Cape Town Beyond Table Mountain: Where to Go Next

Everyone goes up the mountain. You should too, on a clear, still morning, before the tablecloth of cloud rolls over the top. But the flat summit is only the opening act. The city wrapped around its base, and the long peninsula running south to Cape Point, hold the days people actually talk about when they get home. This is Cape Town beyond Table Mountain: the streets, beaches, harbours and valleys we would put on any second, third or fourth day.

Most of it sits within an hour's drive of the city bowl. A car helps for the peninsula. Everything else works on foot or by short rides.

Bo-Kaap, early, before the tour buses

The Bo-Kaap climbs the slope of Signal Hill just above the city centre, and its houses are painted in colours that look almost unreal in morning light: lime, raspberry, sky blue, mustard. This is the historic home of the Cape Malay community, descendants of people brought from South and Southeast Asia, many of them enslaved, from the 1600s onwards. The cobbled lanes, the call to prayer from the old mosques, the smell of cardamom and frying onions all come from that story.

Walk Wale Street and Chiappini Street before nine, when it is mostly residents heading to work. The Bo-Kaap Museum on Wale Street explains the neighbourhood far better than a photo stop can. Then eat: a plate of bobotie, a curry with roti, or koesisters, the spiced, coconut-dusted doughnuts that are nothing like the Afrikaner koeksister. Remember that people live here, so keep your camera off their front steps.

Kirstenbosch and the tree canopy walkway

On the eastern side of the mountain, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden runs right up the slopes into the forest. It focuses on South Africa's own plants, which means proteas, ericas and the strange, ancient cycads. The curved steel walkway through the treetops, known locally as the Boomslang, is short but lovely. In summer, Sunday evening concerts on the lawn are a Cape Town ritual: bring a blanket, a picnic and a bottle from the nearby farms.

Fit walkers can even reach the top of Table Mountain from here via Skeleton Gorge. It is steep, with ladders, so go with someone who knows it and start early.

Chapman's Peak and the drive south

Leave the city through Camps Bay and Llandudno and keep going to Hout Bay, then take Chapman's Peak Drive. The road is cut into the cliff face, with the Atlantic straight below you and the Sentinel rising across the bay. It is a toll road and closes in bad weather or after rockfalls, so check before you go. Stop at the viewpoints, not on the bends.

From Noordhoek, cut across to the warmer False Bay side, where the water is noticeably kinder to swimmers.

Boulders Beach and Cape Point

Just past Simon's Town, a colony of African penguins lives among the granite boulders. Boulders Beach is part of Table Mountain National Park, and boardwalks let you watch them waddle, bray and nest without disturbing them. The species is endangered, so keep your distance even when one wanders close. Arrive when it opens and you will share the boardwalk with a handful of people instead of a few coachloads.

Further south, Cape Point is wild fynbos, baboons and cliffs dropping into heavy surf. Walk up to the old lighthouse rather than taking the funicular, and keep food out of sight. The baboons know exactly what a lunch bag looks like. Opening times change with the seasons, so check SANParks before you set out.

Cape Town is best on the days you do not plan to do very much at all.

Kalk Bay and Muizenberg

On the way back up the False Bay coast, stop in Kalk Bay. It is a working fishing harbour with brightly painted boats, seals waiting for scraps and fish being sold straight off the quay when the boats come in. Main Road is full of second-hand bookshops, antique dealers and cafés. Fish and chips eaten on the harbour wall is the right lunch here.

A few minutes on, Muizenberg has the famous row of striped beach huts and long, gentle waves. It is one of the best places in the country to learn to surf, with surf schools right on the beachfront.

Woodstock, the Waterfront and the wine valley

Back in the city, Woodstock mixes old workshops with galleries, murals and design studios. On Saturday mornings, the market at the Old Biscuit Mill is packed with food stalls and local makers. Down at the V&A Waterfront, Zeitz MOCAA fills a converted grain silo with contemporary art from across Africa. The building alone, with its carved concrete atrium, is worth the visit.

For wine, you do not need to drive to Stellenbosch. Constantia, twenty minutes from the centre, is the oldest wine region in the country, with Groot Constantia dating from the 1680s. Lunch among the vines with the mountain behind you is very hard to beat.

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Good to know

• Best season: late spring through autumn, roughly October to April. Summer brings the strong southeasterly wind locals call the Cape Doctor.
• Whales: southern right whales visit False Bay and Hermanus in the southern winter and spring.
• Getting around: rideshares are easy in the city. Hire a car for the peninsula day.
• Safety: use common sense, avoid walking alone after dark in quiet areas, and hike in groups. Check your government's travel advice before you go.
• Lion's Head: a shorter hike than Table Mountain with a view nearly as good. Sunrise is quieter than sunset.

Give Cape Town at least five days, and leave one of them empty. The light, the wind and the long lunches will fill it for you.