Richard Holmes

Across its 350-plus years as a port city – and a few thousand more as the home of semi-nomadic indigenous tribes and pastoralists – the Western Cape has a rich and colourful history to discover. From the unadorned beauty of ancient rock art to the arrival of colonial settlers, and right through to the city’s vibrant art scene of today, Cape Town’s galleries and museums paint an expansive picture of the city’s complex cultural history. Here are the venues in which to start your journey, selected by two local writers. RECOMMENDED: ☕️ The best cafés and coffee shops in Cape Town📍 The best things to do in Cape Town🥣 The best breakfast and brunch spots in Cape Town🏨 The best hotels in Cape Town This article was recently updated by Richard Holmes, a travel writer based in Cape Town. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines and check out our latest travel guides written by local experts.

[UPDATE 17 September 2026: this week Food Lover's Market, which owns The Creamery through its Seattle Coffee Co. brand, annoucned that due to the overwhelming public outping of support, The Creamery will not be closing after all. Let's hope they still take care of some of the issues below though...] I like to think that I was one of the first people to buy Kate Schrire’s ice cream. Back in 2011 (or thereabouts) Starlings – still one of my favourite coffee shops in Cape Town, and helpfully just up the road from my house – was hosting a market in the back garden for small-scale producers and sellers. There was a stall selling fresh fish (what would later grow into Ocean Jewels, in Woodstock), wonderful breads, local honey from suburban hives and – at one table – a cooler of what would fast become my favourite ice cream in Cape Town. The Creamery was tiny then. One churn, a compact kitchen and a handful of flavours shaped largely by whatever local farmers happened to be harvesting. And, the most important ingredient of all, owners with a passion for ice cream. Kate (and her co-founder Marianne Visser) stuck to their principles: proper ice cream, made with real eggs, good dairy and seasonal produce. There would be strawberry when strawberries were growing. Stone fruit when the orchards delivered. Only ever 65% couverture for the tubs of excellent chocolate. And, perhaps beyond her delicious ‘sweet cream’ vanilla, no obligation at all to keep every flavour available all year sim

Choosing where to stay in Cape Town isn’t simply a matter of checking your budget and finding a room that fits. In a city with a mountain in the middle and the ocean on three sides, geography matters. So where you stay will come down to what you plan to do. If you’re searching for the best sunset spots in Cape Town, Camps Bay is probably the place for you. Prefer a surfer’s paradise? That’s just over the mountains in the sunny suburb of Muizenberg. Looking for a week of the great outdoors, head for the Deep South. Urban buzz? The city and the Atlantic Seaboard are your friend. Low-key local vibes at a discount? Head for the West Coast.  All of which means there is no single ‘best’ part of Cape Town to stay in. It depends on what you’re looking for in the city, from nightlife and nature to beaches, sightseeing or a quieter slice of local life. Here’s how to start planning where to stay in Cape Town. RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in Cape Town🍝 The best restaurants in Cape Town🏠 The best hotels in Cape Town🏖 The best beaches in Cape Town🛍 The best shops in Cape Town Born and raised in the city, Richard Holmes is a travel writer based in Cape Town. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.  This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, click here.

Cape Town has plenty of big-ticket cultural destinations worth having on your to-do list. There’s art at Zeitz MOCAA and the Norval Foundation, natural history at Iziko, and the city’s turbulent history laid bare in the District Six Museum and the Slave Lodge, not to mention the Apartheid icon that is Robben Island. But life in the Mother City is a multicoloured tapestry, and if you pull on a few threads, you’ll find museums and galleries devoted to all sorts of things, from (wo)man’s best friend to diamonds, beating hearts and thundering aeroplanes. Some are polished institutions with guided tours. Others are small, volunteer-run spaces where the charm lies in what you might find in dusty cabinets. Some are ideal for a rainy day, a slow weekend, or just a curious detour when you think you’ve seen all that Cape Town has to offer. So next time you’re looking for an outing, skip the obvious. Step inside a Cold War submarine or head to a museum where dogs get in free. We've expanded our guide to Cape Town’s most curious and unusual small museums. RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in Cape Town🍝 The best restaurants in Cape Town🏖 The best beaches in Cape Town🛍 The best shops in Cape Town Born and raised in the city, Richard Holmes is a travel writer based in Cape Town. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

Whether you’re a fan of #BookTok or just love a good read with a sense of place, literary tourism is one of the fastest-growing trends in the world of travel, as readers plan their travels around the places, characters and landscapes they encounter on the page. And Cape Town’s diversity of landscapes and communities provides rich fodder for authors to mine the Mother City for new narratives. Whether it’s the city’s displaced communities or coastal suburbs, buzzy nightlife or chequered political history, the city comes alive – and reveals its layers – when explored through the page. So start your travels with these books that shine a literary lens on Cape Town. Read them before you explore, pack one for the journey, or use the locations below to plot your own tour of the Mother City. And why not start at one of the best book shops in Cape Town? RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in Cape Town🍝 The best restaurants in Cape Town🏖 The best beaches in Cape Town🛍 The best shops in Cape Town Born and raised in the city, Richard Holmes is a travel writer based in Cape Town. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

