7 Most Instagrammable Spots in Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town's geography does most of the work for its photographs: a flat-topped mountain rising straight out of the city centre, two oceans meeting nearby, and a coastline that swings from white sand to rocky headland within a short drive. Add a historic quarter of brightly painted houses and a resident colony of penguins, and it is little wonder the city turns up constantly across travel feeds. Here are seven of its most photographed spots.

1. Table Mountain summit

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, with cars that rotate 360 degrees during the ascent, carries visitors up to the flat summit plateau for wide views over the city, Table Bay and, on a clear day, as far as Robben Island.

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2. Bo-Kaap

A historic Cape Malay quarter on the slopes of Signal Hill, known for its rows of brightly painted 18th- and 19th-century houses along steep, cobbled streets, with Wale Street and Chiappini Street among the most photographed stretches.

3. Boulders Beach

Near Simon's Town on the Cape Peninsula, this beach is home to a colony of African penguins that has lived alongside a wooden boardwalk viewing area since the 1980s, making it one of the few places in the world to see the birds this close in the wild.

4. Camps Bay

A palm-lined beach strip on the Atlantic side of the city, with the jagged Twelve Apostles mountain range as a backdrop and a run of beachfront cafés and bars that fill up for sunset.

5. Kirstenbosch Boomslang Walkway

A curved steel-and-timber canopy walkway through Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, that lifts visitors above the tree line for views back across the garden and the mountain itself.

6. Chapman's Peak Drive

A cliffside toll road cut into the mountainside between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, considered one of the world's most scenic coastal drives, with a string of viewpoints overlooking the Atlantic below.

7. Cape Point

At the tip of the Cape Peninsula within Table Mountain National Park, Cape Point's lighthouse and cliffside walkways look out over the meeting point of ocean currents near the southwestern corner of Africa.

Traveller tips

• Cape Town International Airport connects to most major hubs; there is no direct flight from India, so most journeys route through the Gulf or Europe.
• The cableway up Table Mountain closes in high wind, so build a flexible day into any itinerary that depends on it.
• Bo-Kaap is a residential neighbourhood; photographing homes respectfully and keeping to the streets is expected of visitors.
• November to March is Cape Town's dry summer season and its busiest period for visitors.