Adderley Street, the attractive main street with its statues and Golden Acre is on the upper half of the Heerenchracht and the reclaimed foreshore. The old Dutch church, Groote Kerk, marks the start of Government Avenue, separated by giant oak trees, and the Company Gardens laid out by Jan Van Riebeek in 1652 as a vegetable garden. Along the boulevard, you’ll find the Houses of Parliament, Parliament Museum, the Cultural History Museum, the South African National Gallery with over 6000 works of art, the South African Museum, the country’s oldest and most revered museum, the Planetarium and the Great Synagogue and Jewish Museum.
Cobbled Greenmarket Square, with its street cafes and quaint shops, is home to funky market stalls that sell almost anything. Church Street is for antique and bric-a-brac dealers. Bustling St George’s Mall, fringed with charming shops, arcades, kiosks and bistros is a magical hive of activity, where street musicians, artists, and mimes entertain. Long Street, 300 years old, reflects the allure of a bygone era with numerous bookshops and the uniquely different Pan African Market, where you can buy fascination African arts and artefacts.
Some four decades ago the apartheid government infamously moved 60 000 Cape Coloureds from their homes. District Six Museum tells about this spirited community.
The V&A Waterfront is one of South Africa’s top tourist attractions. Victoria Warf offers stylish shopping. Ferryman’s Tavern sells beer brewed on site and the pubs and trendy eateries on the Quay are lively meeting spots. The Red Shed is an eclectic mix of crafts, African beadwork, and township art. The Two Oceans Aquarium is home to more than 3000 variety of sea animals from the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. One of Cape Town’s top attractions, the aquarium fascinates visitors of all ages with numerous exhibits. It is also possible to enjoy supervised dives with the sharks in the shark tank.
Robben Island: A place of exile and imprisonment for nearly 400 years, Robben Island is today a World Heritage Site you can visit on tours that depart from the Nelson Mandela Museum. Visit the tiny cell that Nelson Mandela called home for two decades, the Maximum Security Prison, and the infamous Lime Quarry.
Table Mountain, with Lion’s Head and Signal Hill to the West, and Devil’s Peak to the East, is one of the most famous natural landmarks in the world. The Cableway ride to the Summit offers spectacular views. Drive along De Waal Drive to visit the temple-like Rhodes Memorial and the National Botanical Gardens at Kirstenbosch, famous for their spectacular beauty and incredible diversity of plants.
Marvellous beaches and exquisite mountains have made the Atlantic peninsula from Sea Point to Sandy Bay, Cape Town’s most sought after coastline. Sea Point is a trendy entertainment area with lively Bistros, all night cafés, and nightclubs. Exclusive Bantry Bay, nestling below the slopes of Signal Hill and Lion’s Head, is the start of Millionaire’s Mile that now stretches far longer than a mile, all the way from Victoria Road through Clifton, Camps Bay and Llandudno to Sandy Bay.
Sought after Clifton, has four exquisite beaches, each separated by enormous granite boulders. Trendy, topless jet-set sun worshippers flock to Clifton’s First and Second Beach, teenagers seem to love Third Beach, and Fourth Beach caters mostly for families. Equally exclusive Camps Bay lies at the foothills of the beautiful Twelve Apostles, the natural mountain ramparts atop the western side of Table Mountain. Further along the coast, in the enclave of Llandudno, luxury homes hug steep slopes that lead down to a beautiful, protected beach. Secluded Sandy Bay, Cape Town’s nudist beach, is reached by walking along a footpath from Llandudno.
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