Home. Cape Point Route in Cape Town

Cape Point & Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve

It’s not strictly the end of the continent, you will have to go to Cape Agulhas to reach the southern most point of the African continent.

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The Cape Point is a rocky promontory at the end of the Cape Peninsula located in the Good Hope Section of the Table Mountain National Park. In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape during a dreadful storm. He subsequently named it the Cape of Storms. On a second voyage, the weather was much kinder to him and he renamed it the Cape of Good Hope. A few years later, Dias died while trying to round the Cape. A monument in the form of a navigational beacon has been erected in the Park in his honour. The Park offers a rich diversity of plant species as well as a marine reserve and animals such as baboons and Cape Zebra. The peak is 249m above sea level and can be reached by foot or the funicular railway. The lighthouse at the tip of the Peninsula is the most powerful in the Southern Hemisphere.

There are various ways getting there

• Join a daily scheduled tour including a registered tour guide.
• Contact us for a private tour.
• Join a bicycle tour and cycle some sections
• Go for a sea kayak trip and paddle to the penguins or Cape Point.
• Rent a car or motorbike and do it yourself.

If you take it slowly - and you should, because there is lots to see and do - this route will occupy an entire day. Visitors may choose to take the coastal road via the Atlantic seaboard and return along the False Bay coast or vice versa.

Cape Town - Hout Bay:

From the city centre, take the M6 via Sea Point and Bantry Bay to Clifton. There are a number of beaches along the way - but, of course, it's at Clifton that the rich and famous come to play. Continue past Bakoven and Llandudno to Hout Bay, where you'll find a family friendly beach, restaurants, the World of Birds and gift shops in both the village and the harbour. You might also enjoy a scheduled cruise to Duiker Island.

Noordhoek - Cape Peninsula National Park:

Continue to Noordhoek via Chapman's Peak Drive or Ou Kaapse Weg (Old Cape Road). At Sun Valley, turn right onto Main Road, which will bring you to Kommetjie. Here you'll find the biggest tidal pool in South Africa and, if you're a surfer, some of the best waves on the Peninsula.

Continue along the M65 to Scarborough (both Kommetjie and Scarborough boast a number of interesting shops and crafts stalls). About 4 kilometres after Scarborough, turn right into Plateau Drive (you're still on the M65) and after a further 8 kilometres you'll come to the entrance to the Cape Peninsula National Park.

The Park has an information centre and, at Cape Point itself, a restaurant and viewing platform. Expect to see some wild game and large areas of pristine fynbos vegetation.

Cape Peninsula National Park - Simon's Town:

On leaving the Park turn right towards Smitswinkel Bay - you're now on the M4 which will take you to Simon's Town. Make a stop at Boulders to see the colony of African Penguins. In Simon's Town visit the Naval Museum or stroll along the Main Street's Historic Mile and enjoy the atmosphere of South Africa's favourite naval town.

Simon's Town - Cape Town:

At Fish Hoek follow the coastal road to Kalk Bay, St James and Muizenberg. These are all beachside towns and you'll want to stop and enjoy the ocean and False Bay.

From Muizenberg follow Main Road (you're still on the M4) back to the City or turn inland and take the M3. The M4 offers superb shopping along the way - particularly in Kenilworth, Claremont and Rondebosch - and if you're a sports lover you'll want to visit the Rugby Museum at Newlands.

The M3 offers an opportunity to visit the Constantia Valley for some wine tasting or a walk through the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. En route you may also wish to stop at Rhodes Memorial for a panoramic view of the Cape Flats and False Bay. On a clear day you can see all the way across to the Helderberg. The route back to the City will take you pass world famous Groote Schuur Hospital where Prof. Chris Barnard performed the worlds first heart transplant.

Courtesy: Satour