The waters of the southern hemisphere have a certain deep, striking aura around them, the likes of which I’ve not seen in the top half of the globe. The Cape peninsula is blessed with some stunning roads that wind around the breathtaking coastline and it would be a great disservice if you don’t rent a car and experience it for yourselves!
We hope you read Part 1 of this blog, where I cover how to spend a couple of days in the charming city of Cape Town, if not do head over here and give it a read. Long story short, we just had 4 days for our honeymoon and being road trip enthusiasts, we couldn’t leave this part of the world without a road trip. We spend 3 nights in Cape Town, enjoying the great food and wine, the vibrant neighborhoods, stunning beaches and scenery and taking in the city from the air. We had 24 hours left for our road trip and we did a pretty good job hitting some of the most popular drives and scenic vistas that the Cape has to offer.
Here’s how to explore the Cape if you just have 24 hours to spare!!
9:00 am
You’ll be staying in Cape Town (presumably), or if you’re being super adventurous will have just landed at the airport. For this 24 hour itinerary, you need to get started in the morning so make sure you pick a car rental that opens up early. Once you have your car and have stocked up on road trip snacks (I mean, who even does a road trip without the snacks!), head out of Cape Town via the M6 (google maps might tell you otherwise, but trust me it’s the more scenic route and only a couple of minutes longer). You will drive by the beautiful beaches of Clifton and Camps bay, getting your first views of the deep blue waters. The views are mesmerizing, and it’s a bit unfair that the driver has to focus on the road, so please be safe and pull over to the side and soak in the scenery. That way all occupants of the car get to enjoy the beautiful drive.
Next head on to Llandudno Beach, staying on the M6. The road hugs the coastline and if you’re blessed with excellent weather like we were, the miles will just vanish under your foot. Roll down the windows and breathe in the fresh ocean air!
Just 10 mins from here, you will hit Hout Bay, a crescent shaped golden sand beach meets the deep blue waters. There are plenty of excellent lookouts along the road, and we stopped a lot of times to take pictures and soak in the views. The distances are not that great, so the time you take totally depends on how many stops you make.
10:30 am
From Hout Bay beach, you circle around the bay and hit the iconic Chapmans Peak drive, the crown jewel of the Cape Peninsula coastal road. The road twists and turns with the looming Chapman’s Peak to your left and the dazzling blue ocean to your right. Lots of lookouts again here so stop when you feel like and have a snack (or two).
At the end of Chapman’s peak drive you hit Noordhoek Beach, which I felt had the best lookout points on the whole trip. From here, you can stop by Kommetjie, and it should be close to lunch time, so pick a local restaurant and I guarantee you will be eating some of the freshest seafood possible.
2:00 pm
Post lunch, set your GPS to the Cape of Good Hope (about an hour or so, without any stops). A common misconception is that the Cape is the southernmost tip of Africa, that distinction however lies with Cape Agulhas about 150 kilometres to the south-east. The Cape of Good Hope is however the most south-western point on the African continent. When following the western side of the African coastline from the equator, however, the Cape of Good Hope marks the point where a ship begins to travel more eastward than southward. Thus, the first modern rounding of the cape in 1488 was a milestone in the attempts by the Western world to establish direct trade relations with the Far East and hence the significance of the Cape of Good Hope.
The Cape is extremely windy, so be careful with your hats. You can walk for about 20-30 mins from the parking lot to the lighthouse at the tip of the cape. The seas here are an even darker and deeper shade of blue. While there, you cannot but think of the great ship captains and crews of the past and how they waited to round the cape and hope for fair weather.
After you’ve explored the Cape, head back up towards Simonstown, which is an excellent place for your overnight halt. We stayed at The Boat House, which till date is my favorite accommodation and we would highly highly recommend it. We have recommended this place to many of our friends and they all agree that a trip to Cape Town would be incomplete without staying at least one night here. If I had known, I would have gladly stayed here all four nights rather than the Westin. I’ve written a separate blog post that describes our stay there, so please check it out!
4:00 pm
Check in and drop off your luggage, and then head on down to Boulders beach, to meet the cute African penguins that nest here. Although set in the midst of a residential area, it is one of the few sites where this vulnerable bird can be observed at close range, wandering freely in a protected natural environment. While Boulders beach is famous, the best place to actually observe these funny birds at close range is Foxy beach (just a short walk away).
8:00 pm
For dinner, we drove 15 mins to Kalk bay and dined at the Harbor House. The location is fantastic, you can hear the ocean right outside your table, and the food and service are excellent. I still remember the excellent crayfish and scallops I had here! Post dinner, we drove back to The Boat House, where our room had sweeping views of the Simonstown harbor.
7:30 am (Day 2)
The Boat House is a BnB and each of the rooms are decorated like the different cabins of a ship. Next morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast while taking in the ocean views and admiring the beautifully decorated living area which was filled with souvenirs that the owners had collected from their travels.
Cape Town is only an hour away, but there is one more beach you should see before you head back, and that is Muizenberg beach, known for its brightly colored beach huts that deserve a picture or two at least! The beach itself is pretty crowded and not that special, but the huts do add character.
After that, for us, it was back to Cape Town airport, and the end of our honeymoon, and also marked 24 hours since we rented the car. The total driving distance is around ~150 kms, so its definitely doable in a much shorter time, but we recommend spending a whole day with a night halt at Simonstown for a relaxed experience. The scenery is staggeringly good, and we would do the whole trip again in a heartbeat if we got a chance.
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