Cape Town
From flat-topped Table Mountain down to the blue waters of Table Bay, Cape Town is simply stunning, but the city doesn’t thrive by its looks alone. Proudly multicultural, its flourishing arts, dining, and nightlife scenes are proof of this modern metropolis’s creativity and innovative spirit.
Table Mountain
This natural world heritage site, and Natural New Wonder of the World, is a haven of magnificent mountains plunging into crystal seas fringed with bleached white sands of the Cape Peninsula.
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden is acclaimed as one of the great botanic gardens of the world. Few gardens can match the sheer grandeur of the setting of Kirstenbosch, against the eastern slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain.
The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
Stretching around two harbor basins, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is a buzzing entertainment quarter reminiscent of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Once a scruffy fishing harbor, this reimagined waterfront district is now one of the city’s top tourist attractions and many of the old buildings have been preserved and restored. Millions of visitors a year flock here to the shops, jazz venues, restaurants, hotels, theaters, drama schools, cinemas, and museums.
Sports fans will love the Springbok Experience Rugby Museum, which traces the story of South African Rugby through interactive exhibits. Two Oceans Aquarium features more than 300 species of fish from the Atlantic and Indian oceans, in particular from the area around the Cape of Good Hope. Highlights include a touch tank, penguin encounter, predator exhibit, and diving experiences, which allow visitors to view fascinating marine creatures up close.
Robben Island
For nearly 400 years, Robben Island in Table Bay, was a brutal prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in a tiny cell during the apartheid era. Today, the island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a must-see attraction for anyone interested in South African history.
After leaving this hellish six-square-kilometer island, Mandela said, “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”