Sometimes the best way to see the city and know what it offers is by taking a tour. With the help of a guide, you will get to learn a lot about the city and come by great tidbits that you will cherish for life. In line with that, below are the top 12 tours you have to do when visiting Cape Town. You will learn a lot and you will get to experience the Capetonian culture.
1. Sunset City Bike Tour of Cape Town
There is always something about riding a bicycle that gives one a blissful feeling, couple that with a tour of the Mother City, you will have yourself a fun, sun filled day exploring the Cape Peninsula taking in its culture, people and heritage. Your bike tour will take you to iconic and historical spots in Cape Town.
Your guide will take you to one of the stadiums that hosted the World Cup, the Cape Town Stadium. As you cycle around the city, you will get to the Sea Point Promenade, a vantage point for great views of the Atlantic Ocean. This bike tour has many unforgettable stops for you and judging by its name, it would be a movie worthy kind of tour with you and your significant other riding into the sunset after an afternoon filled with memorable ventures in Cape Town.
Sunset City Bike Tour of Cape Town
Address: Cape Town, South Africa
Website:
2. Cultural Cape Town Tour Including Langa and Khayelitsha Townships and Bo-Kaap (from USD 47.0)
For a full Capetonian cultural experience, you will be taken to Bo-Kaap, an Instagrammable Cape Town haven with centuries of history and an infusion of Indian, Sri Lankan and Malaysian cultural history. Its people, its food and its culture are a pleasurable experience.
The tour progresses to Langa and Gugulethu Townships for a totally different side of Cape Town. Meet the local artists in Gugulethu busy at work creating authentic Capetonian art. You will finally visit Khayelitsha for a true South African shebeen experience, have a drink like the locals and interact with them as you learn about their daily lives.
Cape Town Township Tour Including Langa Township and Bo-Kaap
Duration: 3 hours
3. Cage Diving with Great White Sharks from Cape Town
An adrenaline charged experience, come face to face and limb-rippingly close with the great white shark, the fiercest shark in the water. This tour will teach you about the great white shark, see them in their natural habitat and when you are ready, jump right in the water and say hello.
Cage Diving with Great White Sharks
Address: Cape Town, South Africa
Website:
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4. Private Tour: Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl Wine-Tasting Tour from Cape Town (from USD 207.0)
If not for its tumultuous history, South Africa is also known for its great wines. Cape Town is home to a number of wineries that produce world class wines. This tour will take you to at least three towns namely Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek that home several wineries. Perfect wine growing weather, great landscapes, clean air and to die for wines and foods, this private wine tasting tour is a perfect way to spend a day in Cape Town.
Enjoy the rustic ambience at Muratie Wine Estate, sample Fairview Wine Estate’s famous white wines, explode your senses at Haute Cabriere with grand views and even grander wine and visit the Boschendal Wine Estate for the old and new experience. Be spoilt for choice in restaurants in Franschhoek for lunch, famed for its gourmet dishes. This tour is an experience that will be cherished for life. I mean, you will get to savor some of the best wines in the world all in one day. A lifetime experience indeed.
Private Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl Wine from Cape Town
Duration: 8 hours
Cape Town Tour Guide
Santie Gouws
Santie Gouws is a full-time registered and accredited Adventure Guide for Hiking, based in Cape Town, South Africa. A born and bred South African, she is passionate about mountains and the region's magnificent and highly bio-diverse fynbos vegetation, and offers exquisite, tailor-made, professionally guided hiking experiences to private groups, as well as 'open' scheduled group hikes, on Table ... Read more
Tours by Santie
Cape Town Tour Guide
Cape Town Tour Guide
5. Full-Day Whale Watching in Hermanus from Cape Town
There are some experiences that always come by once in a lifetime and this is one of them. Nothing is comparable to watching the largest living animal glide through the water with its babies, gentle and spectacularly larger than life. Known around the world as one of the best places for whale watching, you can opt to do it on the shore or get on a boat and have a heart-pumpingly close encounter with the majestic sea animals.
The boat will take you close to whales and just like us who are enthralled and curious about them, they will also approach the boat, giving you the best view of these animals. You will be able to feel the spray of water from the plumes of water they spray as they breathe, that is how close you might be. You should note that the boat tour is dependent on what the weather is like. After the mesmerizing whale watching experience, you will be taken to Fernkloof Nature Reserve to enjoy the flora and fauna spotting the reserve. The tour also includes a visit to the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens, a relaxing visit which will allow you to reflect on the day’s happenings. Such an experience has inspired books and life changing turns.
Whale Watching in Hermanus
Address: Cape Town, South Africa
Website:
6. Table Mountain Off-Road Scooter Tour (from USD 46.0)
Thrill seekers, adrenaline junkies and the fearless love this tour. A downhill ride on a Monster Mountain Scooter as you enjoy the beautiful view of Cape Town is an experience to be cherished. Easy to operate, the scooters are an exhilarating experience.
