Cape Town is a beautiful city with majestic mountains, soft white beaches, vineyards, bustling vibrant night-life, top quality restaurants, shopping and an exchange rate that makes it all affordable. It’s the African Riviera.
Average temperatures are around 26’C and you can enjoy 10 hours of sunshine a day in summer. You won’t have to contend with searing heat or cloying humidity. The climate allows you to comfortably enjoy many outdoor activities. The best time of the year to visit, is from September to April.
Car hire and shuttle services are easily available and affordable. If you want to include a GPS, rather hire from the mobile phone companies than the car hire companies. Follow these links for more – road trips and getting about. Choose the MyCiti bus for your airport transfer. They are well priced, fast and easy to use – airport transfer.
V and A Waterfront
You are likely to experience a typical warm and friendly welcome right from the start of your trip. South Africans are known for their friendliness so don’t be surprised if they chat to you as if they know you.
The standard of food and accommodation in South Africa is good. Click on this link for a feature on accomodation – Cape Town accomodation.
It’s ideal to base yourself in the City Bowl or Atlantic Seaboard as the best selection of beaches; restaurants and shopping are all in or near the city area. Getting around the city is a breeze in a Rikki, which is a vibrant coloured, well priced, London style cab, read more here – Rikkis cabs. Avoid mini bus taxi’s unless you are with someone who knows them and their routines well.
Boulders Beach
Eating out is diverse from high end and classy to fun and funky. Check out the Eat Out and Dining Out websites if you need ideas. And if you can’t bear to move after a long day on your feet then why not let Mr Delivery bring restaurant food to you.
The must see places in Cape Town are: –
1. The City Centre, Camps Bay, the local beaches and Table Mountain
2. The Waterfront and Robben Island
3. Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
4. The Cape Peninsula and Cape Point
5. The Winelands
The pink district
To plan your days wisely, first visit the city tourism offices. You will find one on the corner of Bree Street and Castle Street in the city and the other tourism office can be located at The Clock Tower Gallery in The Waterfront.
A Cape Town version of Time Out Cape Town magazine is also a handy source of information. There is so much to do that it would be advisable to allow a good few days in Cape Town. The big advantage of the favourable exchange rate is that you can also including a spa day to make your stay that extra bit special. See more here – spa break in Cape Town.
Simonstown Yacht Club
If you are after more action then you could try shark cage diving or for something authentic try a township tour. See – Mzolis. Do check the weather as the cable car and ferry don’t go out in rough weather but that seldom happens. Follow this link for more links to outdoor activities – what to do outdoors in Cape Town.
Alcohol is not available for sale after hours and on Sundays in South Africa unless at a venue with a shebeen license. Not all petrol vendors accept credit cards, so make sure you have cash for the payment.
The City Centre and Table Mountain
Table Mountain is a world heritage site with over 22 000 species of “fynbos” and unique fauna. You can walk up or you take the rotating cable car but make sure you get in the queue early and dress warmly. There are a number of walks on and around Table Mountain, some of which are only for the fit and adventurous. The cable car is half price after 18.00 pm and you may want to take a picnic basket and watch the setting sun over the city. At night the city lights twinkle from the mountain. For links to hikes and walks go here – day walks in Cape Town and walking on Table Mountain.
Cape Point
You could end your day on the beach with a sunset picnic. Camps Bay beach and Clifton’s coves, called 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th beaches, lie on the other side of the mountain. If you are after a cocktail there are stylish cafes and bars where beautiful people show themselves off opposite Camps Bay beach. The local nudie beach is called Sandy Bay and is further out in Llandudno. No alcohol is permitted on public beaches.
Camps Bay beach
Long Street area has a host of restaurants, funky fashion boutiques, vintage clothing stores, curio shops and vendors of tourist items such as scooters and bicycles. Take time to wander about the museums amid the original Cape Dutch architecture. At the end are the old public swimming baths and following on with the road up Kloof Street is more of the same. Do visit Wellness Warehouse at The Palms shopping centre. Wellness Warehouse is a shrine to all things organic and their buffet meals and fresh juices are sublime. Visit their website here – Wellness warehouse.
At night you will find clubs, pubs, live music and stand-up comedy on Long Street. The gay nightlife is in the Waterkant and Green Point areas. Also known as the pink district.
