Muizenberg beach Live Cam

If you're in Cape Town for any longer than a few days, you'll want to move out into the surrounding countryside and explore. Select maps from Cape Town Tourism in Burg St, city centre. If you want to do wine-tours, get a general overview in the indispensable Wine Routes of South Africa map. If you're adventurous, you could go out to Swartland or Olifantsriver wine routes.

Here are our top suggestions, restricted to a comfortable amount of driving in a day -- none of them should exceed 400 kni, though in many cases you can combine trips and would have a more leisurely trip if you stopped over somewhere.

The Stellenbosch Wine Route - Ideally, you should have one designated non-drinking driver. Or stop over in Stellenbosch or Franschhoek for the night - or have a late lunch with lots of coffee.

You can do this route to include Stellenbosch itself, and one or more adjoining area such as Franschhoek, Paarl or Somerset West.

Stellenbosch is the second oldest town in South Africa and every effort has been made to preserve the atmosphere of I9th century calm and elegance. Nowhere is this more evident than in Dorp Street with its charming, thatched, white houses with green shutters and elegant fanlights. The town is also known for its stately oaks and gracefully proportioned Cape Dutch homesteads. Wear your comfortable shoes and prepare yourself for a leisurely walk around the many museums and galleries. Take a break for lunch at one of the many restaurants housed in historical buildings, where traditional Cape fare is on the menu.

All are open Monday to Saturday with only a few opening on Sundays. They offer wine tastings and sell directly to the public and a number of the estates offer light meals but it would be advisable to make enquiries before you arrive.

If you're still feeling adventurous after sampling the food and wine, and need head-clearing, there are various nature walks on the Helderherg Farm Hiking Trail. If you'd prefer, join one of the Horse Trails, explore the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve or do some game viewing at Wiesenhof Game Reserve where you could spot wildebeest, zebra, gemsbok, eland, ostrich and cheetah. The best time to visit is around 11h00, feeding time for the cheetahs. The reserve is 12 km outside Stellenbosch and viewing is done on a self-drive basis.

Spier Wine Estate, on the outskirts of Stellenbosch, in addition to wine, offers cultural evenings, houses restaurants, and a Cheetah Outreach Centre for a close encounter with the three tame cheetahs. From November to March the Spier Amphitheatre presents a programme of opera, music recitals, and theatre, featuring national and international stars.

The Hermanus circuit

Either go from Cape Town on the N2 over Sir Lowry's Pass to Hermanus and return via Betty's Bay and Gordon's Bay, or the other way round. You can stop for lunch in Hermanus or en route, or picnic. You can easily stretch this trip to two days, particularly if you're in whale season when the Southern Right whales return to the bay to mate and calve. You can go beyond Hermanus to De Kelders or other of land-based whale-watching spots by all accounts the world's best.

Each year some 250.000 visitors descend upon Hermanus during the 10-day Whale Festival. It is held every spring, during the September Cape school holidays. The Festival also presents performing artists, stand-up comics, theatre productions and musicians.

In Hermanus you can also visit the Fernkloof Nature Reserve, walk on the cliffs overlooking the sea, or visit Whalehaven Winery or the estates of Hamilton-Russell and Bouchard-Finlayson. The Walker Bay area produces some of South Africa's premier wines.

There are plenty of restaurants to choose from but the most unusual must surely be Bientang's Cave. If wine-speak has got you feeling contrary, try the newly opened Birkenhead Brewery in Stanford, just outside Hermanus.

Either going or coming back, enjoy the Gordon's Bay to Rooi Els section of the coast. This is a little known stretch quite as beautiful as the drive around the Peninsula, and now that the road has been improved, the drive is a little less hair-raising. In Betty's Bay you can visit the Harold Porter Nature Reserve and even hope to spot a leopard. Some of the best fishing in South Africa, both spear and line, is on this coast, but as the crosses commemorating anglers swept out to sea that dot the coast show, this can be a dangerous coast. If you're into early Cape history, remember that this area was often a haven for escaped slaves.

The West Coast - Head up to Langebaan and enjoy the lagoon or the nature reserve. In wildflower season, you may want to stay overnight. If famous satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys's alter ego, Evita Bezuidenhout, is performing at Evita se Perron in Darling, you can stop for dinner and a performance there on the way home. Pieter-Dirk Uys has converted the local railway station into an extremely popular theatre and restaurant venue. Once a month, on Sundays, the Spier train will deliver you from the city to Darling where you will be met on the platform by Evita Bezuidenhout herself. Leave the city at 10h00, enjoy a picnic on the train, a show at the Perron and return to the city by 18h00. Booking is essential. Darling also hosts an annual Wildflower Show in September.

