Table Mountain

Table Mountain with Devils Peak on the left and Signal Hill and Lions Head on the right.

Table Mountain dominates Cape Town from nearly every angle and is the City’s best known landmark. It is 3,500 ft high and about 2 miles across at the top and was made a National Park in 1998. You can hike to the top or get the cable car, we chose the second option! In peak season it might be worth purchasing tickets for this in advance to avoid the queues. The floor of the cablecar rotates so you get a constantly changing view. If you are scared of heights, I can assure you that it feels very safe, not wobbly at all and and it’s all over in a few minutes, [just don’t look out of the windows].

There are walking trails at the top, and of course as it’s flat it’s not arduous [unlike the hike up]. On a clear day you can see all the way to the lighthouse at Cape Point as well as views of Cape Town and Robben Island. There’s plenty of wildlife on the mountain and you are likely to catch sight of lizards, blackbirds and furry dassies. There’s also a shop and cafe at the summit.

If the mountain is covered in a white ‘tablecloth’ it’s not really worth going as the views will be disappointing and the cable car may not be not running although it looks great from a distance.