Cape Town itinerary: 4 days for a first visit

Four days is the right amount of time for a first visit to Cape Town. It gives you a day for the mountain and the old city, a long day on the peninsula, a day for the harbour and Robben Island, and a day for gardens, wine or the beach. With three days you drop one of those; with five you start to want the Garden Route, which is a different trip.

The city is spread out. Table Mountain, the beaches, the vineyards and the end of the continent are each a drive apart, so this plan keeps every day in one area and puts the weather-dependent things first. Cape Town's weather changes quickly, and the mountain disappears under cloud more often than visitors expect, so keep one day loose and swap days if you need to.

Before you go: the short version

• How long: four full days. Add a fifth for the winelands, or two more if you want the whale coast around Hermanus.
• Where to stay: the City Bowl or Gardens for a first visit, with the mountain behind you and restaurants on your doorstep; the V&A Waterfront for convenience; Sea Point or Camps Bay for the sea.
• From the airport: the city centre is about 25 to 30 minutes by car or ride-hail outside rush hour. There is also a dedicated airport bus into town.
• Getting around: ride-hailing for the city, a hire car or a driver for the peninsula. South Africans drive on the left. More in the South Africa travel guide.
• Book ahead: the Table Mountain cableway, the Robben Island ferry and any winelands lunch. Check times and book ahead; the first two are cancelled when the wind is wrong.

Day 1: Table Mountain and the City Bowl

Morning. Look up before you plan the day. If the mountain is clear, go up first, because cloud tends to build later. The cableway is the quick way to the top; there are also hiking routes up, which are hard going and best done with a guide or a group, never alone. Whichever way you go, the top is a flat plateau with short paths to the edge and a view over the city, Table Bay and, on a good day, Robben Island. Check times and book ahead for the cableway, and bring a layer, as it is cooler and windier up there.

Afternoon. Come down into the City Bowl, the old centre in the amphitheatre of the mountain. Walk through the Company's Garden, once the vegetable plot for passing Dutch ships and now a green strip through the middle of town, with the national gallery and other museums along its edge. Then walk up to Bo-Kaap, the hillside of steep cobbled streets and brightly painted houses, once home to the Cape Malay community. It is a residential area as well as a photo stop, so keep your voice down and ask before photographing people. The Bo-Kaap museum explains the history, and the neighbourhood is the place to try Cape Malay dishes such as bobotie or koeksisters.

Evening. Walk down to Greenmarket Square and Long Street for a drink or an early dinner in the centre. Take a ride-hail back rather than walking around town in the dark; the same advice applies to every large city.

Day 2: The Cape Peninsula

This is the long day, and it is best by car. Hire one with a driver or take a day tour, or drive yourself if you are comfortable on the left. It is about 150 km round trip, so start early and plan to be back after dark.

Morning. Drive the coast road south through Camps Bay and Hout Bay, with its harbour and seal boats. The road over Chapman's Peak Drive is one of the great drives in the world, cut into the cliffs above the sea; if it is closed for weather or rockfall, there is an inland route. Pull over at the viewpoints and keep your valuables out of sight when you park.

Afternoon. Continue to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve at the tip of the peninsula. Take the funicular or walk up to the old lighthouse at Cape Point for the view out to where the two oceans are said to meet, and look for baboons and ostriches along the road. Do not feed the baboons, and keep food out of reach in the car. On the way back, stop at Boulders Beach near Simon's Town to watch the African penguins on the sand. Check times and book ahead if you want to enter the reserve at a particular time.

Evening. Have dinner in Simon's Town or back at Hout Bay for fish and chips by the harbour, or return to the city and eat in Sea Point, where the long seafront promenade is good for a walk at sunset.

Day 3: Robben Island and the Waterfront

Morning. Take the ferry from the V&A Waterfront to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and many others were imprisoned for years. The tour includes the prison and is led by former political prisoners or by guides who tell the story with care. The trip takes several hours in all, and sailings are cancelled in rough seas, so book early, ideally on your first day in town, and keep Day 3 flexible. Allow a quiet hour afterwards.

Afternoon. Spend the rest of the day around the Waterfront. It is a working harbour with seals sleeping on the docks, a clock tower, craft and design shops and plenty of places to eat. The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, in a converted grain silo, is the main attraction for art lovers. If you want more of the city's history, the District Six Museum in the centre tells the story of how Cape Town was divided under apartheid, and is worth a detour on the way back.

Evening. Drive or ride to Signal Hill, the ridge beside Table Mountain, for sunset over the Atlantic and the city lights coming on. Then a late dinner along Sea Point or on the Waterfront.

Day 4: Kirstenbosch, Constantia and the southern suburbs

Morning. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden sits on the eastern slope of Table Mountain and is one of the finest in the world, with native fynbos, the treetop walkway and picnic lawns. Go early for the light and the birdsong.

Afternoon. Drive on to Constantia, the oldest wine region in South Africa, just a few minutes away. Several estates have restaurants and tastings in the old Cape Dutch buildings, among oaks and vines. Book your lunch ahead, and share a driver or hand the keys to one person, or take a ride-hail between estates. If you would rather swim, Muizenberg, further south, has a long sandy beach, colourful beach huts and gentle surf, and a train line along the seafront.

Evening. For a last dinner, go back to the City Bowl or Gardens and sit at an outdoor table if the weather allows. Cape Town evenings are often cool even in summer.

With more time

• A fifth day: the Stellenbosch and Franschhoek winelands are about an hour from the city, with valleys of vines, mountains and Cape Dutch farmhouses.
• Hermanus and the Overberg: two hours east, with whale watching from the cliffs in the right season.
• Further on: the Garden Route runs east along the coast from the winelands, and the safari parks lie a flight away. The South Africa travel guide lays out a 12-day route.

Where to stay

• City Bowl and Gardens: central, walkable to restaurants, galleries and the cableway road. The easiest first base.
• V&A Waterfront: the harbour district, convenient for the Robben Island ferry, with plenty of dining nearby.
• Sea Point and Green Point: apartments and hotels along the seafront promenade, with ocean views and good for sunsets.
• Camps Bay: a beach below the mountains with restaurants along the road; beautiful, but more of a drive from the centre.

For a group, a large apartment or a villa on the Atlantic side can cost less per person than hotel rooms. See where to stay with a group.

Getting around

Ride-hailing apps are the simplest way to move around the city and are generally what visitors use, especially in the evening. The MyCiTi bus runs between the airport, the centre and the Atlantic coast. Hire a car for the peninsula and the winelands, but if you do, park in attended or busy spots and leave nothing visible inside.

Cape Town is a wonderful city, and like any large city it rewards some ordinary care. Before you go, read your own government's current travel advice and the guidance of South Africa's official tourism and police services, and ask your accommodation about local conditions for the days you are there. Tour guides and drivers are good sources for where to walk and when. The same planning advice applies on the mountain: check conditions, hike in a group, tell someone your route and carry water.

Planning Cape Town as a group

Cape Town works best for a group when the pieces that depend on weather and booking are decided together. Put the cableway, the Robben Island ferry and the winelands lunch in one shared plan, so you can swap days around when the mountain is under cloud. Decide early who is driving the peninsula, and keep the shared costs, like a car, a driver, the lunches and the ride-hails, in one place so nobody has to remember who paid for what.

What to pack

Layers are the whole answer. The mornings and evenings can be cool and the wind strong, even in summer, so bring a light waterproof jacket and a fleece alongside shorts and a swimsuit. Pack walking shoes with grip for the mountain and the reserve, a hat and sunscreen, as the sun is strong, and binoculars if you care about penguins and birds. The packing list for a city break covers the rest.