If Evita se Perron is closed, or you're not in satirical mood, come home in time to have dinner in Bloubergstrand and enjoy the view of Cape Town lighting up.

Paarl and the Paarl Wine Route - HaIf an hour's drive (56km) from Cape Town, you find Paarl (pearl) with its Cape Dutch buildings and historic wine estates. Paarl lies in the Berg River Valley at the foot of the scenic Du Toitskloof Mountains.

Attractions include the Afrikaans Language Museum, the monument that soars above Paarl, ballooning from December to March, and lots of animal attractions. There's the Heen en Weer ostrich farm, a snake park, a crocodile farm and the largest butterfly park in South Africa where the butterflies fly freely in a covered garden. Or you could roar off to the only Lion Park in the Western Cape - just 20 minutes outside Paarl. Here you can view the lions from a catwalk, which runs over their 2,5 hectare enclosures. For birdwatchers there are over 140 species in the Paarl area including Black Eagles and Peregrine Falcons. And at the lkwezi Centre, you can buy ethnic rugs and tapestries of the Bhabhathane Weavers.

The Paarl wine region is home to Paarl Vintners. Established in 1996 it has already founded a wine route with lots of well sign-posted participants. Visit Fairview Estate where you can taste not only their wines but also their wide variety of cheeses.

Franschhoek

Beyond Stellenbosch, lies Franschhoek. Franschhoek (meaning 'the French corner') was settled more than three centuries ago when about 270 French Huguenots, having escaped religious persecution, settled in the Berg River Valley. They are commemorated in the Huguenot Memorial and the adjoining Museum.

As the French are generally credited with bringing wine-making to South Africa, wine and good food are appropriately important in Franschhoek. The Vignerons de Franschhoek (also known as the Wine Route of the Huguenot Valley) consists of 21 estates, all offering wine sales and tastings.

In July each year, Franschhoek becomes more French than the French when they celebrate Bastille Day in style. Devoting an entire weekend to the celebrations, it's a food and wine event par excellence. There are many excellent restaurants and wonderful places to stay so it's probably sensible to combine a trip here with a trip to Stellenbosch or Paarl, and stay overnight.

Get away from it all, close by - If the tourist season and big city life are too much, remember that the Cape offers lots of almost deserted roads with great views and beautiful picnic spots. Go from Franschhoek to Somerset West via the Franschhoek Pass. Go off the beaten track beyond Swellendam, towards Barrydale. Go to Greyton or Macgregor. Pack a picnic and explore.

Somerset West - There's more to Somerset West than a retirement village or dormitory suburb of CapeTown. If you're a history buff you'll enjoy scouting around the town's many historical buildings and national monuments. And there are plenty considering that Somerset West started life as a cattle post in the late 1600s.

For the eco-tourist there's the Helderberg Nature Reserve where you'll find a variety of protea species and mountain fynbos ('fynbos' is the collective name for the most widely varied group of vegetation found in one area anywhere in the world - the so-called Capensis vegetation of the Cape floral kingdom), several species of buck and nearly 170 species of birds including three species of red-chested flufftail, found only in this area. There are a number of walking and hiking trails in the Helderberg which range from a gentle amble to more challenging trails for serious climbers. Back in the car and it's off to the Helderberg Wine Route where you'll find, amongst other things, the largest private port producer in the world. Most of the estates offer wine tastings and all of them sell directly to the public.

Vergelegen, one of the Cape's historic landmarks, is a must for visitors to the area. Historians and archaeologists have excavated its slave quarters for insights into 18th century Cape life. With the spectacular Hottentots Holland Mountains as a backdrop, take a stroll through the Octagonal and Rose Gardens, take a look at the ancient Camphor Trees which were declared national monuments in 1942, then stop off at the Lady Phillips Tea Garden on the banks of the Lourens River where teas and lunches are served. Al fresco lunches are also served at the Rose Terrace from November to April. Reservations are recommended. Guided tours of the Wine Cellar as well as wine tastings are offered Monday to Saturday. Bookings for the tour are essential.

