Destination: Cape Town

Whilst blithely attending to my morning toilette it crossed my overworked mind that an awful lot of people ask for advice hereabouts on various VS destinations from time-to-time; and yet there isn't a set area within these esteemed fora (short of a gruelling and probably fruitless search) where this kind of information can be easily found. Just a thought.

Anyway, short of such a facility, I thought I'd ask for peoples' thoughts on where to stay, where to eat, what to do etc. in and around Cape Town. We're tentatively hoping to head off that way in December - possibly spending Christmas out there - and wanted a bit of advice before we took the plunge. Ta kindly in advance...

Downtown, the Cape Grace adjacent to the V&A Waterfront is still my favourite. Avoid the Mount Nelson at all costs - I found it little more than an up market Butlins, loads of kids and the pool area is heaving.

Out of town, for both food and accommodation it would be rude not to try Le Quartier Francais at Franschhoek and La Grande Roche at Paarl.

Clos Cabriere at Franschhoek isn't bad for a nosh up and their own wine.

Tips:

Get your hotel to recommend a driver to take you round. They're officially registered, cheap and a mine of hostorical and political knowledge.

V&A Waterfront is nice, but a bit of a tourist trap.

My favourite vineyards are Meerlust and Rustenburg - if you like big oaky chardonnays, the standard Meerlust and particularly the Five Soldiers Rustenburg are as buttery as they get. The only problem with vineyard tours to my mind are that the wines are very often too young for my palate, so those wines that drink well young like sauvignon blanc are good to go for, but some of the Bordeaux style wines are far too tannic and acidic for me at the young age they're being dished out.

Note that at some vineyards like Rustenburg you need to book ahead.

I've done Robben Island twice now and it seems to have become a bit of a production line of tourists these days. Despite this, if you were at all politically aware during the 80s it's a must see as far as I am concerned. You need to book up in advance. Sometimes the whole island is shut for several days (for example during rabbit culls), so plan ahead.

Cheers, Howard

The table bay hotel is great and the staff are fantastic! Avoid the mount nelson as it's quite a long way from the waterfront and surrounded by houses! I would reccomoend a trip to robin island, but you need to book your tickets in advance as it is very popular.

[HighFlyer]

Definitely book aheard for Robben Island if you want to go. We didnt and they were completely full for the next few days so we had to miss out. You can still go in the building and look at some of the exhibition though.

Hire a car and drive up the winelands. Franschhoek is stunning (better than the usual stop of Stellenbosch IMO) and only about 30 mins from Cape Town. The wine tasting is cheap and very enjoyable. Dieu Donne vineyard have a lovely restaurant with magnificent views (perfect for lunch) and the Grande Provence estate has just the most wonderful backdrop - you must go there for wine tasting and to get a picture or three.

Take the hire car for a drive down to Cape Point. It can take about an hour, sometimes longer as the coastal route gets heavy traffic at times around Fish Hoek and Simons Town but you can make a day of it and stop off at Bouder Beach to see the pengiuns. Note that you cant go onto the beach any more, so you pay a few quid to wath the pengiuns from viewing deck. If you walk up a bit further there is a public beach you can pay to accss that does have a few pengiuns on the rocks so I would advise heading there instead. Stop for lunch in Kalk Bay and sample the fresh seafood with a glass of vino before driving to the peak to see the most south westerly point of Africa. Get your photo with the sign at the Cape of Good Hope (all in the same area) and drive home VIA Chapmans Peak which has the most stunning vistas (and lots of places to pull over and take photos). We stoped off for cocktails on the way back from the Peak in Camps Bay and watched the sun set from outside a funky little cafe.

I agree with Howard that the waterfront is a bit touristy but where else can you buy a life size water buffalo made completely of beads? You can dine at Balthazar at the waterfront which I greatly enjoyed and is fab for steaks and seafood and their wine list is printed on what appears to be A0 - I was spoilt for choice!

Thanks,
Sarah

Mark, as mentioned elsewhere, there is so much temptation to get a cheeky glass or three at various stops which is a pain when driving (its you're birthday for gods sake!). The Cape point run, including Boulders/Fish Hoek (seal island trip on boat-for tizer)and chapmans peak drive can easily be done in a day trip. man & van option will allow for perks (the eatery at cape good hope usually has massive queues-your going in peak season), however our man straight to the front, quick handshake and window table awaiting for more cold white and plate of seafood..)Botanical gardens- dropped off at one end, pleasant work through and picked up at other, also the day can be interspersed with numerous cheeky glasses of wine..Screeching to a halt and grabbing an enormous snake 'come and have a look'! these bits get missed when you selfdrive..But you'll need to drive around the winelands, so prepare mrs Mvipond for this option!!
Agree Robbin island trip should be done, and very interesting- however, the tour might well be very boring for Tizer, the boat trip to it is very enjoyable though.
With Tizer in tow, the waterfront location IMHO is by far the best base for you- if considering the Mount Nelson, you'll be for ever getting transfers back-forth.
As always- The first day you wake up and Table Mountains clear -GO, least then you can always go back, as cable car often closes to weather..
NH

[HighFlyer]

We never thought of getting a driver, though all these nice lunches soon diminish the after effects from the wine. I ate so well in ZA, the food was sublime. [y]

quote:Originally posted by HighFlyer
We never thought of getting a driver, though all these nice lunches soon diminish the after effects from the wine. I ate so well in ZA, the food was sublime. [y]


If you are only staying downtown or at the V&A waterfront, everything's pretty much walking distance and in that case, I wouldn't bother with a car. The Robben Island passenger ferry is at the V&A Waterfront.

