Live like a Capetonian and stay in the City Centre. Discover small privately owned Guesthouses and Boutique Hotels, explore quirky Long Street, Greenmarket Square and the bustling Kloof Street.
The Cape Town City Centre is alive with possibilities. The city is still the commercial heartland of Cape Town and many banks, airlines, tour operators (Rhino Africa included!) have their offices here. As a general rule the closer to Table Mountain you are the more residential the city centre, or City Bowl as it is colloquially known, becomes.
There are a variety of places to stay in the City Centre, from large hotels to small boutique hotels with only a few rooms. You can read more about Cape Town City Centre Hotels
Historically the centre of Cape Town is very interesting. A great way of orientating yourself to the city centre is to take a tour of the City Centre either by Topless Bus or a Day Tour of Cape Town. Many of the original buildings are still in existence. Most time honored of the buildings is the Castle that once guarded Cape Town against sea approaches, while among the most attractive are those erected by the talented architects Louis Thibault and sculptor Anton Anreith. Later decades also produced their gems, notably the filigreed, wrought iron legacies of the Victoria Era that decorate Long Street and its neighbours.
Perhaps the most pleasant of Cape Town’s several piazzas is the graceful and leafy Greenmarket Square, where fruit and vegetable growers once marketed their wares. Today the Greenmarket Square offers you the opportunity to purchase, curios, art works, jewelery, from all over Africa. From henna tattoos, hair braiding and fortune telling there is lots to see and do in Greenmarket Square.
Close by Long Street has a variety of African Craft Shops , Clothing Shops, Antique Shops, Bead Shops and Book Shops. The street has a lovely African atmosphere about it. Be sure to stop in at Royale Eatery on your way for an excellent Burger Meal.
As our Cape Town City Centre Map shows – Long Street leads into Kloof Street. This street has undergone much redevelopment in many years and has an interesting mix of shops and restaurants to enjoy.
Traffic thunders from both sides, but step into the Company Gardens – the area of the humble vegetable patch planted by the first Dutch settlers over three centuries ago – you’re in a oasis of tranquility. Nowadays this is a 15 acre expanse of manicured lawns, fountains and pools, stately trees, colourful shrubs, wandering pathways and running along the eastern edge oak – lined Government Avenue. Imposing buildings flank the gardens on three sides, including the Houses of Parliament, Tuynhuys – the presidents City Office and the South African National Museum. The Rhino Africa offices are situated a stones throw from Company Gardens and if you are in the area we invite you to come in an meet your travel consultant for a cup of coffee!
Cape Town simply would not be Cape Town if it were not for Table Mountain. Rising an impressive 1087 metres above the city and measuring 3 km from end to end, it is without doubt the most photographed and symbolic landmark that Cape Town has. The Cable Car runs daily up and down the mountain. From the summit there are spectacular views of Cape Town, its harbour and the Waterfront below, of Devils Peak and Lions Head to either side, of the hazy and majestic Hottentots Holland mountains in the East and the Cape Point far to the south.
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