It’s inconveniently located on the outer edge of most of Cape Town’s attractions, and you’ll feel on edge wherever you walk there, even during the day. Hotels have glorious sea and mountain views, and many shopping, dining, and entertainment options are right at your doorstep. The Central Karoo district has 698 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of 7 September. In alphabetical order, here are our top-recommended Cape Town neighborhoods with ratings, pros and cons, highlights, and accommodation picks for each. The lack of pretense, scant traffic, and prime accommodations at a fair price make Tulbagh one of the sweetest little destinations in the country. [2] Some parts of Walmer Estate like Rochester Street were completely destroyed, while some parts like Cauvin Road were preserved, but the houses were demolished. With its street art, vintage shops, and gritty feel, Woodstock and Observatory have that edgy pre-hipster Brooklyn vibe. District Six Museum, Cape Town Central: Hours, Address, District Six Museum Reviews: 4.5/5 It’s densely-populated (by Cape Town standards), middle-class, and busy, but it’s not as trendy and touristy as Gardens so you can easily blend in with the locals. Cape Town’s design districts range from the bohemian Long Street to the trendy East Central Precinct, and quaint seaside Kalk Bay to Victorian Wynberg. Most of Cape Town’s nightlife and museums and many of the top restaurants are in the CBD itself and it’s the hub for everywhere else—Gardens and Camps Bay to the South, the Waterfront to the North, Woodstock and Observatory to the East, and the Atlantic Seaboard neighborhoods to the West. Pick the right base, as this guide to where to stay in Cape Town will help you do, and you’ll have an amazing time. Its earlier unofficial name was Kanaldorp, a name supposedly derived from the the series of canals running across the city, some of which had to be crossed in order to reach the District (kanaal is the Afrikaans for ‘canal’.) If you notice any errors or omissions, contact us so that we may correct them. That’s what makes Cape Town such an incredible city to visit. Pick a sketchy base, and your trip will collapse. Click on a facility for full details. In these exclusive Cape Town neighborhoods you’ll feel excluded from the action of the rest of the city. They may be further from the main attractions, but they all have plenty enough to keep you entertained. Here, a “suburb” is just the smallest geographical subdivision of a city. De Waterkant, Green Point, Mouille Point & Sea Point -- Wedged into a strip of land between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, this area -- with a mix of residential and commercial property -- for some time, has been the most dynamically evolving part of Cape Town. Bo-Kaap (10) City Bowl (72) De Waterkant (37) Gardens (39) Observatory (6) Oranjezicht (27) … With its concentration of historic mosques, rough cobbled streets, and a distinctive sense of community and vibrant "Cape Malay" culture, this is a great place to experience Cape Town's much-vaunted "diversity," although it's slowly changing under the influence of foreign investment. However, Franschhoek -- reached via either Stellenbosch or Paarl -- is located in the prettiest of the wineland valleys and has a well-developed, albeit very touristy, infrastructure that includes an overwhelming concentration of award-winning restaurants; if you overnight in only one wine-producing region, make sure it's Franschhoek. Or maybe you just want to take the “unconventional route” and try something different. In South Africa, “suburb” doesn’t mean the same as it does in other English-speaking countries. #18 of 63 Sights & Landmarks in Cape Town Central. We wouldn’t recommend it. However, it dropped to below 20% last week. Winelands -- No trip to Cape Town would be complete without at least a day spent here; indeed, many prefer to stay here for the duration of their visit -- Cape Town lies no more than an hour or so away; the airport, 45 minutes. ... District Six. Today it is an almost vacant lot, shown on maps as the suburb of Zonnebloem. And since everyone has different tastes and budgets, we won’t just tell you our favorite place to stay in Cape Town. The District Plans are medium term (10 year) plans that aim to guide spatial development processes and land use management within the district and are approved by the Council of City of Cape Town as policy. The city centre is also referred to as CBD (Central Business District) by many. Depending on your situation—for example, if you’re visiting family, are here for work, or want to surf or kitesurf—one of these suburbs may be the best place to stay in Cape Town for you. The District Plans are medium term (10 year) plans that aim to guide spatial development processes and land use management within the district and are approved by the Council of City of Cape Town as policy. 