Cape Town is a versatile city: located at the sea and with the Table Mountain in its back, the South African city offers a breath-taking scenery. In March 2016 I had the chance to explore the flourishing spirit of this fantastic place which has a great food culture and a new up and rising electronic music scene. I also had the chance to interview two festival organisers. As so many people are traveling to Cape Town right now and asking me for recommendations, I am glad to present you my personal hot spots within a podcast episode and short article.
Also read my 24 h in Cape Town article, which I produced for Easywriters and Bench here.
Festivals & Clubs
The electronic music scene of Cape Town is constantly growing. Influenced by the European style and African house music, South Africa is home to great artists like Black Coffee, Ryan Murgatroyd, Culoe De Song, Floyd Lavine, Jazzuelle, Jullian Gomes, Kid Fonque & Lazarus Man. Also Oliver Koletzki is a big fan of South African artists and festivals, as he mentioned in our interview. The wine yards and beaches are a nice scenery for festival locations. From October to April, there are outdoor festivals happening every weekend. We Love Summer and Sexy Groovy Love should be on your list, just to name two and of course Afrika Burn, taking place on 23 – 29 April 2018. Click here to find out more about the Sexy Groovy Love festival and get some insights within the interview with one of the festival organisers. Read the whole festival review of We Love Summer including an interview with one of the organisers here.
One club I can recommend in Cape Town is ERA. It’s the clubs concept to nurture and promote South African artistic culture and music. What you’ll get: „senses are taken on a journey designed for pure enjoyment“.
Farmers Markets
Cape Town is famous for it’s farmers markets, which mostly take place at weekends. The Old Biscuit Mill is located in Woodstock and is the food market heaven on earth. In addition many young and creative designers are presenting their latest collection there.
The other one happening during weekends is Oranjezicht Farmers Market at Waterfront with traditional offerings of independent local farmers and artisanal food producers.
Restaurants, Cafés & Bars
In my opinion the food scene in Cape Town mainly convinces through three things: it’s of high quality, mostly healthy and pretty cheap, compared to USA or Europe. There are also many creative restaurant and bar concepts which you should check out.
The first one I’d like to name is Sexy Food. James and his Sexy Food Team created an in-house probiotic range with fermented food, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, sprouts and everything you could think of to create your own super healthy bowl.
Truth Coffee Roasting House is a super stylish café and restaurant with an industrial interior. The baristas look like they’re just coming back from the Burning Man.
Potluck Club is the sister restaurant of the world renowned „Test kitchen“ and has been dubbed the coolest place to be in Cape Town. Located in Woodstock, it features a nice plate-sharing concept.
Already since some years, the Kloof Street House is one of the city’s hot spots. It’s a combination of a bar and restaurant, located in a colonial style villa with a shabby-chic interior concept.
Raw & Roxy is a vegetarian and vegan restaurant, offering raw food such as ice cream, cakes, vegetable chips, smoothies and salads.
The Gin Bar is located in a courtyard and not even visible from outside. On the menu you’ll find drinks like Head, Heart, Soul and Ambition. A fantastic bar with super nice and funny barkeepers.
If you want to find out more about bars in Cape Town, check out the article of my friend Verena from ‘No cheers. No story’ here (in German).
Nature: Lion’s Head & Table Mountain
Lion’s Head, as well as Table Mountain can be reached within only 15 minutes from the city centre.
Going up Lion’s Head is nothing of a boring hiking path but has the extra climbing excitement without the necessarity of professional equipment. A walk up to the famous top takes about 45 minutes and is the perfect morning workout or for watching the sunset in the evening.
Table Mountain coined the landscape of beautiful Cape Town. The massive mountain is part of the Table Mountain National Park which is one of the UNESCO world heritages. Going up the mountain takes you about 2-4 hours, depending on which path you choose. For the way back I recommend the cable car, as the view is just amazing.
Beaches
Llaududno is probably one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. White sand, pristine nature and small rocks you could climb and sit on. You can reach the beach by car or Uber as it’s located about 20 minutes away from the city. Already the road to the beach is amazing, as its part of the Chapman’s peak drive. I also have to admit that due to the fact Cape Town is located at the Atlantic Ocean, it’s almost impossible to go into the water without a neoprene suit like the ones surfers wear.
Alternatively Clifton Beaches I-IV are located in a suburb of Cape Town reachable within only 5-10 minutes from the city center.
Hotel
The best way to wake up in a historical environment in Cape Town is the five star luxury hotel Belmond Mount Nelson. The more than 200 year old hotel is taking its guest back in history and is with no doubt an institution in Cape Town. The Cape Dutch Afrikaans style, combined with super friendly people and every amenity you could think of, guarantees a relaxing stay there. Also make sure to join one of the afternoon tea sessions.
If you are spending more than one week in Cape Town, I recommend renting a car and checking out the wine yards and all the smaller villages like Simon’s Town with the penguins and Fish Hoek with it’s authentic restaurants.
Also follow my gorgeous friend and superwoman Sinah from Xploreyourfit who is currently in Cape Town, enjoying her second adventure in South Africa already. She’s a fantastic yogi, book author, sports model and my mindfulness & happiness role model.
The bottom line is: I would love to travel to Cape Town soon and join Afrika Burn this year, so please keep your fingers crossed