Cape Town Tours

If you are visiting Cape Town on your luxury South African safari we can arrange a variety of privately guided tours to suit your interests.

Go as you please private tours (half day or full day)

Take a private tour of Cape Town and tailor your itinerary to your own requirements. Your private guide will take you wherever you wish and you may use his expertise to view the highlights of the city at your own pace. The tour is completely flexible; however, you may wish to include a visit to Table Mountain, Robben Island, Cape Point (peninsula tour), Cape Town Castle, harbour and townships of Langa and Khayelitsha. Extend the tour to a full day option and travel further afield if required. You may wish to hire a specialist guide for a detailed township tour.

Your guide will discuss the options available to you upon collection and prepare an itinerary to your requirements. The Robben Island transfer time is about 45 minutes by ferry so you may wish to take a late afternoon tour to view the sunset on your return.

Your private guide will accompany you on all the activities you wish, or remain in the vehicle while you view the sights at your leisure.

Private full day Peninsula tour

You will be met at your hotel by your private guide and vehicle and taken along the Atlantic Seaboard coast passing the seaside suburbs of Sea Point, Bantry Bay and Clifton. Stop on the granite boulders where there are magnificent views of the Twelve Apostles along the Atlantic coast side of Table Mountain and the beach of Camps Bay. Continue past Bakoven and Llandudno to Hout Bay, a charming little village and fishing harbour. Board a boat to see the mass of Cape Fur Seals on Duiker Island.  The seals are mainly males waiting out their time until they are the right breeding age.

The tour leaves Hout Bay and takes you along the spectacular road below Chapmans Peak. Chapmans Peak Drive, 600 m above the ocean is widely considered to be one of the finest coastal scenic drives in the world. View Long Beach and Noordhoek and continue through the valley to Kommetjie and Scarborough, little hamlets on the Atlantic coast. Between June and December there is a chance that you may see whales along the coastline. These are mainly southern right whales that come into South African waters to mate and calve.

Enjoy a fabulous lunch at one of the restaurants along the coast before spending time exploring the rocky coastline with the possibility of seeing the African black oyster catchers and avocets as well as fynbos endemics such as the Cape sugarbird and protea canary, as well as various sunbirds. Drive to the tip of the Cape Peninsular and either walk or take the funicular to the lighthouse at Cape Point with its beautiful views over False Bay. Drive to the Cape of Good Hope, the south western most point of the African continent.

Leave the reserve and drive along the False Bay coastline to Boulders Beach, and an opportunity to study the only penguins to be found on the African continent – the African Penguin. Continue on through historic Simonstown, with its past and present naval traditions and travel along the coast to Fish Hoek. Return to the city over Boyes Drive with views over the fishing village of Kalk Bay and seaside towns of St James and Muizenberg.

Another option available with this tour is to take the cable car to the summit of Table Mountain, 1036 metres above sea level.

Private full day cultural tour

This tour gives you the opportunity to visit the most symbolically significant sight in South Africa, Robben Island. The ferry departs from the V&A Waterfront and takes approximately 25 minutes to reach the island located in Table Bay. The island is a symbol of triumph of the new South Africa over the old.  Some of the guides on the island are ex political prisoners and the tour includes a visit to the prison block, the limestone quarry, where many of the prisoners worked for a number of years and a drive around the island with breathtaking views across Table Bay.

You return to the V&A Waterfront where you are met by your guide and driven through District Six where many people were forcibly removed from the area in the 1960’s when the area was declared a whites only suburb. Today it stands empty and we learn about how life was in the vibrant inner city suburb, which was home to some 60 000 people who lived in harmony in spite of their different races, colour and religion. Gain an insight into the horror of apartheid as you are told about the forced removals of this community and the demolition of their houses. Afterwards travel across the Cape Flats, where the non-white inhabitants of District Six and other areas were placed.

Here people were segregated according to colour, religion or ethnic background. Stop at Lelapa for lunch where you will experience African hospitality in a relaxed, authentic and friendly environment. Taste African cuisine which is simple but tasty food.

Then drive to the informal settlement of New Rest in Gugulethu. You are accompanied by a guide who lives in the township and met by the residents and people of the community who are involved in the New Rest Kanana Community Develeopment Trust. There are approximately 1200 families living in New Rest. You are given an insight into the project which is to promote the development of the local community with emphasis on housing, adult education, health and economic and infrastructure development.

Walk through New Rest and visit the nursery and community centre. You can also stop at a brick making project where bricks are being made by the locals to eventually build their own homes.

Against all odds, township life prevails and conditions improve, but the transition is slow and hard.

Another option may be to combine a visit to Robben Island with an ascent of Table Mountain.

Full day Cape Point and Stellenbosch tour

This tour follows the same route of the full day private Peninsula Tour but continues on after lunch at one of the seafood restaurants along the coast across The Cape Flats to Stellenbosch. Visit the Neethlingshof wine estate with its impressive gates and drive up the unique kilometre long pine avenue to emerge from the cathedral like tunnel into the serene atmosphere of a traditional farmyard with its cluster of white Cape Dutch houses. You have a short cellar tour and an opportunity to taste some of the award winning wines produced on the estate.

Continue on to explore Stellenbosh – the second oldest town in the country, driving along Dorp Street with its beautiful Cape Dutch houses with examples of architecture in the Cape from the 17^th century. Stellenbosch is a university town with many shops and art galleries to visit.

Private full day City, Table Mountain and Kirstenbosch

Your private guide will take you to the cable station where you board the cable car to reach the summit of Table Mountain. Return to the city via the Bo-Kaap, the Cape Malay quarter and then leave your vehicle to walk through the city.