2021 © The Unconventional Route All Rights Reserved, Here’s what’s available in central Camps Bay, Pros and Cons of Airbnb Versus Hotels: A Wake-Up Call, we recommend the free walking tour or the audio tour, How to find a furnished apartment in Cape Town, Top-Ranked hotels in Cape Town according to, Top-rated hostels in Cape Town according to. Please do. Basically the CBD, but farther from other neighborhoods, with fewer attractions, and with less of a CCID security presence. Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. De Waterkant is a tiny enclave that has evolved into a chi-chi shopping area, with cobbled streets and a fine square (Cape Quarter) surrounded by restaurants. Cape Town's Victorian harbour district, known as the Waterfront, lies just north-west of the city centre. It doesn’t get the same publicity in travel blogs and guides as other Cape Town neighborhoods, but we consider it to be perhaps the best place to stay in the city. Our … See why in our Pros and Cons of Airbnb Versus Hotels: A Wake-Up Call. Cape Town has plenty other “suburbs” to stay in that we haven’t mentioned yet. Read more about Happy holidays: welcome to Cape Town’s coolest hood “If cities were romances, Cape Town would be the love-at-first-sight,” according to Condé Nast Traveller . Free State is a South African province located in the center of the country. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip. You'll pay for the privilege of staying here, though (the cheap options aren't worth it). Read our opinions on Cape Town’s best neighborhoods and where to stay in each, then continue on our Cape Town travel blog with unique restaurants, unconventional must-dos, F.A.Q. Our favourite area: City Bowl. click for Fullsize-33.909436 18.403542 13 satellite. Cape Town City District Map. Browse hotel reviews and find the best price guaranteed on hotels for all budgets. Sometimes. Cape Town city center is part of the Cape Town 'City Bowl' and is framed by the main traffic arteries Adderley Street and Buitengracht Street. If you want to join, subscribe to Consider This for a fresh dose of ideas every 10 days. We use it from time to time, but it’s a bit of a hassle to sign up to and slow to use so we recommend sticking to Uber unless you’re staying in Cape Town for an extended period of time. All the action in Gardens revolves around Kloof Street, so in the Map above we’ve set its borders as being unofficially anywhere that’s within easy walking distance of it. Yes, but not for the entire time you’re in Cape Town.Without your own car, you’ll have a hard time getting to a lot of our favorite things to do in Cape Town like the scenic drives, the wine lands, the townships, and some hikes. Read our affiliate policy here. Whilst some visitors may find this recently renovated neighbourhood just a little pricey, it's nevertheless a very popular place to visit - both for its shopping centres and its location as the departure point for ferries to Robben Island. Free State is … It’s actually probably the most diverse of Cape Town’s neighborhoods in that regard. It’s safe, compact enough (from the one end of Kloof to far end of downtown is roughly 3 Km and takes about 40 minutes), the weather’s great, and walking’s good for you and better for getting to know a city. Khayelitsha is South Africa’s second largest township, after Johannesburg’s Soweto, with is very-roughly estimated at 2 million residents. The university town of Stellenbosch is the cultural epicenter of the Winelands, and its oak-lined streetscape offers the greatest sense of history; the wine produced by its terroir is also generally the best. Take an Uber to these neighborhoods (definitely don’t walk to them) for the Neighbourgoods Saturday market, the breweries, vintage shopping, and pizza, then take an Uber back to wherever you’re staying. We’ve been living in Green Point for five months (after an arduous apartment search) and find the location to be perfect for our needs: quiet, close enough to the city center’s restaurants, bars, and cafes, and also close enough to the Atlantic Seaboard’s beaches and waterfront promenade. Now, it’s a mostly-pedestrian wharf-like area full of super-expensive hotels and boats, a couple of museums, a giant mall, a Ferris wheel, some mostly un-exceptional restaurants, and lots and lots of people—people from all over Cape Town, South Africa, and the world. Atlantic Seaboard -- If you're looking for a beach holiday, stay on the Atlantic seaboard, where Table Mountain drops steeply into the ocean, creating a magnificent backdrop to the seaside "villages" of Bantry Bay, Clifton, Camps Bay, Bakoven, and Llandudno. from town), with its quaint Victorian buildings and narrow streets, has an interesting bohemian feel; its proximity to both the University of Cape Town and the huge Groote Schuur hospital makes for a particularly eclectic mix of people. These include Hout Bay, Somerset West, Gordon’s Bay, Kalk Bay, Bloubergstrand, Durbanville, Simon’s Town, Muizenberg, Claremont, Newlands, and