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Key Attractions

Table Mountain
The cable car trip to the top of Table Mountain takes just six minutes and the gondolas rotate through 360 degrees on the way up. Once there, more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) of pathways lead you over the massif, with breathtaking views of the city and ocean below. A popular option is to take a one-way ticket and then climb down (or up) the mountain - but visitors should be very careful. The local Mountain Rescue teams carry out over 100 rescues a year, many involving foreign tourists. The routes up and down the mountain are poorly marked, and several lead to sheer cliff faces. Hikers must always carry foul weather clothing (the weather can change in minutes), water, food and preferably a cellular phone in case of an emergency. The bistro on the summit is by far the most incredible sundowner spot in Africa.

Kloofnek Road (lower cable station)
Tel: (021) 424 8181. Fax: (021) 424 3792.
E-mail: capepeninsula@parks-sa.co.za
Web site: www.cpnp.co.za
Transport: Golden Arrow bus from Adderley or Long Streets to Kloofnek or Camps Bay.
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1800; cable car operating hours vary seasonally; often until 2200.
Admission: R50 (cable car ticket).

Robben Island Museum

Visiting Robben Island is one of the most profoundly moving experiences to be had in South Africa. The infamous prison and former leper colony was home to a generation of the senior statesmen of Africa (it was a men's only prison), incarcerated because of their political beliefs. The most famous is, of course, Nelson Mandela, but scores of other leading political figures spent decades on the island. Former political prisoners lead guided tours of the prison. However, Robben Island is not all politics - there is the physical beauty of the island itself as well as the fantastic view of Cape Town from its west shore.

Robben Island
Tel: (021) 419 1300. Fax: (021) 419 1057.
E-mail: info@robben-island.org.za
Web site: www.robben-island.org.za
Transport: Ferries from Jetty 1, Quay 5 of the V&A Waterfront.
Ferry times: Daily 0900-1400 (winter); 0800-1600 (summer).
Admission: R70 (ferry ticket and admission).

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Sprawling over 530 hectares (1325 acres) and home to 6900 indigenous plant species, Kirstenbosch is a delightful place to go for a picnic, a stroll, or an energetic hike up the mountain. It is rated as one of the top seven botanical gardens in the world. There's a restaurant, a gift shop, trails for the blind, bird watching, and a botanical splendour rated second only to Kew Gardens in London. Over the summer season, the immensely popular Sunset Concerts are held on Sunday afternoons at 1700 with music that ranges from classical to jazz, African traditional and folk.

off Rhodes Drive, Newlands
Tel: (021) 797 6570 or 799 8783 (information centre). Fax: (021) 797 6570.
Web site: www.nbi.ac.za
Transport: Bus to Kirstenbosch from Mowbray Station; by car: De Waal Drive (M3) in the direction of Muizenberg, right at the first traffic lights into Rhodes Drive (M63) and follow the signs to Kirstenbosch.
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1800 (winter); 0800-1900 (summer).
Admission: R10.

Victoria and Alfred Waterfront

The V&A Waterfront is a sprawling cluster of renovated Victorian warehouses, offices and new buildings created in the Victorian vernacular. At the last count, there were more than 50 restaurants, cafÉs and coffee shops. There are a host of boat and yacht charter operations touting for business, and it is worth taking one of the many cruises around the docks (cost R10-20). The Two Oceans Aquarium in Dock Road (tel: (021) 418 3823) is world class. Feeding in the huge predator tank takes place daily at 1530 and is unmissable. The V&A also houses a massive shopping complex in the Victoria Wharf, which combines international designer label shops with local arts and crafts.

Tel: (021) 418 2369.
Web site: www.waterfront.co.za
Transport: Waterfront shuttle bus from Adderley Street.
Opening hours: Daily 0930 to 1800 (aquarium).
Admission: Free; R35 (aquarium).

Bo Kaap Museum

Built in the mid-1760s, this museum was originally the home of Turkish scholar, Abu Bakr Effendi. It is the oldest extant residence in the Muslim community, and the furnishings are typical of an eighteenth-century Cape Town Muslim residence, right down to the main bedroom - an authentic bridal suite. Abu Bakr Effendi was a revered Arabic teacher and wrote one of the first texts that documented the emergence of South Africa's second language, Afrikaans, a mix of Dutch, Malay, German, Xhosa and English.

71 Wale Street
Tel: (021) 424 3846.
Transport: From Adderley Street, walk up Wale Street.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0930-1630.
Admission: R3.

Castle of Good Hope

Construction began on this five-pointed, star-shaped castle - perhaps the most visible symbol of colonial occupation of Cape Town and South Africa - in 1666. Built as a fortress against (in the words of Dutch military Commander Zacharias Wagener) 'the black and yellow people', it became the apartheid government's military headquarters after 1948. However, since the liberation of South Africa in 1994, it is now very much a 'peoples' museum', hosting alternative art exhibitions and cultural events. The William Fehr Collection (tel: (021) 469 1160) is a superb record of colonial Cape art and culture.

Darling St (opposite the Grand Parade)
Tel: (021) 469 1111.
Transport: From Adderley Street Station, walk to Grand Parade.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1600.
Admission: R15 (including guided tour).

Houses of Parliament

This grand edifice, a blend of Georgian and Victorian architecture, is reminiscent of some of the great public buildings of London. Designed by the British architect, Harry Greaves, construction was completed in 1885, and the parliament immediately became the seat of British expansion into Africa. Its halls and galleries have been witness to some of the most dramatic events on the African continent, including the assassination of the architect of apartheid, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, in 1966 and Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech as president of the 'new South Africa' in 1994. The parliament complex forms part of a string of historic buildings that flank the eastern edge of the Company Gardens (see below). Guided tours can be organised, and if things are not too hectic, tickets can be arranged for the public gallery to watch one of the world's most exciting democracies at work.
Parliament Street
Tel: (021) 403 2911.
Transport: From Adderley Street, walk to Company Gardens and then left into Parliament Street.
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1600; vary depending on length of debates.
Admission: Free.

Koopmans De Wet House

Built in 1701, the house reflects patrician life at the Cape in the eighteenth century. Designed in the distinctive 'Cape Dutch' architectural style - a style repeated in many of the grand manor houses on rural wine estates - the house is furnished with fine examples of Cape craftsmanship. Many of these hand-carved items of furniture were designed by slave 'fundis' or experts from the East, as was the unique decorative plasterwork on the exterior of this and other buildings.

35 Strand Street
Tel: (021) 424 2473.
Transport: Walk from Adderley Street.
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 0930-1630.

Company Gardens

Originally planted in 1652 by Jan van Riebeeck, the first commander of the Dutch colony at the Cape, as a fruit and vegetable garden to supply visiting ships, the Company Gardens have evolved into a green lung at the centre of Cape Town. Although the park is open 24 hours a day, it is not advised to walk here after dark. They are not only a botanical delight, but also home to the Houses of Parliament (see above), the SA National Art Gallery, the SA Museum and the Planetarium. The SA National Gallery contains one of the finest collections of South African and international art in the country and has regular exhibitions of work from around the world. The SA Museum is an excellent place to spend a couple of hours learning about South Africa, and Africa's natural history, with a superb whale exhibit. In the Planetarium, the night sky (real-time) displays are an entrancing introduction to the stellar delights of southern Africa.

top of Adderley Street
Transport: Walk from Adderley Street.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700.
Admission: Free (park); R5 (National Gallery, Museum or Planetarium).



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