Cape Town, mountain and cold sea
A city where a serious hike and a cold-water swim fit either side of breakfast.
Words — WT Editorial Team
- Go when
- February to April
- Pace
- Outdoors early, indoors when the wind turns
- Money
- South African rand
The geography does the programming here. There is a mountain in the middle of the city and cold Atlantic water at the edge of it, and most local routines are built around one or both.
Check the wind before making plans. The southeaster reorganises a day faster than any forecast of rain.
Move
Walks, water, hillsLion's Head at sunrise
City BowlAn hour up, spiral route, no technical scrambling if you take the ladders option.
Pipe Track
Camps BayFlatter, longer, along the flank of the Twelve Apostles with the ocean below the whole way.
Tidal pools at St James and Dalebrook
False BaySheltered, cold, and full of swimmers at seven in the morning.
Eat
What the locals orderOranjezicht City Farm Market
Granger BaySaturday mornings. Produce first, breakfast second.
Cape Malay cooking
Bo-KaapBo-Kaap's food is the city's most distinctive and least exported.
Winelands lunch
Constantia / StellenboschForty minutes out. Go for the vegetables and the setting as much as the wine.
Restore
Where the noise stopsKirstenbosch
NewlandsA botanical garden on the mountainside. The Boomslang walkway at opening time is empty.
Sea Point promenade
Sea PointThree kilometres of flat coastal path — the city's collective evening walk.
Silvermine reservoir
Table Mountain NPSwimmable freshwater, dark with fynbos tannins, quiet on weekdays.
Stay
NeighbourhoodsSea Point
Flat, walkable, promenade at the door, less isolated than the beach suburbs.
Kalk Bay
A village on the False Bay line — warmer water, slower days, train into town.
One good day
- 1
Lion's Head or the Pipe Track before seven.
- 2
Market breakfast.
- 3
Swim in a tidal pool, briefly and with conviction.
- 4
Kirstenbosch or a gallery when the wind picks up.
- 5
Sunset on the promenade with everyone else.
Don't bother
Booking a spa day. You are in one of the great outdoor cities; spend the money on a guide and a mountain instead.
The Sunday Edit
Five things worth knowing for a healthier week.