Your road trip to Edinburgh could include the Whisky Trail. Edinburgh is the capital city and home to Holyrood or the Scottish parliament. It is also the location of Edinburgh Castle. It is much, much more touristy and you will find museums and homage to all things Scottish at every turn. It all happens along the Royal Mile. There is a massive Edinburgh International Festival once a year around August called The Fringe. Think stand-up comedy and theatre. It’s a place for newcomers and old timers to show what they can do. The whole world seems to rock up for this event and if you are not inclined to mega crowds you will be glad to have missed it. If you love bagpipes you could plan to visit around the time of the Edinburgh Tattoo. Shopping in Edinburgh is not all that. Sorry to say. The shopping area in Edinburgh is Princes Street. I recommend the Haymarket area for a walkabout. Edinburgh has a few famous musicians, namely KT Tunstall, Shirley Mason of Garbage and Idlewild.
Ferry to Isle of Harris
After a day in Edinburgh you can drive to the north-east via Stirling and the castle which is geared to tourists. Swing past the Falkirk Wheel which is an engineering feat. It’s a boat-lift shaped something like The London Eye, it rotates boats in a circle in lieu of a boat lock and connects the Union Canal with the Forth and Clyde Canal.
Aberdeen is the third largest city. It’s a working city. Aberdeen was once a fishing village but is now the oil capital of Europe. All the buildings are built of big grey bocks of granite. The east coast is not as classically scenic as the west coast. The beauty of the eastern areas lies just inland where beautiful villages dot the area. If you cut across from Edinburgh to the east coast area you can visit quaint towns like Arbroath, Stonehaven and Montrose. Balmoral Castle, the Queens favorite, is also located in the Royal Deeside area not far from Aberdeen. You could drive up from Edinburgh via Perth and Dundee to Aberdeen. Aberdeen is also on the Megabus route and you can add on another 3 – 4 hours from Glasgow should you wish to go direct to Aberdeen. It’s a bum-numbing 12 hours from London. Aberdeen’s most famous musician is Annie Lennox.
Piper playing in central Aberdeen
Scotland has banknotes from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank. English banknotes are accepted in Scotland but the reverse is not always the case. So make sure you spend your Scottish pounds before you leave Scotland. Scotland is not metricated so road signs and your car speedometer are in miles. Glasgow to Skye is about 200kms as the crow flies but in real time the trip will work out more than a straight journey.
Things you really should try to do while in Scotland are. Try a typical Scottish breakfast complete with black pudding. The Scots do a good and hearty breakfast. You should try vegetarian haggis if you don’t eat offal and we are led to believe the best steaks come from Scotland, the Aberdeen Angus.
Narrow country roads in Scotland
Do find a piece of family tartan. Almost everyone has a connection to a family or clan in Scotland and it makes you feel part of the country.
Please watch Scottish Star Trek on You Tube Scottish Star Trek so you can practice listening to Glaswegian patter which is nigh impossible to understand. These people are speaking English but you would never know it.
Do try the local ales. They take their beer drinking very seriously in the whole of the UK and you can spend hours browsing the supermarket shelves with the ranges on offer. Beer is not just beer. It’s a bitter, or a lager, or an ale and the brewers are masters. If beer is not your thing, then try an Iron Bru. It’s the local fizzy drink of choice. Scotland is the only European country where a cola is not the top soft drink.
St Nicholas Kirk Aberdeen
Don’t eat out too often if you can help it. It’s so expensive and often disappointing. Some pubs offer great food and good value but the UK is not known for it’s cuisine. The range of ready meals and imported fruits and cheeses in the supermarkets is staggering.
Lookout for the highland cows on your way, they’re easy to spot and are so cute and shaggy.
Try www.laterooms.com for accommodation. You’re looking at from £50 per night for a room. Usually includes breakfast and the standard of accommodation is good in the UK.
Outsider music festival
Scotland is colder and wetter than England. It is colder in the west than the east and as you head north to Aberdeen it get’s even colder. The BBC weather site shows Edinburgh in June and July months at the height of their summer as having average 5 – 6 hours sunlight a day, average maximum temperatures as 17’C – 18’C and average monthly rainfall as much as 83 mm. The sun comes up about 04.30 am and goes down about 10.00 pm. Read more about the weather and seasons here – Scotland weather and seasons.
Stone circle Templewood
It is the opposite in winter when average day temperates are 6’C to 7 ‘C and at night it will be close to freezing. The sun comes up at 08.45 am and goes down 15.45 pm and average sunlight hours are 1 hour a day. It can be a grey country. Bands like Wet Wet Wet and Travis singing “Why does it always rain on me?” are telling us something.
