The Western Cape is one of South Africa’s largest and most diverse holiday destinations offering a smorgasbord of sensory delights carefully moulded into irresistible package deals for young and old travellers. South African holidays in the Western Cape include some of the best beach, mountain, desert and remote accommodations in the country. Stay in luxury hotels, lavish resorts, mountain cabins, farm cottages and rustic campsites.
Find all the relevant Western Cape holiday package information here for the best hotels, accommodation and travel information. Grab our Cape Town and Winelands deals with two hands! Welcome to Cape Town, the Western Cape’s Mother City, bordered on either side by a different ocean and situated at the tip of Africa’s southern gateway.
The coastline varies from sandy between capes, to rocky to steep and mountainous in places. The province is topographically exceptionally diverse and most of it falls within the Cape Fold Belt, a set of nearly parallel ranges of sandstone-folded mountains from 510 to about 330 million years ago – their folding into mountains occurred about 350 to about 270 million years ago. The height of the mountain peaks in the different ranges varies from 1000 m to 2300 m.
The Western Cape is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of 129,449 square km and the southernmost region of the African continent with Cape Agulhas as its southernmost point, only 3800 km from the Antarctic coastline.
There are many cities and towns in the Western Cape and the coastal region also boasts several harbours. Most tourists to this rich province start their holidays exploring Cape Town, the Mother City. Then combine a wide range of Cape Town guided tours and experiences such as a boat trip from the V&A Waterfront to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned merged with a hike up Table Mountain and then a cable car tour down again.
Set off at your own pace from the accommodation of your choice and explore Cape Town on foot with a walking tour to learn about its colourful history, the origins of the city bowl and the colourful Cape Malay suburb of the Bo Kaap.
Cape Town family holidays are immensely popular thanks to the many beautiful beaches and an incredible range of the best family activities. Cape Town accommodation is varied and vibrant and holidays can focus on seaside resorts and luxury ocean-view hotels or garden cottages and guest houses in quiet leafy neighbourhoods. There is so much for children to do here, in the great outdoors and in the many indoor activity centres.
The city’s wine route meanders along the edge of Table Mountain National Park from Steenberg to Constantia while the Southern Peninsula near Simonstown and Cape Point caters for honeymooners, families and groups with its offerings of both down-to-earth and luxury beach accommodation with idyllic views and a staggering amount to explore.
From eating out at world-renowned restaurants and drinking at vibrant pubs to wine tastings, Kirstenbosch Gardens and the Parliament buildings, Voyage2Africa will advise you on where to stay and what to do in the Western Cape. We recommend fab family accommodation with our favourite hand-picked selection of Cape Town guest houses, boutique hotels, family-friendly hotels as well as luxury private villas perched on the ocean.
Cape Town sits at the tip of Southern African, creating an excellent starting point for your overland safari into Africa. From here, Voyage2Africa offers the best safaris inland to the rest of South Africa and beyond. Not far away lies Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. We cater for families, honeymoon couples and friends, we cater for business travellers and large groups.
Take the East Coast from Cape Town via South Africa’s other provinces to explore game reserves and beaches in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, ending up in magical Mozambique. Or take the West Coast past the Fish River Canyon into Namibia to explore a vast desert region where desolate landscapes are broken with luxury lodges and top-class national parks. Talk to us, Africa is our home. We customise your dream safari holiday from the Western Cape into the rest of East Africa.
In South Africa Cape Town is fondly called the Mother City, and there is nothing quite like the energy and atmosphere of Cape Town’s City Bowl which provides the lifeblood to the greater surrounding areas of this unique city. Shaped like an amphitheatre the City Bowl includes the mighty Table Bay and is guarded over by the mountains of Signal Hill, Lion’s Head, Devils Peak and of course one of the 7 natural wonders of the world – Cape Town’s Table Mountain.
One of the most popular South African experiences is wine tasting in the Cape Winelands. The most popular wine making towns are Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Paarl, and the beauty of how the wine farms are situated is that it’s easy to visit a number of different regions all in one day with most scheduled wine land day tours including a taste of all three.
The V&A Waterfront is easily one of Africa’s most visited destinations and is loved by local Capetonians and visitors alike. What makes it unique is this attraction is set in the oldest working harbour in South Africa, so visitors can shop, explore and experience alongside cruise ships and giant fishing trawlers being serviced in the dry docks as well as admire the luxury catamarans and superyachts in the millionaire’s marina.
The Atlantic Seaboard is found between the Table Mountain range and the chilly Atlantic Ocean. Also known as Cape Town’s ‘Riviera’ it stretches from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront on the north shore of Table Mountain all the way down the Atlantic side of the Cape Peninsula.
