Cape Town

Cape Town is South Africa's legislative capital and its most beautiful city, spread between Table Mountain and the Atlantic. Above it rises the flat summit of Table Mountain, at about 1,085 metres, reached by a cableway with rotating cars, and named one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature in 2011.

To the south the Cape Peninsula runs to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, by way of Chapman's Peak Drive, cut into the mountain above the sea, and Boulders Beach at Simon's Town, home to a colony of African penguins.

In the heart of the city is Bo-Kaap with its colourful houses, home of the Cape Muslims since the 18th century and site of the Auwal Mosque, the oldest mosque in South Africa. On the harbour, the V&A Waterfront has shops and restaurants.

We suggest at least four nights in Cape Town, with a flexible day for the mountain: the cableway stops when the wind is strong or cloud covers the top.