Amongst the most popular travel destinations in South Africa is the Western Cape region with Cape Town as its centre. Although it's a small area relative to other popular cosmopolitan cities, it attracts millions of visitors from all over the world every year. Cape Town is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world as it is surrounded by glorious landscapes with unique vegetation, beautiful mountains and stunning wide beaches, especially on the Cape Peninsula, at False Bay and on the West Coast.
Popular destinations in this area include the Cape Winelands with Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek. Besides exquisite wines and sumptuous cuisine, one finds a rural paradise and enchanting mountain landscapes. Tourism discovered the Breede River Valley much later. Wine is also grown here and the landscapes are wide and green.
The Overberg is famous for its coast where the whales are keenly watched during the season. The water is warmer here at the Indian Ocean and very good for swimming. Entirely different are the Cederberg Mountains. Here the summers are dry and hot. In the valleys, surrounded by rugged rock massifs, Rooibos tea and citrus fruit is being cultivated with the water from the Olifants River.
If you love wide, open landsapes and clear skies, the Karoo semi-desert that stretches over hundreds of kilometres to the north and east is the perfect choice. Friendly people await the visitor here and pretty country towns and grandiose nature offer relaxation.
The Western Cape Province reaches out to Plettenberg Bay in the east, and consists of the famous and diverse Garden Route.
Cape Town
In this beautiful city even transient visitors can't help but devote a few million brain cells to storing images of its grandeur: its striking Table Mountain backdrop, its glorious beaches and enchanting vineyards, its rugged landscapes, its strange and wonderful plants and animals.
Cape Town is famed for its hospitality. Its mix of trendy hostelries match up favourably to those in any other cosmopolitan city...
The Cape Town Atlantic Seaboard is for the young and the young at heart. It has beaches, restaurants, bars and accommodation with magnificent views. The white sand beaches of Hout Bay, Noordhoek and Llandudno are of the most beautiful in Cape Town.
Clifton, well known for its 4 secluded beaches, one of which has International Blue Flag status, and Camps Bay for its vibe and wonderful restaurants, attract crowds of sun-seekers. Family beaches include Scarborough, Camps Bay, Clifton fourth beach and Kommetjie.
A mix of residential, commercial and rural suburbs that stretch South, North and East of the City Centre.
From leafy suburbs that nestle below the slopes of Table Mountain to the expanse of the Cape Flats, the suburbs of Cape Town are the heart and soul of the City.
Winter in the Cape Winelands is an invitation to spend a leisurely evening in front of a fireplace with a bottle of wine! A time to relax and reflect on life, revive old friendships and make new acquaintances.
But do not be mistaken in thinking that winter means the Cape Winelands goes into hibernation or that Mother Nature takes time off! The mild autumn weather brings with it a kaleidoscope of scenic experiences with the changing, rich, earthy colours, while winter often sees the mountain peaks capped in snow.
The suburbs in northern Cape Town on both sides of the N1 are called the "Northern Suburbs". The main ones are Plattekloof, Bellville, Parow, Tygerberg and Durbanville.
Here - about 25 kilometres away from the centre of town - lives the majority of the population of Cape Town. During the week at the rush hours there is stop-and-go traffic on the N1.
Suburbs, (if travelling Southbound from City Centre) are Rosebank, Rondebosch, Newlands, Claremont, Bishopscourt, Kenilworth, Wynberg, Plumstead, Constantia, Bergvliet and Tokai.
Some of the favourite attractions here include Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens and Rhodes Memorial, both set against the majestic Table Mountain.
Breede River Valley, with 10 uniquely exquisite entrances is incredibly beautiful and serene.
Enjoy a calm drive, or try enjoy the available 4x4 drives, tractor rides, mountain biking, hiking, canoe safaris, fishing, rock climbing, yachting, speed boating, waterskiing, sailboarding, gliding, horseriding and much more!
The Helderberg area encompasses the towns of Gordon's Bay, Lwandle, Macassar, Sir Lowry's Pass, Somerset West and Strand.
The Hottentots Holland and Helderberg Mountain Ranges provide a majestic backdrop to the picturesque vineyards and the spectacular False Bay coastline. The vast expanse of white, sandy beaches, warm water, cliffs and coves make the area a tourist and photographer's paradise.
East of the city of Cape Town, lying at the southernmost tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, lies a beautiful fertile region surrounded by mountains and sea called the Overberg.
This is a truly beautiful area with a rich diversity of bird life, plant species and wild animals, majestic mountains, pristine beaches and rocky shores.
The contoured wheat barley fields have become man-made habitats for the blue crane, South Africa's national bird.
Except for the fynbos vegetation of the Cape, the flora of the central South African high-plateau is dominated by the wide steppe vegetation of the Karoo.
The area takes its name from the Bushmen who once roamed through the wide land, which was their hunting and grazing ground. They called the land "kurù", meaning "dry" or "rough".
The Swartland begins some 50 kilometres north of Cape Town and consists of the regions between the towns of Malmesbury in the south, Darling in the west, Piketberg in the north and the Riebeek West and Riebeek Kasteel in the east.
Jan van Riebeek called this softly undulating land between mighty mountain ranges "Het Zwarte Land" (the Black Land) because of the endemic Renoster shrubs.
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