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Home - City Guide - Cape Town - Tours of the City | ||
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Tours of the City Walking Tours Cape Town is a great city for strolling around, with a cosmopolitan buzz and street music and busking acts whenever the weather is good. There are guided tours in the summer season, but these are impromptu and organised by volunteers. Cape Metropolitan Tourism (tel: (021) 426 4260) can provide details. The best way to see the city centre is on a self-guided tour, starting from the main street, Adderley Street, and walking up towards the mountain. At the top of Adderley Street is the 100-year-old St George's Anglican Cathedral, a potent symbol of anti-apartheid resistance, where many anti-government rallies were held. Until 1996, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu, was Archbishop here. Visitors are welcome, and Sunday services are still often akin to political rallies. Upper Wale Street leads to the fascinating, predominantly Muslim Bo Kaap (Upper Cape), also known as the Malay Quarter. Back at the Wale Street entrance to the Gardens, the first road right leads into St George's Mall, Cape Town's main pedestrian walkway. The Mall is filled with curio sellers, speciality shops, buskers and, in the middle, Greenmarket Square. The Square is the centre of Cape Town's alternative/New Age/Hippie/Rasta culture, and if it isn't raining, is jam-packed with stalls selling excellently priced goods ranging from handmade clothes through jewellery, books and African art. Bus Tours Topless Bus Tours (tel: (021) 418 5888) run a regular open-topped double-decker bus tour that takes in all the major sights of Cape Town, with a running commentary. Hotels have a list of other reliable companies, as does Cape Metropolitan Tourism (tel: (021) 426 4260). Train Tours Vintage train lovers travel from all over the world for the opportunity to travel on South Africa's unique steam trains, some of the last surviving relics of early train travel left in the world. Options include one-day excursions to the Winelands and longer, fully catered guided trips of up to two weeks in duration. Operators include Rovos Rail (tel: (021) 421 4020) and the Spier Vintage Train (tel: (021) 419 5222), which offers one-day excursions to Spier Wine Farm. |