Cape Town

A rotating cable car reaches the 1085 metre top in 5 minutes. Strong wind halts it, and the status is checked before anyone sets out.

An old lighthouse stands on the cliff at the peninsula tip, reached by steps. The wind never lets up, so the rail is held on the way.

African penguins nest on the sand between the rocks here. A boardwalk brings people within a few metres of them.

Only plants native to southern Africa grow on the eastern slope here. A curved walkway above the trees looks down into the canopy.

The quarter where Malay families settled has its houses painted in bright colours. The cobbled slope stacks those colours in layers when seen from above.

Political prisoners were held on this island, 30 minutes out by boat. Former inmates lead the tour and some show the cell they occupied.

Cut into the cliff, the 9 kilometre road turns 114 times. Falling rock is a risk, so heavy rain closes it.

The path spirals around the peak, so the view turns as the walk goes on. Many climb it on a full moon night and a queue forms on the trail.

Shops and restaurants sit in a harbour that still works. A bridge lifts whenever a vessel passes and people wait for it to come down.

A map of the demolished neighbourhood is drawn large across the floor. Former residents wrote their names where their houses stood.

A harbour grain silo that became a museum in 2017, devoted to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Its atrium is cut from 42 concrete tubes to the outline of a grain kernel. A hotel fills the top floors, so the museum has a separate door.

A star-shaped fort the VOC built between 1666 and 1679; no colonial building still standing here is older. Each of its five bastions is named after one of the titles of the Prince of Orange. Inside are rooms of old weapons and furniture.

A low ridge running off Lion's Head, with a road up to a car park on top. At dusk people lay out blankets and see the sun sink into the Atlantic. Paragliders launch from its slope and land on the lawns by the Sea Point shore.

A Signal Hill battery fires a cannon at noon daily except Sundays and public holidays, a signal ships in the harbour once set their clocks by. The viewing point inside closed to visitors around 2021, so the firing is now seen from the parking area by the gate.

A beach with the Twelve Apostles range lined up behind the sand like a folding screen. Being on the Atlantic side, the sea stays chilly right through summer. A tidal pool among the rocks at the southern end is where children swim.

Granite boulders split the sand into four coves, simply called First to Fourth. The cliffs shelter them, so they stay calm on days when the south-easter blows. Parking is scarce and long, steep stairs lead down to the sand.

A small fishing harbour on False Bay where boats sell the day's catch straight off the quay. Seals float just below the gutting tables waiting for scraps. Across the seaside railway, the main road is lined with antique shops and second-hand bookshops.

A beach with a row of brightly painted changing huts on the sand. Waves roll in low and long, which draws crowds of first-time surfers. Shark spotters watch from the hillside above and change the flag colour to warn swimmers.

Planted from 1685, it has the longest history of any South African wine estate. Its Cape Dutch manor house now holds a museum, with the old cellar building open next to it. The drive from the centre takes under half an hour, so a half-day covers it.

Boats leave Hout Bay harbour to circle a rock island where thousands of Cape fur seals lie. Nobody lands, and as you near it the smell arrives before the noise. Seals haul out on the harbour quay too, so you see them close before boarding.

The vegetable plot the VOC dug in 1652 to feed passing ships survives as a park. Grey squirrels here will take food from your hand. Parliament, the national gallery and the South African Museum ring it within a short walk.

The VOC once locked its slaves inside this building, one of the earliest still standing downtown. Displays set out records of their names and the places they were taken from. It opens Monday to Saturday and closes on Sundays.