Let me tell you, first and foremost, I am not a spontaneous person. I really wish I was but in reality, I am a plan-weeks-in-advance-have-several-excel-spreadsheets-and-a-bullet-journal-page-anal-retentive (phew) type of gal. But I also have a serious case of wanderlust. So when a beautiful, long weekend lay ahead of us, Dale and I seized the opportunity to go on an epic Cape Town adventure.I was super proud of myself, we booked an Air Bnb and the flights literally the day before we left. Shock. Horror. Who am I?
It. Was. Awesome. And I highly recommend just getting out of your anal-retentive shell, if you are like me, and going on a spontaneous trip.
Where we stayed?
We stayed in a centrally based flat on the bustling and vibey Green Market Square just off of Long Street. Whilst certainly not romantic, it was the perfect location for a busy weekend of site seeing. It was a few metres from the hop-on hop-off bus stop.
Where we went?
Day 1:
On our first day in Cape Town, we bought tickets for the City Sightseeing Red Hop-on Hop-Off line bus and hopped off at the stunning Camps Bay stop. We had a lazy lunch at Mezepoli just on the main road overlooking the beach. There is just nothing better than having a table of delicious mezes, with a bottle of wine on a sunny day staring out at an azure ocean. I was so incredibly alive and happy in that moment. That. Or I was a little tipsy on superb Cape wine. Ha. Same same.
Before heading onto the beach to sink our toes in the white sand, we picked up some cheeses, cracked black pepper crackers and dates to pack in our bags for our planned trip up Table Mountain to watch the sunset that evening.
It turns out you can buy a bottle of wine at the restaurant at the top of Table Mountain. When in Cape Town...
Needless to say the highlight of this whole trip was sitting on the top of Table Mountain, enjoying our picnic with a glass of wine and my favourite human watching the sunset over Cape Town.
I highly recommend buying tickets to go up the mountain in the morning so you avoid the ticket lines at peak times especially prior sunset.
We took the last red Hop-on Hop-off bus to V&A waterfront and after exploring the little Watershed night market, we bee lined for a packed pub with an old man belting out all the classics. Finally, we concluded the night at Tiger's Milk on Long Street.
Day 2:
The second day was spent lazily walking around the Green Market Square market, drinking coffee in a cafe situated in an old church and meeting up with some friends who had moved to Cape Town. We sat on Long Street and ate tapas at Fork and concluded the evening watching local bands at a club on Long Street. We did actually visit The Crypt Jazz Club but I was sorely disappointed so I won't mention too much about it.
Day 3:
We woke up early and caught an Uber to the vibey Old Biscuit Mill for the famous Saturday morning Neighbourgood's Market. It was a perfect morning with blue skies and the market was bustling with people and music. The smells of pizza, pancakes, fresh mint, freshly brewed coffee wafted from here and there as we made our way from stall to stall.
The overwhelming choice from fresh honey, cheeses to sushi was staggering. Dale chose a breakfast burrito, whilst I chose a fresh Mediterranean salad with fresh hummus and aubergine.
From the market, we headed to the hop-on hop-off buses to grab some tickets for the Purple wine route tour.
Nothing is better than wine-tasting in Cape Town. Our first stop was Groot Constantia, the oldest wine farm in South Africa, and whilst it was jam packed with tourists, the selection of wines certainly made up for it. In an effort to escape the crowds, we took our glasses of wine, and strolled through the vineyard.
We ended our day with a stroll along the harbour in Houtbay.
Day 4:
We hiked up Lion's head.
I mean... They don't tell you how precarious it is up there, that there are points where it is a bit rock-climby and that there are chains and ladders to pull yourself up with. I've been told numerous times that people climb up Lion's Head at night. Nope. I enjoy my life too much, thank you. I am just not that hardcore.
But, yes, the view is so worth it! And it feels so good to get fresh air and get some exercise especially if you have spent the last few days drinking wine and eating all. the. food. Which I had.
Having conquered a mountain, we treated ourselves to cold beers and burgers at Beerhouse afterward. Best beer of my life.
Our last night was spent at Shimmy Beach Club for dinner. Unfortunately, the weather had taken a nasty turn so the atmosphere was not as vibey as we had hoped. We did end up grabbing some last minute tickets for the Cape Town Comedy Club at the V&A waterfront which was phenomenal. To end off our trip we sauntered back to our favourite pub at the V&A later for drinks. Let's just say we nearly missed our very early morning flight the next morning. Oof!
Some Other suggestions:
If you are an overseas tourist or if you have not visited Cape Town before, I highly recommend that you add the following places to you itinerary:
- A trip to Robben Island
- Dinner at Mama Africa
- A trip to Seal Island
- A trip to Cape Point
- A visit to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens
If you are a foodie and have some money to spend, I would suggest making a reservation at:
Have you been to Cape Town?
Xxx
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