CAPE TOWN THINGS TO DO

Once you have the main details of your Cape Town holiday organised - flights, luxury Cape Town accommodation and car hire, it's time to start planning a list of things to do in the Mother City!

This is the fun part of organising a vacation - perusing the endless list of Cape Town activities and deciding not so much what to do, as what to leave out!

So much to take in, so many places to visit and an impossibly extensive list of things to do in Cape Town - Bloomberg has decided to step in and offer some local advice to the visitor who feels overwhelmed by choice!

The result - Bloomberg's Top Twenty Must-Do, Must-See Cape Town Activities - all accessible from your luxurious Bloomberg Cape villa, apartment or penthouse!

Cape Town Relaxation


1. Cape Town beaches - see our article on all the best beaches to relax on in Cape Town, whether you have children who need a safe bay in which to play, or a lifelong dream of learning to surf.
2. Cape Town Shopping - this is how many of our guests choose to spend their time - from the newly extended V&A Waterfront's shopping haven to Cavendish in Claremont to Canal Walk, north of the city, there are more shops and markets than you could ask for.
3. Cape Town Spas and Beauty Clinics - there are many day spas and clinics dotted all around the Cape. Try the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa as a day visitor for fabulous all over pampering.


Cape Town Nature Appreciation


4. Cape Town hiking - the mountains in and around Cape Town are more than a majestic backdrop - they also provide incredible hiking opportunities for walkers, hikers and climbers of all fitness and experience levels. Try a family friendly hike up to Elephants Eye cave from Tokai Plantation. Be sure to get a route map and take safety precautions as provided by Cape Town Tourism.
5. Cape Point Nature Reserve - Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve - A day at this reserve is a must - hike or cycle the trails through the fynbos, encounter indigenous creatures and birdlife, stand at the top of the cliffs and watch the Atlantic and Indian Oceans collide far below.
6. Cape Town Scuba Diving - Take a beginner's course with a PADI registered school and soon you'll be swimming with the multi-coloured fish and other sea creatures below the waves. Look out for sharks!
7. Cape Town Whale Watching - Head off to Hermanus for the day and view whales in season (late winter to early summer) off the cliff paths along this quaint seaside resort town.


Cape Town Action Adventure


8. Cape Town Shark Cage Diving - encounter the magnificent great white shark beneath the icy waves off Seal Island, departing from Gansbaai.
9. Cape Town High Speed Boat - Skim along the surface of the sea at breakneck speed, enjoying the exhilarating salty spray as you cut across Camps Bay from the V&A Waterfront.
10. Cape Town Helicopter Flips - a flight in a Huey helicopter is an adventure not to be missed. For the ultimate thrill you can't beat the combat simulated flight in one of these classic crafts.
11. Cape Town Sky Diving and Paragliding - always dreamed of flight? From freefall adrenaline rushes to calmly soaring above the city, in Cape Town dreams come true!


Cape Town Culture


12. Robben Island - Take a ferry from the V&A Waterfront to Robben Island, site of Nelson Mandela and other Struggle heroes' incarceration.
13. Cape Town Township Tours - Bloomberg can advise you which township tours are the best for meeting the locals, learning about township life and the past, as well as the future, of South Africa's informal settlement dwellers.
14. Cape Town Museums and Galleries - For loads of information on South Africa and beyond, visit the IZIKO Museum in the Cape Company Gardens. Numerous smaller museums can be found throughout the city's suburbs. Art, fashion and photography exhibitions at galleries throughout the Cape are also popular among the culture vultures.


Cape Town Must Sees


15. Table Mountain - it's big, it's beautiful, it's flat. You take the revolving cable car to the top for an incredible 360 degree view of the city, then if you're feeling energetic hike down Skeleton Gorge to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens - if it's a summer Sunday you'll be in time for a sunset concert of live and local music in the open air!
16. Cape Town Blouberg Beach - We mentioned beaches before but Blouberg is the one all the photographers flock to for those picture-postcard views of Table Mountain with the waves rolling onto the shore as foreground. Great place to fly a kite, too.
17. Cape Town Chapman's Peak - This scenic drive is renowned around the world thanks to numerous advertisements that have been filmed here. The drive is not always open after a storm or high wind, so check first before heading out for a drive that will take your breath away.
18. Boulders Beach Penguins - The colony of African Penguins at Boulders Beach near Simons Town attracts thousands of tourists each year. This is a life experience you shouldn't miss - see these birds, so comical on land yet super streamline in water, as they live, mate, have families and play right before your eyes.
19. Cape Town Winelands - For breathtaking beauty, world class wines, historic estates and cellar tours aplenty head off to the Cape Winelands of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franchhoek for a day of wine tasting, completed by a picnic among the vines at Spier Estate.
20. Cape Town City Centre - while there are many places to visit, you need to spend time in the inner city to really feel Cape Town's heart beat. The drummers at Green Market Square, the coffee drinkers spilling onto the pavements, the hawkers selling crafts and curios, the glossy fashion stores and the street fashion