Day trips from Cape Town
Six day trips from Cape Town, ordered by driving time — and two that depend on the month rather than the weather.
- Best full day
- The peninsula — Chapman's Peak
- Nearest winelands
- Stellenbosch, 45 minutes
- Seasonal
- Hermanus from June to November
Day trips from Cape Town are measured in driving time: Stellenbosch is 45 minutes, Franschhoek an hour, Hermanus an hour and a half, Cape Agulhas two and a half. The peninsula is nearer than any of them but takes a whole day for the stops, and Hermanus and the West Coast have their own months.
The peninsula — a full day
Chapman's Peak along the ocean, the Cape Point reserve with its lighthouse and the sign at the Cape of Good Hope (€27), penguins at Boulders (€13) and back through Simon's Town and Kalk Bay. Both entries are card only. Leave at eight: four stops and the driving between them fill the day.
Stellenbosch — 45 minutes
A university town with Dutch architecture at the heart of the wine route. A tasting and lunch fill the day. Go with a driver or on a tour.
Franschhoek — 1 h
A valley settled by French Huguenots in 1688, with a wine tram that loops between estates. The tram solves the same problem as a driver, and one ticket lasts the day.
Hermanus — 1 h 30, seasonal
A town on Walker Bay, where southern right whales come from June to November to calve and mate, close enough to watch from the rocks with no boat. Calves are born in August and September, and whale numbers peak in late September and October.
Cape Agulhas — 2 h 30
The actual southern tip of Africa and, by international convention, the boundary between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean — not the Cape of Good Hope. There is a sign, a lighthouse and wind. A full day because of the driving.
The West Coast in August
West Coast National Park, ninety minutes north, flowers in August and September and turns into a field of wild blooms. Outside that window, you do not go.
What not to do
- Two trips in one day. The peninsula and the winelands are on opposite sides; put them together and both become driving.
- Calling Cape Point the southern tip. It is not — that is Cape Agulhas, a hundred and fifty kilometres east.
- Hermanus out of season. Without the whales it is an ordinary seaside town at the end of a long drive.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Can the peninsula be done without a car?
On a coach tour, yes, but it runs to its own timetable and does not reach Kalk Bay. With a car you stop where you like, and when the wind closes Chapman's Peak you go round by Ou Kaapse Weg.
When are the whales at Hermanus?
June to November, most reliably in late September and October. You watch them from the rocks along the shore, with no boat.
How long is the drive to the winelands?
Forty-five minutes to Stellenbosch, about an hour to Franschhoek. Neither is driven after a tasting — a driver, the tram or a tour.
Ready for Cape Town?
Where to next
Where to stay in Cape Town
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Johannesburg · 1262 km
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→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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