10 Best Viator Tours In Cape Town, South Africa - Updated 2024

Malavika
Contributing Writer
Updated
| 5 min read
viator cape town

There’s nowhere quite like Cape Town - a coming-together of landscapes, cuisines, cultures, and rich history going back hundreds of years. Headlined by the stunning Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town also features the iconic Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Crowned the ‘World Design Capital’ in 2014, the city is brimming with arts and crafts creativity. If that wasn’t enough, the melting pot of Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and traditional African beliefs is evident in its culture and cuisines. And lastly, less than an hour from the city lie the bucolic towns, Winelands, and exotic animal-watching destinations. Clearly, Cape Town has a plethora of activities to offer to its travellers. Here are the handpicked and best Viator tours in Cape Town.

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1. Table Mountain off-road scooter tour

An offbeat a way to experience the breathtaking Table Mountain is this amazing off-road scooter tour. Leaving from the Kloofnek Parking Area at 9 am, midday, and 3 pm every day, this 3-mile (5 km) tour down the side of Signal Hill into Bo Kaap and onto Table Mountain include a guide in the lead. Travellers receive a safety briefing and gear instructions about the ride, and gloves and helmets at Signal Hill, after which they’ll freewheel down a Jeep track into Bo-Kaap, enjoying stunning city and waterfront views of Cape Town. The second run is down the lower slopes of Table Mountain with more gorgeous views of the city.

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2. The Castle of Good Hope tour

One of the country’s oldest colonial structures, Cape Town’s Castle of Good Hope depicts the historical origins of the city, houses the Castle Military Museum, and even the William Fehr Collection. Travellers can use this admission ticket to arrive and stay at and for as much time as they wish to, and they can either indulge in a self-guided tour or the included guided tours (11 am/12 pm/2 pm) to see the daily Key Ceremony, the armouries, ramparts, underground tunnels, and the dungeons! Experience South Africa’s rich heritage in the Castle of Good Hope, which also houses the oldest bell in South Africa!

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3. Cape Town Aquila Game Reserve wildlife safari

If you’re a wildlife fan, then look no further than the fabulous private wetland, the Aquila Game Reserve, where you can see the ‘Big Five’ game animals as well as endangered species - rhinos, leopards, lions, Cape buffaloes, and African elephants, and the endangered 'Aquila’ Black Eagle. Get picked up from your Cape Town city centre hotel in an A/C coach and travel to the reserve two hours away, where your game ranger and guide will regale you with snippets and tales about the reserve’s wildlife and birdlife in an open-air safari vehicle. Feast on lunch after an enthralling two-and-a-half-hour safari before returning to the city.

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4. The Cape Town essentials food tour

Immerse yourself in food haven Cape Town’s flavourful and vibrant food and beverage history in this amazing half-day walking tour. Follow a guide into De Waterkant, the heart of the city, and for three-and-a-half-hours, stop at little-known gems and landmarks, enjoying flavours from the world with distinctive South African twists and learning all about the local culinary industry, traditions, and heritage. Indulge in coffee roasting and tasting, homemade Cape Malay sweet treats and curries, some of Cape Town’s finest seafood, German beers in a brewery, and even a butchery! Five food and four alcohol tastings later, end your tour with a little surprise on the V&A waterfront.

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Cape Town Tour Guide

Jakes

Jakes

Jakes is registered and accredited with FET Certificate Tourist Guiding. He is competent to advise clients on all essential aspects of travel in South Africa having passed the SA Specialist course from South African Tourism. As a good story teller, he makes any historical situation or site come to life; and this is what makes him to stand out as a knowledgeable and exciting guide. “I’m always ... Read more

Tours by Jakes

Cape Town Tour Guide

Santie Gouws

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

5. Cape Point and Boulder's Beach penguins tour

If you wish for luxury while seeing the wildlife of Cape Town, then this one-day Cape of Good Hope Reserve + Boulder’s Beach penguin colony tour is best for you. Board the luxury coach and enjoy the picturesque Boulder Beach drive via Fish Hoek and Muizenberg before visiting the endangered African penguins, along with a steady flow of snippets and information from the onboard crew. Cape Point in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Park is the next stop, where you can end up spying whales, antelopes, and ostriches. Finally, head back on the scenic coastal route to Cape Town with stunning views from the Ou Kaapse Weg mountain pass.

