; I did not and saw plenty from the boat.

Kirstenbosch Gardens--Could spend the day easily; I spent several hours.

9 nts is great, lots of time!

Elizabeth_S

We spent 3 weeks in Simons Town last year and enjoyed Bertha's restaurant (in the same complex as the shark tours Lynn mentions above). The seafood platter is excellent and we normally shy away from mixed seafood platters.

Also - in Constantia (a suburb of Cape Town) there is the Constantia winery which has 3 restaurants on site. La Colombe is highly regarded although we weren't able to get a reservation. We had a lovely (and much less expensive) lunch at The River Cafe, another of their restaurants.

noraeileen

@sdb2 - Neethlingshof Estate looks fabulous! Definitely adding this one to the list! Thanks!

@atravelynn - Whoops, almost forgot about the penguins and Kirstenbosch looks great. I am a bit afraid of water, but I'm sure some members of our group would be interested in the sharks, so I'll pass that along.

@Elizabeth - I love seafood, so I will definitely check out Bertha's. I'm off to look into Constantia now...

braaiseason

I can also recommend Bertha's & just outside of Simons Town is the Black Marlin restaurant, be careful around this area as there are baboons, make sure the car doors are locked at all times. Kalk Bay is quaint, here is the famous Kalkies restaurant for fish & the Brass Bell pub has good calamari, a famous photo of a breaching shark was shot here. Above Kalk Bay is a beautiful scenic view of False Bay, called Boyes Drive, highly recommend this, as well as Chapmans Peak Drive. I love the route to Constantia via Hout Bay.

rhkkmk

a circular drive out from capetown is most enjoyable for a days outing...

we loved the garden route and stayed several days in hermanus and also in plettenburg bay..

dutyfree

We loved Nederberg winery-fabulous location and one of the oldest with unbelievable wine! We also love the Kanonkop Kadette wine at their winery but there wasn"t much of a tour and surroundings like Nederberg. If you want a marvelous view and wonderful food that is considered quite special then head to La Petite Ferme in Franschoek-a great place for food and seeing the valley and mountains!Constantia in Cape Town as recommended above is wonderful!
While out there try and stop at the Drakensberg(sp?)lion park(it might be closer to Paarl?) where a remarkable man and his volunteers have taken lions who have been abused from all over the world(Romanian circuses,canned shooting safaris,etc.)and have allowed them to roam freely to live out their years. It is amazing and you can get up close with them both on platforms and behind see through fences. They are so fascinating and you learn their names,birth days and where they came from in the world. A couple times a week they allow visitors to watch them feed them chicken and it is incredible watching them devour them!
I am also a big fan of Boulders Beach down by Simonstown on the cape where you come head to head with South African penquins running all over the beach. There is a park where they are at besides a hotel that literally puts you on the beach with them directly-it is so close to the penquins that there is a sign in the parking lot to check under your car for them before you drive out. One of my fondest memories is getting up in the morning with my coffee and sitting on the beach and boulders and watching them running around in and out of the water-magical!
Be sure and go to the Green Tree market in Cape Town; along with a champagne cruise on a tall ship out in the harbor from V and A Waterfront to get fabulous views of Table Mountain.