It does snow in Scotland. As you drive about you will see snow poles on the sides of the roads and big yellow bins with a mix of grit and salt to melt the snow on the roads. In Aberdeen it is possible to see the Northern Lights in winter. If you have a world map handy you will see that Aberdeen is on the same latitude as Moscow. Scotland is a long way up north.
If you are going in winter pack warm and always pack a Mackintosh – aka a raincoat. Scotland is famous for it’s inventors. Some other well known inventors apart from Mackintosh and his raincoat include James Simpson – anaesthetics, Johan Loudon MacAdam – tarred roads, Alexander Crum Brown – chemical bonds, Thomas Telford – iron bridges, Joseph Lister – antiseptics, James Boyd Dunlop – tyres, John Napier – the decimal point and Sir Alexander Flemming – penicillin. This is by no means all the Scottish inventors and a Google search will yield some surprises. The Scots are canny lot not only with their money.
Edinburgh Tattoo – tattoodonkey.com
It’s not just the country but it’s people that are so much a part of the experience. Get cracking looking up your ancestors and head north to find your roots. The next time you hear the bag pipes you can check to see if the piper is a wearing your clan tartan.
Scotland is to England like chalk is to cheese. If you plan to give Scotland as miss because you have been to England, think again. Scotland has a ruggedness and a character all of it’s own. The Scots are so down to earth and friendly you’ll wonder why you didn’t skip England and just head straight up north.
The population of Scotland is just over 5 million. It’s a small country, about 79 000 km2, which means getting around is relatively easy. Most entry flights to Scotland terminate in Glasgow, however many budget flights terminate in London. You may plan a day or two in London before making your way north. I leave that to you.
Megabus
The cheapest way to get to Scotland from London is via Megabus – megabus. The London bus terminus is a 10 min walk around the corner from the London Victoria Station. The London Victoria Station does not have escalators, or lifts, so make sure you can carry your bags up the stairs. It’s not as deep as some of the other tube stations but it’s still a schlep.
Glasgow by Sven Hagenberg
Consider basing yourself in either Edinburgh or Glasgow. They are located south of Scotland, but are central, making it an easy base from where you can do day trips. They are also the biggest cities in Scotland. Go to Google maps UK to get a feel for the layout of the country – map of Scotland
Rabbie Burns
Both Edinburgh and Glasgow are about 9 ½ hours by bus from London. Megabus bookings open up a good few months ahead. Make sure you book early to bag the cheapie seats. They go up substantially if you leave it too late. The buses leave early-ish in the morning. You can also travel overnight if you prefer, but then you will leave nearer to midnight. Megabus services depart daily for most destinations in the UK and Scotland.
Skyline in Aberdeen
Your best bet is to hire a car to get around Scotland. I suggest Enterprise Car Hire www.enterprise.co.uk for the best deal. The current rate is approximately £12 – 14 per day for an A group car such as a Ford Ka. This excludes petrol, but includes unlimited mileage and insurance. Petrol is about £1.20 per litre when oil prices are lower. Book as soon as you can. I suggest you collect and drop off the car in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Remember Scotland is NOT England. You will have to pay a drop-off fee of around £75 if you drive to England. Traffic in and around London can be really bad and you could find yourself gridlocked. Remember central London has congestion taxes. Rather take the Megabus if you have to return to London, or one of the trains.
The three major cities in Scotland are very different in character. Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland. It’s my favourite. Not considered the prettiest, although I would disagree. Glasgow is the working capital, the art and music capital and the shopping and party hub of Scotland. It’s brash, working class and in your face. It’s also fun, trendy, arty and the centre of most Scottish music. Think Wet Wet Wet, Franz Ferdinand, Ultravox, Primal Scream, Donovan, Fratellis, Texas, Love and Money, Glasvegas, Hipsway, Travis, Jerry Rafferty, Big Country, Jesus and Mary Chain, Deacon Blue, Simple Minds, Hue and Cry, Belle and Sebastien, The Delgados, Biffy Clyro, Paolo Nutini, Snow Patrol, Fairground Attraction.
Scotch mist on the Isle of Skye
Phew!
There must be something in the water. Glasgow is crawling with universities and colleges including some world famous faculties like the medical school where a doctor inspired the character of Sherlock Holmes.
Scottish flag – St Andrews Cross
Glasgow has loads of art galleries and museums. Their art colleges have guided tours and check out GOMA (Gallery Of Modern Art) which is free and has strange modern art. Glasgow is also the home of Charles Rennie Macintosh and his art nouveau followers. His influence on architecture and design is highly evident. They have some quaint original Tea Rooms where you can take tea in the old style. There is plenty of shopping. (The South African in me loved Nelson Mandela Square.) You can also visit the old style tenements, which were ghettos before, and where the likes of Billy Connolly grew up.