Gravity Scooter and Urban Safari on Table Mountain
Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes
7. Full-Day Zip-Line, Cheetahs and Wine Adventure Tour from Cape Town (from USD 314.0)
A combination of adrenaline inducing activities and luxurious downtime, you are guaranteed your money’s worth as your tour takes you to breathtakingly unspoiled natural environments. The day starts at Zip-Line Adventures, up in the Mountain Ranges which you will be transported to by a 4x4 vehicle. Zip past tree tops and feel free like a bird soaring up in the sky. After that thrilling experience you will drive down for the wine tasting session of the tour, a total contrast from the mountainous adrenaline ride you just had.
The winetasting will have you loosened up and ready for the cheetahs at the Cheetah Outreach Center. It is home to several animals such as the bat eared foxes, cerval cats, caracals and the black backed foxes. If you want to have an even closer encounter with the cheetahs, there is an extra charge to enter the enclosure. Have someone handy to take a photo or two, because you know, it never happened if there are no pictures.
Zipline and Wine Tour From Cape Town
Duration: 6 hours
8. Table Mountain Hike in Cape Town
Table Mountain, a beautiful site in Cape Town standing tall in the horizon, is a must-see. Take a hiking tour starting at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens taking in the beautiful and fragrant flowers perfectly lined along the route, setting up what will be expected during the hike. Through the eastern forest area on the mountain, you will make your way up to Skeleton Gorge and navigate through the terrain by climbing a ladder and stepping on strategically placed boulders to make it to the other side.
The beauty of this hike tour is the contrasting terrains that one comes across, from scraggly mountainous regions to woody and forested regions to pristine white sandy beaches. To tackle the hiking route, you need to have moderate to advanced hiking experience.
Table Mountain Hike in Cape Town
Address: Cape Town, South Africa
Website:
Tip from tour guide
Table Mountain, an iconic flat-topped wonder at Africa's southern tip, has captivated travelers for centuries. Stretching 3 km wide, with its highest point reaching 1084.6 mt above sea level, it offers breathtaking vistas of Table Bay, Robben Island, Lion’s Head, the 12 Apostles coastline, Devil’s Peak, and the distant Cape Fold Mountains. Nestled within Cape Town, it stands as the pinnacle of Table Mountain National Park, a hiker’s haven with a network of trails. Beyond its scenic allure, it contributes to the UNESCO World Heritage status of the Fynbos Floral Biome, with unique plant species such as Grass, Cluster, and Golden Disas, and various Proteaceae, including South Africa’s national flower, the King Protea. Its slopes showcase a rich biodiversity found nowhere else in the world.
9. Abseil down Table Mountain (85 USD)
If you want a close encounter with Table Mountain, abseiling down it is the way. Book through Adrenaline Hunter for experienced guides who will give you friendly and professional support throughout the process. As you abseil, get ready to take in views of Camps Bay as well as the Atlantic Seaboard at your feet while the Twelve Apostles lay by your side. While this activity is surely heart-pounding, the majestic views from and of the Table Mountain are more than enough reasons to do this excursion on your next trip.
Abseil down Table Mountain
Duration: 1 hour
Price: 85 USD
10. Tandem skydive from 9000 feet (268 USD)
There’s a reason why skydiving is almost on everyone’s bucket list. And if you’re exploring South Africa, this is your best chance to cross it off. This tandem skydiving excursion in Cape Town will give you the best views of Table Mountain, the bustling Table Bay harbor as well as False and Hout bays. You’ll also get to appreciate the stunning South Peninsula, Robben Island, and the beautiful Cape West Coast. You will skydive from 9,000 feet (2.7 kilometers) above ground. Photos and videos will be available for purchase after the activity.
Tandem skydive from 9000 feet
Duration: 1 hour
Price: 268 USD
11. City Sightseeing Cape Town Hop-On Hop-Off Tour (from USD 20.0)
Get a one day or two day ticket to take an open-top double decker bus tour of the Mother City. For the time constrained traveller, this tour is the best option to see the best of Cape Town. With two routes to choose from, you can get to tour the Two Oceans Aquarium, the Table Mountain Cableway and Camps Bay Beach taken by the Red Route. The Blue Route affords you the pleasure of touring up to 14 stops including the Winchester Mansion and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The best thing about this tour and the reason for its name, hop-on hop-off, is that you can always step off the bus and have an extended stop at certain areas before continuing on the tour.
City Sightseeing Cape Town Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour
Duration: 30 to 120 minutes
12. Half-Day Robben Island Tour from Cape Town (from USD 197.0)
Robben Island, a somber yet historically significant place in South Africa’s history, is known worldwide as the place Nelson Mandela called home for close to two decades. Marked as a World Heritage Site, and rightfully so, you will have the pleasure of being walked around the prison by former inmates at the prison as they recount their times there.
Half-Day Robben Island Tour from Cape Town
Tour the Mother City in hours
You get to explore, learn, experience and enjoy Cape Town’s people, culture and way of life in a few hours during these tours. For those who are under time constraints, this is the best way to get to know the city.
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