After two weeks exploring Johannesburg, it was time to check out Cape Town. Our trip was jam-packed with activities from the moment we landed — here's how we spent six days travelling around one of the most beautiful cities we've visited.
Day 1 — Robben Island and Table Mountain
We landed around 8am to beautiful clear weather, which meant Table Mountain was non-negotiable for the day. We picked up our car, headed to the waterfront, and caught the ferry to Robben Island first.
Robben Island was the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment. Our tour guide was a former political prisoner himself, which added a weight to the experience no museum exhibit could replicate.
Robben Island prison cell
From Robben Island we grabbed lunch and made our way to Table Mountain. The view from the top was extraordinary — clear enough to see all the way down to Robben Island. We walked around as the sun set, a genuinely beautiful way to end the first day.
On top of Table Mountain
Day 2 — Old Biscuit Mill
The weather turned, so we took a coastal drive and headed to the Old Biscuit Mill for lunch — a beautiful market with an extensive range of food and drink. Craft beers and the most delicious paella made for a good recovery day.
Day 3 — Boulder's Beach, Chapman's Peak and Groot Constantia
The weather cleared for a genuinely gorgeous day. First stop: Boulder's Beach, where a free walkway let us get close to a colony of African penguins, several with babies. They're protective of their space — don't put fingers through the fencing.
Penguins at Boulder's Beach
From there, the drive up Chapman's Peak delivered some of the most beautiful coastal scenery of the whole trip.
Chapman's Peak looking over Hout Bay
We finished the day at Groot Constantia for wine tasting — my first ever. Five wines in the main tasting, followed by a cellar tour explaining the winemaking process, capped off with another five-wine tasting at the end. They give you a spittoon jug. Nobody used it.
Wine tasting at Groot Constantia
Wine Tasting Tip
Pace yourself if you're doing both a tasting and a cellar tour on the same visit — most cellar tours end with a second tasting, so you'll end up sampling closer to 10 wines than 5 by the end of the day.
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Day 4 — Franschhoek Wine Tram
A day we'd been looking forward to — Franschhoek, South Africa's wine country. We took the Wine Tram's blue line, stopping at Rickety Bridge, Grande Provence, Holden Manz and La Bri. Each stop cost around 20 ZAR for a tasting, with food available at most locations, and roughly an hour at each stop — plenty of time to properly taste (and enjoy) the wines.
Franschhoek Wine Tram tracks
Day 5 — Car Museum
After an epic afternoon of wine tasting followed by a night at the pub, the next morning called for something calmer. We skipped any more wine tasting in favour of a car museum — an impressive collection ranging from beautiful vintage cars through to newer models.
Day 6 — Kirstenbosch Gardens and Lion's Head
We rounded out our six days with a walk through Kirstenbosch Gardens — stunning even outside peak bloom. We visited in May; spring (September to November) is when the gardens are at their absolute best.
Entrance to Kirstenbosch Gardens
We finished with a drive up Lion's Head for sweeping views over Cape Town and Table Mountain — its "tablecloth" of cloud rolling over the top, a genuinely unique sight and the perfect way to close out the trip.
Table Mountain from Lion's Head
Six days wasn't enough. Cape Town reminded us so much of home — that same relaxed, easy pace — and it's firmly on the list to return to.
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Six days gave us a genuinely good pace — Table Mountain, Robben Island, Boulder's Beach, Chapman's Peak, wine tasting at Groot Constantia and a day trip out to Franschhoek's wine country, plus Kirstenbosch Gardens and Lion's Head. A week is a solid amount of time without feeling rushed.