I fell in love with the Glasgow train station and took a train to Paisley. No more scarves anymore and Paisley was a bit run down, but passing in and out the station was enough for me. The River Clyde where the old boatyards were located, cuts through the city. Glasgow used to be a city in disrepair but it was on the receiving end of massive grants and it shows. You can see lots of funky modern architecture and renovated old buildings.
Crinan Marina
If you decide to do a road trip, which I recommend, from Glasgow head north-west toward Fort William via Loch Lomond. Ben Nevis and the ski-ing area of Aviemore are in the heart of the highlands and are near Fort William. Check out if there any music festivals around that time. T-in-the-Park and Rockness are two big music festivals in Scotland. A day at one of them is an amazing experience, a full weekend can be great, but oh so long. There are also plenty smaller music festivals.
Highland cow
Back to your road trip. Start veering west to the Isle of Skye. Skye is scenic and old world. They still speak a bit of Gaelic there and local TV is in Gaelic. If you have time I suggest taking a ferry to the the Hebrides. They still manufacture their own heat from the peat which they dig out of the bogs and they weave their own fabrics. Ever heard of Harris Tweed? Nike manufacture sneakers from it. You see place names in Gaelic and they speak even more Gaelic than on Skye. It’s so rural and remote that the roads appear to be designed for sheep and not cars.
Coming back from Isle of Skye, head back to the mainland and east toward Inverness taking in Loch Ness. Along the way are loads of castles and prehistoric monuments. There are road signs indicating these monuments. Some stone circle you can get up close and personal with, while some are only seen from the outside as you walk past them. If you have a road map, the prehistoric monuments are marked. Plan to visit them in advance so you don’t drive past them by mistake. Prehistoric monuments include long barrows and stone circles. Scotland has stone circles galore and castles in various states of repair and disrepair.
Walkway entrance to Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport is situated well out of the centre of the city of Cape Town. The coordinates are 33° 58′ 10″ S, 18° 35′ 50″ E.
Here is a handy link to the official website where you can find arrival and departure information, maps and more – Cape Town Airport. Another useful link is from South African Tourism. They give statistics and useful, as well as useless, but interesting information – Cape Town International Airport.
Arrivals and Departures Cape Town Airport
Cape Town Airport is a good 20 – 30 minute drive from the airport to the centre of Cape Town. Depending on the traffic. During peak hour traffic, the trip can take even longer. Be well warned, if you need to get to the airport for a flight, and you make the journey during heavy traffic, allow extra time.
The front of the airport
Arranging a transfer from the airport to your accommodation in advance is a good idea. You can catch a taxi from the airport, but taxis are usually the most expensive way to get about and there are far better options.
If you do opt to use a taxi, negotiate the rate before you get in the cab. And make sure the driver has change should you need it. I tend not to trust taxi drivers no matter where I am in the world.
MyCiti bus stop Cape Town Airport
By far the best way to get from the airport to the city and surrounding areas is the MyCiti bus. It runs from the airport to the Civic Centre in the heart of the Cape Town CBD. It costs R57 per person and you cannot beat it for comfort, price and speed.
You can roll a wheelie suitcase right onto the bus and the bus has it’s own dedicated lane for a swift transfer.
Read more about the MyCiti bus service. From the central bus stop in town, you can catch another MyCiti bus or a taxi to your accommodation.
There is only one slight snag with the MyCiti bus service – it terminates around 21.00pm. If your flight is coming or going outside of that time you will have to make an alternate plan.
Runway at Cape Town Airport
There are probably hundreds of airport transfer and airport shuttle service operators in Cape Town. When you consider the MyCiti bus costs R57, these services do seem rather expensive. A shuttle bus can cost anywhere from R200 to R2000. Visitors are sometimes overwhelmed at the airport with drivers trying to score trips and and tours at a later date.
I used to have a bunch of links to various airport shuttle services but the websites die and the links don’t work so I’m not going to include them. But basic search terms like airport shuttle or airport transfer or Cape Town Airport services should help.
Tourism information desk Cape Town Airport
If you plan to self-drive then you can arrange to collect your car at the airport. The usual operators are to be found such as Avis, Enterprise, Europcar, Budget etc. Don’t forget to look for price comparison site too.Make sure to check rates with car hire operators before you leave home. Early bird bookings and loyalty programs may help you get a better deal.
