Tour the Cape Peninsula by car

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Cape Peninsula

Tour the Cape Peninsula by car

A private tour of the Cape Peninsula in Cape Town usually includes a scenic coastal drive along Chapmans Peak, the Cape of Good Hope National Park and Cape Point. You’ll also view the penguins at Boulders Bay and visit Simonstown Historical Naval Base. The tour ends with the magnificent Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

The Tour

You travel along the coastal road through the chic Cape Town suburbs of Clifton, Camps Bay and onto the picturesque fishing community of Hout Bay. (An optional extra would be to take a short 30 minute boat cruise to view the Cape Fur Seal colony on Duiker Island.)

Next, you enjoy a scenic drive along the famous Chapmans Peak – if open – as it hugs the cliffside with a 200m drop on one side and a 200m rise on the other. This is without a doubt one of the world’s most spectacular mountain passes. You will also have a chance to watch Southern Right Whales frolicking just offshore (June to November).

You continue south to reach the Cape of Good Hope National Park. Explore the rocky coastline and unique Cape Fynbos vegetation. This area is home to unique birdlife such as African Black Oystercatchers and Cape Sugarbirds amongst others. You may be lucky enough to see wildlife such as the Cape Mountain Zebra, Bontebok, ostrich and baboon. Climb up to the famous Cape Point Lighthouse (approx. 20 mins walk up and 15 mins walk down) to capture the magical views over the bay.

Returning along the Indian Ocean, you stop to visit the unique penguin colonies at Boulders Beach. You then meander through the historic naval base of Simonstown and over yet another spectacular mountain pass, Boyes Drive. Here you take in views of the quaint fishing harbour at Kalk Bay. And views of the seaside villages of St James and Muizenberg.

You finish with Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens, which must surely be some of the finest gardens in Africa, nestling on the lower slopes of Table Mountain. Walk through the gardens where 4,000 of the 22,000 Southern African flowering plants are cultivated in a setting of mountain streams, pools and rolling lawns. You then return to your hotel in the late afternoon.

Mode of travel

You can do this on a self-drive basis, a scheduled tour or a private tour. We recommend a private tour, especially if you are a party of 4 or more (as then the price is very similar to a scheduled tour). With a private tour, you have the freedom to adapt the above tour as you would like. However, beware of adding too many options as you may find yourself rushing too much.

Optional excursions:

Optional excursions can include a boat cruise to Duiker Island, a visit to the World of Birds in Hout Bay, or horse-riding on Noordhoek beach. Or a visit to the ostrich farm close to the Cape of Good Hope. However, time spent on these excursions will need to come from other parts of the day.

If you wish to do any of these excursions, we suggest that you leave out Kirstenbosch Gardens, as this can be visited easily by taxi from the city centre.