Tulbagh - About an hour and a half's drive from the centre of the city lies the historic little town ot Tulbagh which boasts some of the most beautiful examples of early Cape architecture. Church Street is the only street in South Africa where every single building has been declared a National Monument. At the Oude Kerk Volksmuseum you can take a look at a photographic account of the damage done to these priceless buildings during an earthquake in September 1969.

Turn this into a real day out in the country and enjoy the hiking routes, mountain bike routes, horse riding and fishing. Visit the Owl Rehabilitation Sanctuary or go fruit picking (it's free, you only pay for your picked fruit). Take time out to pop into Paddagang Restaurant and Wine House, originally built as a wine cellar in 1809. It is open seven days a week for breakfast, tea, lunch, wine tasting and wine sales. Alternatively, you could take the 'I'rans-Karoo Express travelling through the winelands to Tulbagh. Enjoy a 1st class train journey; stop off en route at Boontjiesrivier Pottery farm and the Bianco wine and olive estate. Lunch at a restaurant in historic Church Street and return by bus via scenic Bainskloof Pass to be dropped off back in the city.

Table Mountain and other mountains - Whether you like to see Table Mountain geologically (yes, there's a pamphlet explaining why it's flat), mythologically (the Portuguese poet Camoens saw the mountain as Adamastor, a Titan struck down by Jupiter for rebellion; the Dutch imagine the Devil in a smoking competition with a Dutch captain to produce the clouds that billow over it), or psychologically (the reason for Capetonians' so-called superiority complexes), Capetonians certainly do a lot with it. So can you.

You can walk, climb, bike, abseil, para-glide the mountain. You can, of course, take the elegant new Swiss-designed cable car if you simply want the view and the surprise of a different world on top of the mountain. And of course, there are other climbs in the mountains near Cape Town: on Lion's Head, or in mountains above Kalk Bay or Simonstown. But remember the warning about walking and climbing in the Cape mountains and prepare adequately.

Meaningful meandering - Table Mountain, Lion's Head, Devil's Peak, and the other mountains in and around Cape Town offer walks that are gentle to challenging within easy distance of the city centre. There are several excellent guides to walks in and around Cape Town.

Life's a beach - What do you want to get out of your trip to the beach? If you want a long invigorating walk, try Noordhoek or Muizenberg. If you want children in a safe environment where you can watch over them easily, try St James or Boulders, Hout Bay or Camps Bay. If you're looking to meet attractive people of the opposite (or same) genre, try your luck at Clifton, particularly first or second beach. And if you're looking to taking off all your gear and get a great walk in the process, then Sandy Bay (walk from Llandudno) is the traditional spot.

If you’re wedding is planned for later this year, you may want to check out the natural wonders and rich culture of South Africa

Thinking of doing something exotic for your honeymoon? Instead of doing what’s expected of new couples and head to an all inclusive somewhere on a tropical island how about doing something more adventurous and unexpected?

If you’re wedding is planned for later this year, you may want to check out the natural wonders and rich culture of South Africa. Our winter is their summer and right now it’s the perfect climate (think Southern California weather!) to enjoy! Don't just think of South Africa as a place to just visit to go on a safari. There’s so much more than that! South Africa is a land full of amazing and diverse experiences that go far and beyond the just traditional safari excursion. Described as the 'Adventure Capital of the World', South Africa is very affordable and it offers victors with a unique natural beauty, world-class infrastructure and conveniences, great weather, a rich history with diverse experiences, amazing wildlife and adventure, and above all responsible tourism.

Although when people think of Africa and think of the ‘Big 5’ they think of lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and rhinoceros, for a honeymoon vacation think these ‘Big 5’ instead; adventure and exploration, culture and heritage, safari and nature, entertainment and lifestyle and of course romance and relaxation. Not sure where to start? Plan your vacation on the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It is a place of rugged beauty with a pristine coastline, virgin bush and sub-tropical forests exist as though untouched by time. If you do want to take a safari excursion, the Eastern Cape is the home of the original ‘Big 5’. The Eastern Cape boasts a colorful assortment of fauna and flora, an abundance of bird life and stretches from the snow-capped peaks of the southern Drakensberg to the lush forests of Tsitsikamma and flanked by the Indian Ocean.

Regarded as South Africa’s ‘wild’ province and described as the province of extremes the Eastern Cape also features a rich history of early settlers and kings and is also the birthplace of Nelson Mandela.