But, I would consider doing both obtions if you are wondering further afield and have time: rent a car to do your own thing, but also have a day or two with a driver, especially so you can have a few.

I forgot about Table Mountain! If you are fit, the walk to the top is on a par with the Grouse Grind at Grouse Mountain in Vancouver if you've ever done that. However, take the locals' advices about choosing when to go, and for this you can't plan as it's totally down to the local weather on the day! There's no point going up when the table cloth is on (ie, it's clouded over). Also if you decide to walk up, choose a recommended path: if it does choose to cloud over you'll get lost. There are occasional mini crime waves on walkers on the mountain so again check with the locals.

Cheers, Howard

[honey lamb]

The other thing about Table Mountain is that it can be closed even if the weather appears to be fine and cloudless as they will also close it for winds. It was scorchingly hot the day we were up there but we had hardly arrived when the siren sounded and we had to leave.

Tizer will love the dassies up there

Firstly, let me say thank you for a customary, rip-roaring V-Flyer response to my post. Suffering a tad from information overload right now, but it all sounds like spanking advice with oodles for me to start looking into.

I'm currently looking at a newish hotel near - but not on - the waterfront called the Cape Royale. An all suite/apartment affair which, if we do end up staying over Christmas, will be a little more spacious and homely than a hotel room.

Howard - I thought I was just about the only man left on the planet who likes his Chardonnays big, oaky and buttery (the fad seems to be for these 'crisp' and 'citrus' affairs nowadays) and the vineyards you've mentioned are enough to make me want to take the plunge on this trip by themselves.

HL - thank you for the link to the photo. Isn't this the same one that Neil uses for his profile pic?

quote:Originally posted by mdvipond
Howard - I thought I was just about the only man left on the planet who likes his Chardonnays big, oaky and buttery (the fad seems to be for these 'crisp' and 'citrus' affairs nowadays) and the vineyards you've mentioned are enough to make me want to take the plunge on this trip by themselves.


I drink a lot of all sorts, but I love cheese and as long as it's not blue veined, there's nothing better than a big buttery chard with most of them. I bet that'll rattle the cages of the Port drinkers here!

If you haven't tried that Meerlust chardonnay, it's fairly widely available in the UK (~15/btl), albeit at about three times the price you can buy it in SA. The Five Soldiers is a bit more difficult to find and is about 25/btl and benefits from a bit of bottle ageing.

Another vineyard to try has to be Klein Constantia, especially if you like desert wines - their Vin de Constance has a great history. It's sold in strange hand blown bottles with a deliberate skew on them. It was banned for import into the EU until about 2002 because it didn't fit into any EU wine import categories.

Two other vineyards of note: Boekenhoutskloof and Vergelegen. Don't ask me to pronounce either.

I definitely recommend getting hold of a current copy of John Platter's annual book of SA grog if you're intent on doing anything slightly more than casual SA wine drinking.

Cheers, H

DL the Elder and I found The Table Bay Hotel fabulous. Granted we had one of the few rooms with a terrace (and the most spectacular view of the mountain) but the room was pretty spacious. It also has a lovely pool and a fabulous spa. Sure the V+A waterfront is touristy but it's packed with lovely eateries and bars and plenty of activity. Yes, an appartment/suite will give you more space but do you really want to be getting taxis to get everywhere and worrying about security?. The Table Bay is also attached to the shopping mall (great when it's really windy outside).
I second Highflyer's recemmendation for Balthazar - great meats (cooked perfectly - nice and pink) and a sublime wine list (and less than 5 minutes back to our room [:D]). Another restaurant I can recommend is The Opal Lounge- again fantastic food and a great wine list.
Man with a van is a good idea.I used a company called Cape Convoy to do the Cape tour http://www.capeconvoy.com/- driver owned (Rob - who was fantastic) and a max of 6 pasengers.Really informative and got to see things that we wouldn't otherwise.We walked all the way to the point - beware of the sun! My factor 20 was totally inadequate. We also used them for the winelands which avoided the need for one of us not drinking (like that was ever going to happen [:D]).
http://www.waterfordestate.co.za/ is a fairly big winery but may be less boring for Tizer.
Tizer might also like this http://www.capetowninfo.co.za/moyo-stellenbosch. Sure it's a bit touristy but it's fun with lots of pretty edible food and entertainment (the tables in the trees are great).
I may be shot down in flames but personally I was totally underwhelmed by Robben Island. It's a guided tour in the true sense. They drive you around the island on a bus (you can't get off) and only the last half an hour is in the prison. You can't just wander about (which I would have much preferred) and you have to leave on your assigned ferry. I pre-booked this trip for the day after we arrived - it gets full quickly and will often be cancelled due to the notorious Cape winds (same as the cablecar).
The mountain is fantastic - go the first day you can (the weather changes quickly in CPT).
The red buses are another way to get about and see all the sights (Botanical Gardens, District 6, Camps Bay etc etc).
Lastly, we were there much the same time as you're looking at. The hotel had a fabulous Christmas tree but it was all pretty low key - a few decorations here and there but no piped carols in the hotel or malls (and no seige mentality shopping either). Reminiscent really of how things were here in Blighty 30+ years ago [:)].
Even if you're not there for Christmas itself you'll have a fabulous time.
DL