2 Best Sights in Cape Town, South Africa

Originally named Heerengracht after a canal that once ran the length of the avenue, this street has always been Cape Town's principal thoroughfare. Although there are a couple of historical buildings dating to the early 1900s, and the beautiful Adderley Street Flower Market—one of the city's oldest markets, located in Trafalgar Place between Strand and Darling streets—has hung on, Adderley Street in recent years has become mostly a commercial hub for office buildings and franchise stores. The sidewalks are packed with street vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables to cell phone covers and tea towels, serving people going to and from work. This is the place to experience the busy hustle and bustle of everyday Cape Town. 

The section of Long between Orange and Strand streets is lined with magnificently restored Georgian and Victorian buildings. Wrought-iron balconies and fancy curlicues on these colorful houses evoke the French Quarter in New Orleans. Today antique dealers, backpackers' lodges, the Pan-African Market, funky clothing outlets, and a plethora of cafes, bars, and restaurants make this one of the best browsing streets in the city; by night, it can live up to some of its older reputation—a place for debauchery. At the mountain end is the Long Street Baths, an indoor swimming pool, and an old Turkish hammam (steam bath).