Constantia. But the quality of life isn’t quite as rough as those estimates, at least in some sections. Newtown and nearby Braamfontein form two ends of the city's Cultural Arch. We walk just about everywhere during the day. Woodstock, with its totally unglamorous, semi-industrial feel, has been targeted for (positive) development and is seeing an injection of capital and creative energy that is transforming it into the next residential hub, already boasting the city's most fabulous Saturday market and enticing new shopping venues. Strip away the colorful paint from Bo-Kaap’s over-Instagrammed houses and you’re left with a regular working-class neighborhood inhabited by locals who understandably resent that tourism and development are eating away at their cultural enclave. Kim and Chris are fighting the status quo to win at life, then sharing their best tactics on The Unconventional Route. Kalk Bay, in particular, has a plethora of quaint restaurants and shops -- even a dinner theater. We rated each of our picks for the best neighborhoods in Cape Town in seven different categories: Dining, Cheap Eats, Safety, Nightlife, Cafes, Cost, and Neighborhood Feel. Home > Travel > South Africa > Cape Town > Best Neighborhoods in Cape Town. In most of Cape Town’s sub-districts, COVID-19 cases are decreasing or flattening, with the exception of Khayelitsha, which recorded a slight increase in cases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_the_Western_Cape South Africa’s alluring Mother City has dusted off 2020 and its downtown is more than … 94 reviews. Home > Directories > Facilities > Education and Training > Education District Offices. The V&A Waterfront wasn’t even a possible place to stay in Cape Town until the 1990s, when some ambitious (and now richer than ever) businessmen converted what was once a port into a tourism destination. Southern Peninsula & Cape Point -- Surrounded by mountains, the fast-developing town of Hout Bay has its own harbor and marks the start of the breathtaking Chapman's Peak Drive, which snakes past the burgeoning town of Noordhoek, and such sweet villages as Kommetjie, Misty Cliffs, and Scarborough, before reaching Cape Point Nature Reserve. 4 hotels District Six – the ideal getaway for scenery, sightseeing and mountains! The Pros and Cons of Airbnb vs. Hotels: A Wake-Up Call, Cape Town Must-Dos: 5 True Musts and a Bunch of Maybes, Cape Town Travel Tips: 25 Dos and Don’ts to Know Before You Go, Garden Route Guide: What 1st-Time Visitors Should Know Before They Go, The Best South Africa Road Trip Tips (10,00km Worth!). Director: Cape Winelands Education District PA: Linda Ntlombeni Tel: 023 348 4601 / Fax: 023 342 4138 e-Mail: Linda.ntlombeni@westerncape.gov.za. from town), the oak-lined streets and old, established mansions of Constantia are arguably the city's most exclusive addresses, with the lush surrounds of the Cape's oldest wine-producing area attracting the rich and famous who prefer their privacy to the glare of the sun-soaked hoi polloi in Camps Bay. And it's a little out of touch with the rest of the city; most of the locals you'll meet here are the ones working the shops. The information in this directory is compiled from various sources and is subject to continual change. Magisterial Districts: Draft Maps [Western Cape] Please note that all documentation on the site is in PDF format and require Acrobat Reader to open and read.. Related Gazettes & Documents. Parking can be a pain here and there’s a significant risk of someone breaking into your car, so a combo of walking and Uber is a better bet for the city.As for who to rent from, based on our handful of experiences here and extensive research for good deals, we recommend Around About Cars for rentals of a week or more and Avis (booked through a third-party like Expedia or Priceline for cheaper rates) for shorter-term rentals. The area known as District Six got its name from having been the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Green Point, Sea Point, De Waterkant, and the V&A Waterfront are all better alternatives. The District Six area is situated in the city bowl of Cape Town. Sea Point should be called Sea Pencil because it’s not a point but a long, narrow neighborhood that runs between the western side of Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Town hotels can get super pricey, especially in the summer, so you might be able to save with Airbnb. The Waterfront -- The Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront is one of the most successful in the world and -- for good or bad -- one of Cape Town's top attractions. De Waterkant is where we told Kim’s parents to stay when they came to visit, where we’d look to stay if we leave Cape Town and return for a few days. City Hall. To get a balanced view of Cape Town and a real insight into South Africa's history, a visit to these areas is highly recommended. Observatory (less than 10 min. From a purely practical