The west coast boasts unspoilt white sandy beaches, the friendliest of fishing communities, Langebaan Lagoon that has water as turquoise and pristine as some parts of Mozambique, mountain ranges, geographical diversity, and in spring bursts into bloom with a riot of neon wild flowers. The Cape West Coast or Route 27 stretches from Cape Town as far as the border with the Northern Cape at Touws River.
The Cape Whale Coast is a 130km stretch of pristine coast in South Africa’s Western Cape province. It includes the poplar towns of Hermanus, Gansbaai, Kleinmond and Stanford and offers some of the best land whale watching in the world literally right from the cliff side although you can also get up close and personal by boat and even watch them frolic from the air via helicopter.
Explore fantastic wine regions just inland from Hermanus in fabulous Franschhoek, historic Paarl, cultural Stellenbosch, scenic Tulbagh and further out to Robertson and the Breede River Valley. Taste award-winning wines, dine on nouvelle cuisine in pretty country settings and try exciting outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking and horse riding. Sample the beauty of the scenic Cape Winelands as you set out to explore its vineyards. Choose luxury accommodation in rural chalets, country hotels and self-catering villas with fireplaces and swimming pools.
Visit the Western Cape specifically to explore the famous Cape Winelands because it offers so much variety, quality accommodation and things to do. It is a sensory delight during all seasons, when the vines are green or when the autumn colors turn the leaves golden and the grapes are being harvested. Pick a few wine routes, hire a driver and explore the vast wine route areas and taste your favorite reds, whites and bubblies.
The Mother City Cape Town is brimming with history, culture and landmarks that commemorate years of interesting changes, politically, environmentally and socially. The Cape Town city bowl offers popular spots for entertainment and pleasure: wining and dining, music concerts and shows, ballets, conferences and seminars. There are enormous sports events and parades through the city and the main stadium at Green Point hosts rugby and soccer games watched by thousands of sports fans.
The city bowl is also a great place in which to enjoy the great outdoors: Table Mountain and the cableway, the V & A Waterfront for shopping, restaurants and boat cruises and The Two Oceans Aquarium for a peep at some amazing marine creatures. The city bowl is definitely the heart of Cape Town and is a cosmopolitan melting pot of Europeans, Dutch, Cape Malays, ‘Coloureds’, Xhosas, Afrikaans, Indonesian, Pakistani and many more cultures who have ancestors from South Africa or who chose to move here.
From Cape Town, drive past the Table Mountain cable car and pop over the neck to Hout Bay to eat fresh fish straight off the fishing boats at the bustling harbour. Buy a ticket for a thrilling boat cruise out to Seal Island on huge rolling swells. This is the corner of the famous Atlantic Seaboard, one of the most scenic drives in South Africa. Then drive along Chapman’s Peak to view the long white beach at Noordhoek.
Back to Hout Bay and into Llandudno to its huge charismatic boulders, solitary beach and surfing spot then head on down to the white sugary beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay. Walk the sunny promenade from Sea Point to Mouille Point, stopping for coffee at Green Point Park. The Atlantic Seaboard nestles along the cold Atlantic Ocean below the Twelve Apostles peaks of Table Mountain and is fondly called the “Riviera” – a destination well-populated by those who can afford the many luxury homes built into the cliffs.
Take a drive from Capet Town towards Namibia, on the way to the Northern Cape and a mere 30 minutes later you are on the captivating Cape West Coast. From a dense urban area, you reach a wild, open area of farmlands, private game parks and long deserted beaches. The West Coast remains quaint, a fishing coastline where charming villages host local people and tourists out on an adventure. From Blaauwberg to Yzerfontein and Darling, then up north past the Atlantis Sand Dunes, a fabulous conservation area and weird moonscape of remote beaches, rocky shores and immense dunes they are perfect for sand boarding parties and 4×4 skills testing.
Continue to the spectacular West Coast National Park, a long-protected area reaching from Yzerfontein to Langebaan, open to amazing outdoor activities such as bird watching, game sighting, biking and whale spotting.
Known as the Jewel of the West Coast, Langebaan is reminiscent of an island with its warm climate, beautiful blue lagoon and nature reserve access to the West Coast National Park. Then you get to the core of the fishing industry, Saldanha Bay, a water sports hotspot and a military training bay too. Paternoster is especially popular with visitors who want to eat fresh crayfish and explore the rocky coastline. It’s an old fishing village with plenty of old colorful boats going out to sea every day. Continue past Jacobs Bay, Shelley Point and St Helena Bay until you reach Velddrif, the heart of the Cape fishing coast.