Drive to the castle, the oldest building in the country with its beautiful collection of old Cape paintings. See the Grande Parade where Nelson Mandela spoke to Capetonians after his release in 1990.

Visit the moving District Six Museum, highlighting the forced removals of people from their homes. The museum contains a collection of memorabilia donated by former residents of the area and their descendants.

Continue to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, situated on the slopes of Table Mountain. Enjoy the lunch at the gardens restaurant. Cecil John Rhodes bought Kirstenbosch in 1895 and when he died seven years later he left it to the people of South Africa. It contains a unique collection of southern African plants and the garden is one of the few in the world which is devoted to indigenous plants.

The Cape Floral Kingdom hosts some 8600 plant species, 588 of which are endemic. The gardens have a magnificent collection of fynbos species and in springtime between July and September, large areas of the gardens are ablaze with colour.

Full day Peninsula including a walk with the baboons

The tour follows the same route as the Peninsula tour, but also takes you to the southern 0part of with a qualified baboon monitor when you walk through the mountain fynbos until you encounter the baboons in their home territory. Spend time with one of the few troops remaining on the Table Mountain chain in their natural environment and you learn about their habits as they eat, play and socialise around you.

These Chacma Baboons face a bleak future as continued urbanisation reduces wilderness areas resulting in on-going conflict situations between man and baboon. Due to the high mortality rates it is predicted that within the next fifteen years the baboons would face certain extinction. The Baboon Monitor project was started in 1999 and over the last few years has employed people from the local community to monitor baboons. Your walk with the baboons will create a level of awareness and appreciation for these wonderfully social creatures in their natural habitat.

Private full day Hermanus tour

Leave the city with your private guide and drive towards the mountains of the wine country before continuing towards the coast, driving through seaside towns and fishing villages to Hermanus. For wine enthusiasts stop en route at the picturesque Hemel-en-Arde valley.

Because of its shallow, sandy beaches this area is where many of the southern right whales come to mate and calve. Whales often come very close to the shore in Hermanus and there are some excellent vantage points from the cliff paths that run from one end of the town to the other.

Enjoy lunch at one of the seafood restaurants in the village and have time to browse at many stores and craft markets in town.

Return to the city over the Hottentots Holland Mountains driving through the apple growing regions of Grabouw and Elgin. Stop on the spectacular Sir Lowry’s Mountain Pass with beautiful views over the Cape Peninsula.

Private full day west coast tour

Leave the city and drive to Bloubergstrand to enjoy the spectacular views of Cape Town and Table Mountain from across the bay before continuing north along the west coast, though the farmlands of the Cape to the West Coast National Park. The park is situated around the Langebaan Lagoon where you can spend time at a bird hide. The wetland is a RAMSAR International Wetland listed site, as thousands of waders come from the Northern Hemisphere to breed during the summer months. Over 250 bird species have been recorded,  including the lesser and greater flamingos.

Private full day Winelands tour

This tour takes you into the winelands region situated below the Boland Mountains which are situated about 50 minutes drive from Cape Town. You will explore the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek where you will taste the fruits of the vines and enjoy the unique charm and warm hospitality of this area. Estates are selected after discussing personal preferences and lunch is taken at one of the many fine restaurants.

A visit to the Bird Sanctuary can be arranged and you can visit the Afrikaans Language Monument with its indigenous gardens and magnificent views across the Boland. Visit the historical estate of Boschendal with its perfectly preserved Cape Dutch buildings. Here you will gain an insight into how the early settlers lived at the Cape. Visit Franschhoek, where the French settled in 1688, with its interesting museums, antique shops and beautiful gardens.

Explore the old town of Stellenbosch with its beautiful old Cape Dutch houses.

Full day Peninsula tour with sea kayaking

Combine a full day tour of the peninsula with sea kayaking. Meet up with a sea kayaking guide in Simonstown for a safety briefing and to gear up for a couple of hour’s easy paddling in twin kayaks along the False Bay coast. These are safe, comfortable kayaks which require almost no balance or skill. Paddle to Boulders Beach where a colony of African penguins live. View them from the ocean as they swim around this little cove. Have lunch at one of the seafood restaurants before continuing with a tour of the Cape Peninsula.

Table Mountain hike

Table Mountain is a walkers paradise and it is rare to find such natural beauty that can be explored on foor so close to a major city. Some of the most breathtaking views in the world can be enjoyed from this mountain.

The privately guided Skeleton Gorge hike takes between five and six hours and is considered moderate to strenuous hiking, taking you from the Botanical Gardens in Kirstenbosch, past the beautiful waterfalls and pathways to the summit of this magnificent mountain.

Shark safari

Depart from your hotel before daybreak and drive to Simonstown harbour where you are on the water as the sun rises above the mountains. False Bay is bathed is bathed in early morning light as you search for the super predator of the oceans – the great white shark. Light lunch, snacks and soft drinks are served on the boat.

Great whites are highly vulnerable masters of evolution and whilst their hunting prowess is remarkable they are highly selective in what they attack and consume, and to see one hunting is a rare event.

Your hosts Chris and Monique Fallows have been working with the great white sharks since 1989 and were the photographers who first filmed the great whites breaching. These sharks are famous for their highly athletic breaches that they make in pursuit of Cape Fur seals which they hunt in the area.

Search for the great whites that patrol Seal Island in False Bay as there are more than 60,000 seals as well as a host of bird species that make this a truly fascinating area to visit and a naturalist’s paradise. The main focus of the shark safari is on a natural interaction with the sharks from the boat as you observe natural predatory behaviour.

Continue onto to Cape Point and the penguin colony at Boulders Beach before returning to your hotel. The best time to see the great whites hunting is from May to September.