Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope

Cape Point is the dramatic end of the Cape Peninsula, a narrow finger of sandstone cliffs about an hour and a half's drive south of the city centre, and a day spent getting there and back is one of the highlights of any trip. It lies within the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, a big reserve of fynbos, rocky shore and beaches where ostriches, bontebok and eland graze, and where chacma baboons roam, sometimes boldly. Two places draw most visitors. At Cape Point itself, a short path or the Flying Dutchman funicular climbs from the car park to the old lighthouse, built in the nineteenth century high on the cliff, where it was often lost in cloud and fog; a newer lighthouse stands lower down on the point. From the top the views run along the cliffs to the ocean on three sides. A few kilometres west, the Cape of Good Hope is the rocky headland marked by the much-photographed wooden sign; it is the most south-westerly point of Africa, not the southernmost, which is Cape Agulhas, and the idea that the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet exactly here is a popular myth rather than fact. A walking trail links the two points along the cliffs and beaches. The route there is half the pleasure. The classic loop runs from the city around the Atlantic seaboard through Camps Bay and Hout Bay, over Chapman's Peak Drive, a toll road carved into the cliffs with some of the finest coastal views anywhere, and returns along False Bay via Simon's Town, the Boulders penguin colony and the fishing harbour of Kalk Bay. The private tour linked here follows that loop with hotel pickup, a guide-driver, Chapman's Peak tolls and parking included, and park entry and penguin fees paid on the day.

Things to know before you go. The national park charges a daily conservation fee at the gate, with lower rates for South Africans and SADC nationals; SANParks adjusts its fees every year on 1 November, and for 2025 to 2026 the international adult rate was roughly five hundred rand, so budget around that figure and check the current tariff. The Flying Dutchman funicular closed for maintenance on 26 October 2026, with a shuttle service running in its place, and no reopening date had been announced at the time of writing; the walk up is steep but short, about fifteen to twenty minutes. The gate opens early and closes in the early evening in summer, earlier in winter. Baboons are wild animals that have learned to snatch food: do not carry food in the open, keep car windows closed, and never feed them. Chapman's Peak Drive closes from time to time for rockfall clearing, high winds and heavy rain, and it was closed after a rockfall in late April 2026, so check its status before setting out; if it is closed, the route via Constantia and the M3 works perfectly well.

Tour or self-drive? A rental car gives the most freedom, and the roads are good; just leave early to beat the tour buses, which reach Cape Point mid-morning. A private tour is the easiest way to see everything without navigating, parking or worrying about leaving a car unattended, and it comfortably fits Chapman's Peak, Cape Point, the Cape of Good Hope and Boulders into one day. Shared tours are cheaper but spend less time at each stop. Whichever you choose, give it a full day and do not try to add anything else.

Who it suits: everyone. Families love the penguins and the funicular, couples the cliffs and the drive, and hikers the trails between the points and to Diaz Beach, a wild cove reached by steps below the Cape of Good Hope. In spring, the fynbos is in flower; in winter, the swells crash hardest on the cliffs. Bring a windproof jacket whatever the season, since the point is exposed and often much windier than the city.