Elephant statue at front of airport
If you don’t plan to hire an car. And if you intend spending most of your time in the city, then Rikkis Cabs is probably your best bet for getting about. They have free phones all over the city and you can call a share cab to collect you at a nominal rate.
They also do airport transfers. Find Rikkis on this link – rikkis.
Most tours operators collect you on a tour bus so you may well find that you don’t need a car and using Rikkis cabs will be the best option.
For moving about between the regions of South Africa, there are a good few long haul bus companies, trains and flights. I would not use the trains as I am not convinced they are safe. My preference is for a domestic airline. I also like the Baz Bus. Read more about Baz Bus here – Baz bus. For price comparisons on domestic flights in South Africa visit these three web sites – sa flights, sky scanner and best flights.
1. Visit the local tourist information office and get brochures for the tours they have on offer. Then do them yourself for free. Walking tours are also usually cheaper than bus tours. Sure, they take a bit longer, but you get to explore a city or the countryside up close and personal, and you get some exercise.
2. Use local public transport. Catch a bus or train to the furthermost end of the city and back to get a sense of what the whole city looks like. A day pass allows you to hop on and off to explore sections of a city.
Simonstown
3. No need to eat at restaurants or cafes. Pack snacks such as dried fruit and nuts in your backpack or buy a sandwich and a bottle of water at a supermarket.
4. Save on Wi-Fi costs by having a coffee at a Starbucks or cafe with free Internet access. They often have free newspapers so you can read the local goings-on.
5. You don’t need to buy a travel guide. Visit your local library to see if they have a travel book for your destination. You can also try Lonely Planet or Wiki Travel for free on-line travel guidance.
Boulders Beach Simonstown
6. If local tap water is safe to drink, then refill your water bottle at the end of every day, at your accommodation.
7. B and B’s are often cheaper than hotels and include basics such as Wi-Fi that many hotels consider extras. More often than not, you can stay at a B and B for less, or not much more, than a Backpacker place. And B and B’s are safer than a Backpacker spot, as you are not sharing amenities and rooms with unknown people.
Town centre Simonstown
8. You can go online to find out just about everything from where to go, restaurant reviews or weather reports with regard to your holiday location. There is no need to buy local restaurant and wine guides.
9. Eat in your room. Get yourself a healthy take out meal plus a great bottle of wine from a supermarket and skip overpriced restaurants, plus taxis and tips, by eating in.
10. There are always plenty of free museums. Avoid the ones that make you pay.
11. Book in advance. There are often huge savings to be made by booking in the right window period. Think long haul bus trips, train trips, car hire and flights. They all have early bird specials.
12. Many credit cards and insurance companies have free health travel insurance. Find out what you are eligible for.
Penguins Simonstown
13. It should be obvious but hiring a smaller car is cheaper and lighter on petrol than a big gas-guzzler.
14. Avoid travel agents. Booking yourself and booking on-line is always cheaper.
15. Don’t look for a taxi when you arrive at your destination. Most major cities have an airport shuttle bus or train service. Use keywords to do an online search for the best one at an airport. We hardly ever use a taxi. Taxis are much more expensive than public transport. Most taxi drivers are surly and unhelpful too.
Harbour Simonstown
16. Consider self-catering if you have 3 or more days in one place. You may well find your accommodation comes with a washing machine. You save on laundry costs and its way cheaper to cook for yourself than eating out.
17. Travel credit cards and traveler’s cheques don’t always work out cheaper. You are paying twice to change your money. We pre-arrange with the bank to clear our debit and credit cards so we can use them when we travel. We’ve been able to draw cash out of a “hole in the wall” in locations such as Thailand and India. The only thing to remember is your daily limit.
Do the maths and work out what it will be in local currency. Credit cards are also safer. You can always query a transaction with your bank if things go wrong.
18. Look for holiday specials. A Google search will yield some surprising specials. Use keywords like bargain, specials or budget and see what comes up. Many spas have off-peak rates and shipping companies sometimes do specials when the ships travel unusual routes.
19. We join all the loyalty programs that we can. It costs nothing to fill in the forms. We have managed to score a few free flights and hotel discounts that way.
20. If you are up to it, camping is by far the cheapest way to see a country. It should be obvious; but make sure you pick warm months and avoid the rainy seasons when doing a camping trip.
Go to – My Holidays and Trips – at the top of this page to read about other places we have visited. Or just click on – this link.
