dutchflyer2

I love Derwenthouse in Capetown. The rooms are not that big but the location is perfect for both exploring Capetown, Camps Bay and the region. Two very nice ladies run the place, it's intimite, cosy and clean. Great breakfast, nice swimmingpool. Best service there is. They arrange all tours for you if you want, also in advance.

Why don't you just hire a car? Better for exploring the region. You can also book a few nights in Franschhoek or Stellenbosch and a few in Capetown. Just an hour drive and both 30 minutes from the airport.

dutchflyer2

Check www.aquillasafari.com and www.inverdoorn.com both 2 hrs from Capetown, or take a flight to Kruger or Port Elizabeth and drive 2 hrs to Addo Elephant National Park.
But in and around Capetown you can spend even more then 7 days.

Cluster One

Have stayed at Derwent House, and also recommend it. As dutchflyer2 said, some of the rooms are small - in fact we were initially very disapointed by the room size but moved to a larger room after the first night.

Can also recommend Parker Cottage. No swimming pool or aircon but the owner Phil is exceptionally helpful.

Hylton Ross offer a wide range of tours, but again as dutchflyer2 says a car is an ideal way of getting around.

Alpha Golf

Thanks for the advice. I know I should man up and rent but between (1) driving on the left, (2) navigating, and (3) some anxiety about safety I just wouldn't be able to relax and actually enjoy myself.

And here's the irony -- I grew up in SA and can even speak Afrikaans. But it's been a long, long time...

rajsh

Apols for the delayed Thanks for the recommendations.

I ended up staying at the Ambassador Hotel and took a few day trips in and around Cape area. Also flew out to the Kruger National Park area for a few days and had a great time there also. Will update thread this weekend with the full details of where all I stayed and the various tours / places etc -- so any one else searching this in the future may see my feedback / experience.

bestuseofpoints

looking forward for the updates! =)

Dieuwer

I am considering going to Cape Town for 6 nights in early April next year. What is the weather like during that time of year?
Does it make sense to do a 1 -or 2-day safari as a side trip from Cape Town or is 6 nights too short for that and should I stay in the city?

TheFerret

It's going to be the rainy season in April, so not the best time to go.

I have two trip reports about my stays in Somerset West (1/2hr drive east of Cape Town) and they list some of the things that I loved. I am in the midsts of writing my third one of the last time I was there in December-January. All three times I stayed there, I was there for 5-6 weeks and I still find new things to do there. I'm also planning my next trip for this year there.

Some of the top things to do are Table Mountain, Stellenbosch, Wine tasting, Chapsman's Peak drive, Simon's Town. Personally, I would skip the township tours but that is up to you. If you are a foodie, defintely go to Franschhoek.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...d-jnb-cpt.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...y-yyz-cpt.html

ThudAndBlunder

Early April isn't the rainy season by any means. The weather can be changeable that time of year, you could have some rainy days, but for the most part should be good - decent temperatures and little wind.

bhrubin

You'll love Cape Town in April. We've been twice for 5 nights each trip in Cape Town in April, and both times we had fantastic weather and no rain (2003, 2010). We're returning this year in early January for a warmer summer experience.

I don't even like cities, but I love Cape Town. Between the city itself, the Cape peninsula (a full day or 2 even), Table Mountain, the townships, the winelands, Robbens Island, and the incredible dining, you are good to go. If you can swing a rugby match, all the better.

If you want to stay the whole time in Cape Town, you can certainly do that. If you are a wine lover or like a bit more pastoral experience, I highly recommend a few nights in the Winelands. The CPT airport is almost as far from downtown Cape Town as it is from the Winelands, so it's convenient to end in either. For Jan 2015, we are spending 4 nights in Cape Town and 3 nights in Franschhoek (where we were married in 2010). The SA winelands are spectacularly beautiful--the most scenic wine country in the world, in my opinion, surpassing even Tuscany and Mendoza for sheer drama.

Try the Dock House if you like boutique, or the Westin if you like SPG and want to use/earn SPG points--they often have great deals and it's a great Westin. The Dock House is just 11 rooms and often has wonderful deals. We'd first stayed in the Cape Grace, Cape Town's version of a Four Seasons, and it's lovely, but the Dock House offered similar service (but no true harbor view), location, and the like for much less.

cardinalkid1891

Spent April in Cape Town this year, and the weather was quite wonderful. Perhaps not as warm as January or Februray, but certainly pleasant. I'd recommend doing Cape Town for six nights over a safari, but that's a personal preference more than anything. bhrubin has offered some great suggestions for activities to do while in Cape Town.

elizadoo

I had the same question, but my goals are a bit different. I thought 2 nights would be enough in Capetown, as most of what we (hubby and I) want to see is not in the city, but outside of it. Since we live in Florida (home on the ocean) and have been to coastal Alaska and Hawaii, we are not aiming for marine life or beaches. Nor do we need a big party scene, as we are from Key West and have experienced too many years of that type of craziness. Neither of us is a big shopper nor drinker, nor sports enthusiast. And we have both a sailboat and a large trawler, so the boat scene is nothing new to us. We have traveled extensively all over the world and eaten a wide variety of food.

