Cape Town has it all: beautiful beaches and wildlife, breathtaking scenery, exquisite food and exciting nightlife. No matter what you’re looking for, you’ll find it in the “Mother City.”

Where To Eat

You may be surprised to learn that Cape Town is home to some of the world’s best gastronomy. Here are a few places that you should definitely try when you’re in town:

Truth Coffee

Truth Coffee is a great café and coffee roaster housed in a three-story Victorian warehouse decorated with old machinery. Named number 1 coffee shop in the world in 2016 by the Telegraph, Truth coffee also offers a fairly extensive menu. Before noon, their breakfast menu covers the heartiest of fare. Try their signature Steampunk Benedict, truffle-infused scrambled eggs or croissant French toast. An all-day breakfast menu also touches on more traditional dishes. Choose between the likes of shakshuka, avocado on toast, croque madame or a Caprese sandwich. Everything about this place is perfect!

Kloof Street House

Walking up the stairs towards the elegant Victorian-era house is quite an experience in itself: as you walk in you are almost immediately flanked by an outside dining area with mosaic-style and wooden tables. Apart from the impressive decoration, the food here is amazing. A few standouts on Kloof Street House’s menu include the Ossobucco, bouillabaisse, Ostrich fillet with butternut purée and the salted caramel cheesecake with popcorn ice-cream. Good to know: they host a super cool jazz concert every Sunday afternoon.

La Mouette

A lovely old-world mansion in the bohemian Seapoint district along the Atlantic Seaboard sets the stage for refined French cuisine. Menus reflect the best seasonal ingredients: sole with pumpkin emulsion, pickled kohlrabi, chestnut crumble, mushrooms, and charred spinach for fall, whereas summer brings cauliflower couscous with a Cape Malay sauce, almonds, and raisin puree.

Charly’s Bakery

The fabulous female team here makes incredible cupcakes and other baked goods. Their heritage building is as colourfully decorated as their bakes. The bakery is a 20 year-old family run business and their style of cakes is fresh, modern and beautiful with decors. Their most popular cakes are the “Wicket chocolate cakes”.

Where To Stay

Whether you’re visiting for a relaxing weekend getaway or to experience an energetic South African city, there are plenty of stylish places to stay in Cape Town. Here are a few hotel options:

Cape Grace

Cape Grace provides the perfect Waterfront setting for discovering Cape Town. Designed to resemble a big ship when seen across the harbour, Cape Grace stands alongside the yacht marina backed by the silhouette of Table Mountain.  Each one of the 121 guest rooms and suites is unique and has its own story to tell. Even the standard rooms are spacious here, with separate sitting areas, desks, complimentary high-speed internet, and cushioned headboards. Interiors showcase hand-painted fabrics and custom-made metal, glass, and leather. Decor at this storied hotel reflects indigenous and foreign influences that have come to epitomize the Cape. With an excellent spa, charming library where you can take afternoon tea, enjoy views of the ships or the mountain; and with a world-famous whiskey bar boasting more than 500 whiskeys from 14 countries, this graceful establishment knows how to pamper its guests.

Taj Cape Town

Located in the historic city center on the pedestrian St. George’s Mall, this architecturally striking hotel is ideally suited to travelers wanting to tap into Cape Town’s cosmopolitan culture. Stay here and you are perfectly positioned to explore the city by foot; there’s a city walking tour departing from here. The Heritage rooms are by far the more atmospheric and the Heritage suites are gorgeous. Tower rooms obviously have the more panoramic views. Mountain views, regardless of location, are a bit more expensive but it’s worth it, particularly if you can bag a corner room. Two and a half restaurants complete the package: the mod-international Mint, the Indian-themed Bombay Brasserie, and The Twankey, the Taj’s champagne and oyster bar.

What To Do

There’s something for everyone in Cape Town. There are hundreds of things to do in this beautiful city, but here are a few recommendations:

Winery Tour

Go wine tasting. There are over 2000 vineyards and wine estates in the Western Cape, so where to start? Book a wine tour with Wine Flies, the boutique touring company invites you to explore the province through wine. You can visit up to five wine estates a day and even more if you choose to go on a weekend away.

Table Mountain Hike

Anyone who has been to Cape Town will tell you the first thing you should do is go up high to get a panoramic view of the city and there’s no better place to do it than Table Mountain. If you’re looking to get some exercise, take a 2-hour hike to Table Mountain’s summit. Or if you’re feeling a little tired, the cable car is the better option.  

Sunset by Camp’s Bay Beach

Camp’s Bay, nestled just below the Twelve Apostles mountain range, is the perfect chic and trendy beach town to visit. Be sure to go there before 6pm to secure a table at one of the countless cocktail bars and get wonderful views of the sunset. Hout Bay is also an extremely romantic and picturesque place to enjoy the Atlantic Ocean.