5 Day Cape Town Explorer Tour

An African Sky guide meets guests at Cape Town International Airport. The tour then travels to the famous Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, where guests embark on a ferry ride to Murray's Harbor on Robben Island. The harbor is named after the 19th-century whaler John Murray. The island is most famous for serving as a detention center for political prisoners, most notably Nelson Mandela.

The island was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, ensuring its protection. You will visit the prison and see the cell where Nelson Mandela served part of his prison sentence. A visit is also included to a limestone quarry where prisoners used to toil their days away. The duration of the tour is approximately two and a half hours. One of the highlights is sure to be the incredible views of Cape Town and Table Mountain on the ferry ride to and from the island. Upon returning to the waterfront, guests are met and transferred to their hotel.

Table Mountain is one of the world's most recognizable natural landmarks and Cape Town's most visited tourist attraction. We devote the morning to exploring the summit of this massive monolith. In addition to the splendid views that can be enjoyed, the mountain is home to an impressive array of fauna and flora. You will surely find the antics of the rock hyrax (dassies) interesting and the diversity of flowering fynbos species astounding.

Upon descending the mountain via the cableway, your guide will accompany you to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The gardens comprise more than 500 hectares, with an additional 478 hectares of fynbos. Kirstenbosch is a nature lover's paradise with over 7000 plant species in the gardens. Your tour of Kirstenbosch will end in the late afternoon, after which we will return to your hotel.

Guests are met after breakfast for a tour of Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, located in one of the two most southern national parks in South Africa. The tour makes its way through Green Point and passes the magnificent beach at Camps Bay en route to Hout Bay, from where it travels via the scenic Chapman's Peak drive to the town of Noordhoek and on to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. The reserve boasts over 40km of coastline, home to over a thousand floral species and a wealth of wildlife. Exceptional views of False Bay can be enjoyed from the lookout at Cape Point, on a sheer cliff towering over 300m above the water's edge.

The visit to Cape Point is followed by a short journey to Boulders Beach, where some time is devoted to viewing a colony of African penguins before traveling back to Cape Town via Muizenberg.

The Winelands are the focus of this day. The tour travels along the national highway to the town of Paarl. Here, we devote some time to exploring the historic character of this town, located in an area that was first settled in 1668. From Paarl, we venture to two of the finest wineries in the area. Here, guests will learn about the creation and appreciation of South African wines through discussions hosted by local experts and sampling a wide range of quality red and white wines.

After the wine farm visits are concluded, the tour returns to Cape Town via Stellenbosch and Somerset West. In Stellenbosch, we devote a couple of hours to a tour of the town highlights. It is the oldest town in South Africa after Cape Town and one of the most historically well-preserved. Your guide will accompany you on a walk on Dorp Street, where magnificent examples of Cape Dutch, Victorian, and Edwardian architecture are displayed. Giant Oak trees add to the ambiance of the area. A visit is made to Oom Samie se Winkel, a Victorian-age general dealer that offers a variety of local goods, curiosities, and antiques.

After breakfast, we embark on a tour of the V&A Waterfront. The tour focuses on the Waterfront's rich history and highlights its transformation from a working harbor to one of the premier tourist destinations in South Africa. Highlights include a clock tower dating back to 1882, constructed in the Victorian-Gothic style, and Robinson Dry Dock, one of the oldest still in use.

Then, some time is devoted to visiting the Two Oceans Aquarium, which offers an immersive experience of the marine biodiversity of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. You will see various aquatic life, ranging from tropical fish to many predators like sharks. One of the exhibits also features African penguins and rescued northern rockhopper penguins. You then have the opportunity to enjoy lunch and do some last-minute shopping before being accompanied to the airport or dropped off at any location in or around Cape Town.