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6. Two Oceans aquarium admission

Sitting at the intersection of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans makes Cape Town’s waters a unique ecosystem teeming with marine life. The Two Oceans Aquarium is a testament to this, housing more than 3,000 aquatic creatures showcasing the diverse, unique kelp of Cape Town’s coast, including the unique serpentine hagfish, Knysna seahorses, yellowfin tuna, sharks, and much more! Skip the line with this ticket and check out the 10-metre-long (32.8 feet) tunnel, mesmerizing exhibits of Cape Town’s aquatic residents, animals being fed, what sea life looks under a microscope, and more. Did you also know this place is home to some species which can be found at no other aquarium in the world? Enter the rare hagfish!

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7. Cape Winelands hot air balloon flight

How about watching a breathtaking Cape Town sunrise high above Table Mountain? This amazing hot air balloon ride in the Cape Winelands promises just that - and more! Sip on coffee/tea and watch the crew set up and prepare for the experience for about 20 minutes before taking off at sunrise. At 1000 feet (305 metres), watch fantastic views of Table Mountain and the vineyards and click pictures for a lifetime of memories. After a one-hour flight, sip on juice/sparkling wine, before enjoying breakfast at Klein Joostenberg Bistro, a fifth-generation bistro and winery!

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8. Cape Town full-day insider shopping private tour

Now, who doesn’t love shopping, and that too in fabulous Cape Town? This privately curated, full-day shopping experience of one-of-a-kind South African goods and trinkets, with shopping secrets, exclusive studios and galleries, and exotic local accessories is retail therapy at its best. This 9 am - 5 pm tour also includes local established and emerging designers and artists as well as Africa’s first concept store focusing on contemporary Pan-African design jewellery. Whether it is custom-designed diamonds that you’re looking for, or exotic animal skins, or even unique paintings, this personalized experience (option includes a stylist) will make your Cape Town shopping experience a memorable one.

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9. Half-Day Robben Island tour

half-day robben island tour
Source: www.viator.com

Visit Robben Island, the world’s most famous island prison on this half-day tour. Get picked up from your Cape Town accommodation around 8 - 8:30 am and get whisked off to Robben Island on a 45-minute ferry from the V&A Waterfront. The bus tour’s guides are previous inmates, who go deep into their own incarcerated stories as well as those of the great Nelson Mandela, who spent 18 years of his 27-year incarceration here. This island, also a World Heritage Site, gets its name from the early settlers’ Dutch word for ‘seal’, referring to the seal populace at the time. Over the centuries, the island has housed a prison, a military base, leper colony, mental institution, and even a hospital!

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10. Clifton & Camps Bay boat cruise

When in Cape Town, don’t miss visiting Clifton Beach, Cape Town’s western extremity, and Camps Bay, with ultimate palm-fringed beaches in this amazing boat cruise from Granger Bay to Clifton Beach and Camps Bay. Enjoy stunning views of the South Atlantic Ocean and its abundant marine wildlife such as Cape fur seals, African penguins, majestic whales, and friendly dolphins pods. Take in the gorgeous landscapes of the flat-topped Table Mountain and the Mother City as you chug on local beer on this amazing two-hour tour.

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Captivating Cape Town

Whether it is shopping for unique African curios, whether you are an absolute foodie, or whether you are a wildlife and nature enthusiast, Cape Town has jaunts for every kind of traveller visiting Mother City. Immerse yourself in South African culture in the oldest city of the country by indulging in the amazing above-mentioned tours.

Any must-sees we missed? Tell us about them in the comments section or write a post here to help out fellow travelers!
Disclosure: Trip101 selects the listings in our articles independently. Some of the listings in this article contain affiliate links.

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Malavika, a freelance writer and coffee enthusiast, is well-versed in Kopfkino. Her interests include engaging discussions on New Zealand, the domino theory, dystopian fiction, and Harry Potter.

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