So we are thinking the rest of our time, 3/4 days, would be spent driving the Garden Route, stopping at a vineyard, seeing the flora and fauna along the way. Later we are heading to Namibia--never been there--and/or possibly a side trip to Lesotho to ride the mountain ponies. What we don't have in Florida is mountains, desert, and lots of big wildlife!

We are very much nature and safari type people, hence my questions about staying in downtown Capetown.

RCyyz

I haven't been there yet (going soon but not soon enough!) but you may want to check out the penguins at Boulders Beach.

Don't forget the prison tour at Robben Island either. I think that takes about half a day.

bhrubin

I also am not a big fan of cities--typically never spending more than 3 nights in any city in the world when traveling. I prefer the rural and pastoral, and I love to get to know a country by driving around as well as flying to its more distant areas with sights worth seeing.

THAT BEING SAID, I've now been three times to Cape Town and spent 5-6 nights EACH VISIT! It is my favorite place in the world--city or rural, doesn't matter. First, Cape Town is SPECTACULARLY beautiful in a way that is unusual for most urban settings...as dramatic as Vancouver and San Francisco but with the weather of Los Angeles. Second, the entire CAPE is spectacular, one of the most beautiful places in the entire world in our estimation (right up there with Waiheke Island off Auckland for perspective IMO). Third, the wine country about an hour from Cape Town is the most beautiful and dramatic of any we've thus seen (and that includes Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, Australia, Uruguay, California, etc.). Fourth, you can spend a day or two just driving around the Cape to Cape Point and another to Hermanus. There is PLENTY to do both in and around Cape Town, all while maintaining Cape Town as a base so you dont have to switch hotels. I didn't even mention Table Mountain, Robbens Island, etc.

I DO recommend, if you love wine country, to spend some time in Cape Town for the above reasons AND stay separately in wine country in either Franschhoek (our favorite), Stellenbosch, and/or Paarl (another favorite for many). For our wedding trip in 2010, we spent 5 nights in Cape Town and another 4 nights at the Franschhoek hotel at which we were married. (This was our 3rd visit to Cape Town. We return to spend 3 nights in Cape Town and 3 nights in Franschhoek in Jan 2015.)

Don't let your expectations for a typical city throw you--Cape Town is as much a nature preserve surrounding the city as it is a city in and of itself. If ever there were a city to spend a full week in/around, it is Cape Town IMO.

bentrmpt

Hi! I've been reading this board for a while, and I finally have a reason to speak up! I just used a stash of miles to book a dream vacation for my wife and myself for next summer (July 2015).

We'll will be flying from the US to China (UA F), where we will visit Xi'an and Beijing. Then, we are continuing on to Cape Town (SA J) for 6 nights. We will then spend 6 nights near Kruger, split between Notten's and Idube, before returning home (SA J).

In Cape Town, want to do shark diving, paragliding, Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula, and the wine region. We will be staying in Cape Town all 6 nights as we'll be using Club Carlson points to stay at the Radisson Blue Waterfront.

- For the shark diving, I'm leaning towards Apex Predators' tour from Simon Town that goes to Seal Island and False Bay. I like this one because it's closer to Cape Town, and they claim to have a better shot at seeing natural predation.

Should I be thinking more seriously about Gansbaai?

- I'm trying to decide if we should do Robben Island, because I've heard some mixed reviews. I've also heard that, with Cape Town winter weather, the ferry often gets cancelled. I'm very interested in learning more about the history of apartheid while in Cape Town. Is Robben Island the place to do it? Are there other things that I should be considering, like a township tour?

- We'd love to do the Chapman's peak drive, and we'd love to spend time driving around the wine country. Should we rent a car, or should we do this through private guides/small tour groups? I have heard mixed advice on the wisdom of renting a car in Cape Town, so I'd love to hear advice from this forum.

- Is the Test Kitchen worth it? What other restaurants in the Cape Town region should I be considering?

- Does anyone have experience taking that PEK-JNB flight? With so much award space, I'm sort of expecting the flight to be a ghost town. I've also heard bad things about ANY catering ex-PEK. Any thoughts on that?

- What am I missing from my itinerary that I need to include?

Thanks so much in advance for your advice!