CFFrost

I'm surprised - I had the exact opposite experience. I live in San Diego - so I'm not used to the craziness of a city like Boston. I used taxis/uber for the first few days to get acquainted then rented a car for the remainder - and after riding shotgun for a day or two and paying close attention, I was totally comfortable driving in Cape Town. I didn't find the driving crazy - though there are some quirks to be aware of, like how drivers routinely use the shoulder as a lane. I did see people walking along the side of the road a lot, but nothing that struck me as all that dangerous.

Now, the time I had to drive in Boston - THAT was a nightmare! I'd much sooner drive in CPT than BOS!

Jeeves

My first time to Cape Town 2 years ago, we had no car the first 2 days and then rented one for the last 2 days. We also paid extra for an automatic. I thought it was a good balance for us.

This year we rented a car for all 4 days and again went with an automatic. Driving on the left is enough of a challenge for the first day or so.

We rented cars in Durban and George later on in the trip and I went with stick shifts to save money and it was fine.

All 3 rentals were with Budget. We didn't go with the super insurance. All 3 places don't charge a fuel surcharge if you bring the car back less than full. That is a nice feature so you don't have to stress finding a petrol station near the airport.

Happy

Sorry for the typo, drive on the left was what i mean, not an issue as we originally hailed from the Common Wealth.

As it turns out, among Hertz, Eurocar (National) and Avis, Avis has the best price and car (Corolla or equivalent versus Hertz VW Polo and Eurocar's, grasp, Hyundai i20). We dont want a standard size but a compact and stick shift. Hertz is smaller car AND 20% more expensive. National's is just way too small... the next step up would be a Mid-size followed by SUV.

thijsseh

Understood it was a typo, but it was too nice an opportunity to let pass .

I had an Hyundai i20 from Avis in JNB last week. Thought it was quite a nice little car...
Had a choice between 4 cars (I think VW Polo was one of them) when ordering a "B" group. Was on a Sunday, so on a weekday the choice might be more limited.

Happy

I dont think we would like to be in Hyundai i20 from PLZ all the way to CPT, including driving up to Mountain Zebra National Park and back, and who knows what detours we may make while driving the Garden Route. i20 may be fine for in-town driving but for several hundreds km a day several days? Nah.

VW Polo seems to be a popular choice in South Africa. Personally I have no clue what it looks like. Avis listed Corolla or similar for its compact category.

I dont know the cost in ZAR as Avis is notorious to show USD (and would default to USD at billing unless you insist it is in local currency as the system default to your home currency - gauge you for 3 to 5%). For 13 days a Corolla stick shift including drop fee, taxes and mandatory insurance coverages, come out to be around $400.

I am not sure if we need the car for our last 2 days in CPT though. We could rent 10 or 11 days and use public transports in town, given we would be driving in from the East, and would visit the Peninsula and the Point, as well as Cape Agulhas before getting into CPT. So once we reach CPT, we no longer need the car for side trips like many originating from CPT would.

Roger

Like this - http://www.vw.co.za/en/models/new-po...d_options.html - click on Gallery.

It's made in South Africa, hence the popularity, at VWSA's Uitenhage plant near Port Elizabeth.

I don't think it's sold in the US yet - speculation at http://www.autoevolution.com/news/vo...-us-62511.html

TheFerret

Last time I was in Cape Town, my parents rented a Polo Vivo and I had to drive it a bit and I was not that much of a fan of it. I didn't like how it shifted and getting into gears was rough compared to the Hyundai I10 that my friend rented. The Polo Vivo is around the same size as the I10 which is a compact. I do not know how much the difference is in the Polo series that VW has.

Jeeves

The 3 rental cars I had from Budget were an Audi A4, Toyota Corolla, and a Chevy Cruse. All 3 cars fit two large suitcases.

The A4 was an automatic and we were told it was an upgrade. The car had a lot of miles on it and some of the interior door molding was falling apart. It rode well but had touchy brakes.

The Toyota Corolla was nearly new and was equipped with a 6-speed manual. It was pleasant to drive and shifting was smooth. There were no driver-side controls for the rear windows which seemed odd. We got a flat tire and changed it with the full-size spare. They ended up charging us $90 for the tire replacement.

The Chevy Cruse was a 5-speed manual. The car was okay but nothing special. Wish it had six speeds.

Budget clearly shows the cost of your rental when making a reservation. The Thrifty website left me wondering about the total cost and included insurance.

Quite a few speed trap cameras on the N2 in the Garden Route for anyone headed up that way.

Dieuwer

How easy is it to get around town when staying in Sea Point? Is public transport an option to go sightseeing?
I assume I would need to rent a car if I want to visit Boulders Bay, but for most other things I could hop on a bus?

konagirl2

The hop-on-hop-off buses (red, blue and purple) cover most of the sights within the City Bowl and northern Peninsula. IMO they are they easiest way to get to the Table Mountain cable car station and Kirstenbosch. But they aren't necessarily the cheapest or quickest. There are plenty of local buses from Sea Point to the City Bowl and down the Atlantic waterfront: MyCiti.

For Boulder's Bay, you can get a train from the main station on Adderley Street to Simon's Town, about 15 minutes walk to the colony. You could stop off at the sandy beach at Muizenberg. Trains are fine during the daytime. Similarly trains run to Stellenbosch from where you could rent a bike to visit some vineyards.

There are also paid tours to Cape Point including visits to the penguin colony and a drive along Chapman's Peak Drive. I prefer renting a car because it gives you the freedom to spend time where I want to, but obviously you'll have to way up the costs and hassle.

Enjoy!

DaveInLA

I rented a car for 4 days but most of my driving was outside the city. I went to Simon's Town, the Boulder Beach and Cape Point area, then Gansbaai. More driving than I usually do on vacation, especially internationally. Driving outside the city was very nice and relaxing. Not many cars. Driving in the city was more stressful to me than driving in any city in the US, maybe due to lack of familiarity of the roads and intricacies of road culture. This was especially true when looking for parking...

Dieuwer

I am considering renting a car for the back half of my 8 day trip to Cape Town. As you said, to see Simon's Town and Boulder's Bay.

CFFrost

This is what I did, and I was very glad I did.

Cape Town is a very easy city to drive in. There are plenty of places where having your own car is very helpful, including the areas you reference.

For things closer to the city, cabs and Uber are very reasonably priced and readily available.

Outside the city, the convenience of your own car is certainly worth it. I personally prefer to set my own schedule, rather than rely on a tour or paid driver for the day.

Dieuwer

Thinking about renting a scooter for a day trip while in Cape Town. Any suggestions where I can do so? A rental location in Sea Point would be preferred.
Note: I only a have a car drivers license, so a scooter <150cc would probably be OK (unless South African law is completely different than Dutch or US law with respect to operating scooters/motorcycles <150 cc).

Cheetah_SA

Yes, our laws are different. There is a different class of licences for motor cycles as you can see here.

What the cycle renting company requires from foreigners is another matter. It seems plausible that they only need a valid licence to drive a motor cycle - in which case your home licence would suffice. A quick look at some web sites shows they merely stipulate "a valid driver's licence". Best to check with them as to what that means in your case.

I did also notice that one place mentioned delivering your scooter for a very modest fee of R250 - so the actual address of the rental agency may be immaterial. I have no recommendations, I'm afraid.