standpoint, the CBD is the best neighborhood to stay in Cape Town. The sea is a few degrees warmer on this side of the mountain, and because this part of the coast faces east, dawn can be breathtaking, though obviously at the expense of sunsets. District Six: the official guide District Six is one of Cape Town’s most politically and historically important suburbs. Gardens is a trendy, upper-middle-class Cape Town residential neighborhood that’s up the hill from downtown in the direction of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. However, if you're heading north to see the West Coast, you should consider stopping at Blouberg Beach for the classic postcard view of Table Mountain across the bay; take the R27 Marine Drive, off the N1, to get here. Cape Town’s only semi-reliable public transit is the MyCiti bus that runs from downtown along the Atlantic Seaboard past Green Point, Sea Point, Clifton, Camps Bay, and on to Hout Bay. If you don’t want to read through everything we’ve written or decide for yourself where to stay in Cape Town, here’s our quick pick for the best neighborhood: With its central but secure location, convenient shops and cafes, and low-key atmosphere, you’re unlikely to regret making your base there. This area used to be the heart of Cape Town's nightlife and is experiencing a steady comeback, especially as vibey Green Point puts on the glitz for 2010. These hillside residential areas with beautiful houses protected by ugly walls and electric fences are a slog to walk or drive to. Outside of rush hour (coming into downtown from 7 to 9 a.m. and leaving downtown from 4 to 7 p.m.), no ride within the parts of the city you’ll want to spend most of your time will take more than 15 minutes or cost more than R90 (6.50USD) in an Uber. Around 15km south of the city center you’ll find these wealthy … These are grouped by region into 1 Metropolitan municipality, 5 rural Districts municipalities and 24 Local municipalities. Answers to the questions many first-time visitors ask when trying to figure out where to stay in Cape Town. This project is an initiative of the Western Cape Government. Whether you’re looking for hotels, homes, or vacation rentals, you’ll always find the guaranteed best price. Constantia, Tokai & Bishopscourt. The Western Cape’s only metropolitan municipality is the City of Cape Town. It’s also known as Zonnebloem, or sometimes the East City. Location. Cape Flats -- This is where the majority of "coloureds" (the apartheid name for people of mixed descent) live, many forcibly relocated from District Six (a now-razed suburb adjacent to the city) by apartheid policies. Description: This map shows Cape Town suburbs. Disclosure: Whenever possible, we use links that earn us a cut if you pay for stuff we recommend. Southern Suburbs -- The three worth highlighting are Woodstock, Observatory, and Constantia. City Bowl is the central area of Cape Town formed by the CBD (Central … "The architecture of this … So even though most white and coloured Capetonians will advise you against visiting at all—and even we’d advise against making it the base for your whole Cape Town trip—we certainly recommend you consider spending a night. Map. A thin strip of cloud, known colloquially as the "tablecloth", s… If you need to be near the action rather than surrounded by nature, you'll probably find these places a little too far from the city. Closer to the water, the beachfront that stretches along the coast of Mouille Point and Sea Point has been largely ruined by the construction of dense high-rise apartments (although, come sunset, the seaside promenade is still a salubrious place to walk, jog, or hold hands), while pockets along Sea Point's Main Road are hangouts for hookers and drug dealers. The sunsets here are awe inspiring. City. Kim walks alone, too. Go back to see more maps of Cape Town  Maps of South Africa. Don’t miss our Cape Town Destination Guide for more basic info, mythbusting, and fun facts. Postal Address: Cape Winelands Education District Private Bag X3102 WORCESTER 6849. You'll find a wide selection of restaurants on Main Road, from Green Point to the very end of Sea Point, but mind yourself after dark. It’s at the center of everything and affordable, so you’ll be able to see more in less time and for less money by staying there. Skyscrapers jostle for attention in Johannesburg's city centre district of Newtown. It is made up of Walmer Estate, Zonnebloem, and Lower Vrede (the former Roeland Street Scheme). But Airbnb isn’t always worth the savings, especially if you’re not careful. Northern Suburbs -- With their kitsch postmodern palaces and endless "first-home" developments, these suburbs don't really warrant much attention. Even farther east are the "black suburbs" (historically referred to as "townships") of Gugulethu, Langa, and Nyanga, and the vast shantytowns and new residences of Khayalitsha (visible from the N2 as you drive into town from the airport).