Welcome to Mother Sippy, where we shine a light on the talented winemakers, brewers, distillers and mixologists that make sure the Mother City never goes thirsty! From new wine releases to taprooms pouring perfect pints, Mother Sippy is your guide to all that’s good and great in Cape Town’s world of drinks.  Standard Bank and the Chenin Blanc Association have announced the winners of the 2026 Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge, and this year there’s good news for wine lovers who like their award-winners without a price tag nudging four figures. While the most expensive wine last year – the excellent FMC 2024 from Ken Forrester – clocked in at R925 off the shelf, this year you won’t have to spend more than R550 to get your hands on the good stuff. In this year’s Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge, 150 entries were submitted by 97 producers across 36 Wine of Origin classifications. After three days of blind judging, just 10 made the final cut. And old vines certainly had their moment. Six of the winners come from certified heritage vineyards aged 35 years or older, while the final line-up stretches from Bot River and the Swartland to Breedekloof, Durbanville, Wellington, Stellenbosch and Paarl. The 2026 winners, in alphabetical order, are: Beaumont Family Wines Hope Marguerite 2025 City on a Hill Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2024 DaschBosch Mossiesdrift Steen 2025 Groot Phesantekraal Anna de Koning 2024 Painted Wolf Wines Lightning Chenin Blanc 2024 Stellenrust ArtiSons Mothershi

Instagram is full of the candy-coloured cottages of the Bo-Kaap, and you’ve likely heard the sonorous call to prayer drift across the city at sunset. But one of Cape Town’s lesser-known stories of faith comes woven with history and scattered around the Cape, hidden away amid vineyards, fynbos and seaside slopes. These are the kramats – also called mazaars – of Cape Town, which hold and protect the graves of Muslim saints, exiled to the Cape centuries ago. Taken together, they tell a textured story of landscape, community and history.   Kramats are the resting places of revered Islamic scholars and leaders – ‘auliyah’, or ‘friends of God’ – who were banished to the Cape by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) from the late-1600s. Many were influential figures in present-day Indonesia and Malaysia who resisted colonisation. Instead of imprisoning or executing them, the VOC scattered them to the edges of the fledgling colony at the Cape, banished forever from their homelands. Their simple graves later became shrines, today visited by the faithful and the curious alike. Today, the kramats are far more than a simple list of historical sites. Plotted on a map, these tombs form a loose ‘circle of saints’ encircling Cape Town. And while the VOC once saw the Cape as a place of banishment, today the 23 kramats are part of the city’s living fabric; markers of faith and history. A place where memory and history meet. The Dutch colonial rulers may have had little respect for the spiritual

Want to know where the locals love to go? In this exclusive series on Time Out Cape Town, ‘Local Intel’ taps into some of the city’s best-connected characters to unearth the corners you simply can’t miss in the Mother City. The Mount Nelson Hotel has always revelled in its old-school charm, but the grand dame of Cape Town hotels has also had a surprisingly progressive streak. When it opened in 1899, it was the first hotel in South Africa to offer hot and cold running water. Later came a pioneering heated swimming pool, the first in Africa. Even that signature pink façade was a bold bespoke look, introduced in 1918 to celebrate peace at the end of the First World War. There is, however, one milestone that has taken rather longer. In a history stretching longer than a century, the Mount Nelson has never had a woman as Hotel Manager. That changes this month with the arrival of Stacey Hopkins. And there’s a satisfying symmetry to her appointment: Hopkins began her hospitality career at the Mount Nelson as a trainee decades ago, before going on to senior roles with Marriott, Starwood, Fairmont and, most recently, Cape Grace. “When I saw this role, I thought: this is where I want to be. I want to go back,” says Hopkins. “That’s where my real grounding started.” Now she’s back at The Nellie and, when she’s not looking after one of Cape Town’s most storied hotels, these are the places she loves to eat around the city. MORE LOCALS SHARE THEIR FAVOURITE SPOTS Musician Mandisi Dyant

In a city never short of a good place to eat, Cape Town takes its pizza seriously. Gone are the days when the only choice you had to make was whether pineapple belonged on top or not (it doesn’t, and this is a hill I will die on). These days the city’s best pizzaioli obsess over hydration levels, flour blends and slow fermentation, while wood-fired ovens turn out everything from leopard-spotted Neapolitan crusts to crisp Roman-style slices. Along with the variety on the plate is a diversity of destinations too. You’ll find old-school neighbourhood pizzerias that have been feeding Capetonians for decades, slick Italian restaurants importing the good stuff, plant-based slices and tiny independents supported by fiercely loyal locals The result? There’s never been a better time to be seeking out pizza in the Mother City. So whether you like yours thin and crisp, soft and puffy, traditional or piled high, these are the places worth knowing. Some of them even serve pineapple. But we don’t hold it against them. RECOMMENDED:  😋 The best restaurants in Cape Town🍣 The best sushi in Cape Town🍷 The best wine farms in and around Cape Town📍 The best things to do in Cape Town🛏 Where to stay in Cape Town  

Want to know where the locals love to go? In this exclusive series on Time Out Cape Town, ‘Local Intel’ taps into some of the city’s best-connected characters to unearth the corners you simply can’t miss in the Mother City. Perhaps few Capetonians have done as much to change how locals experience central Cape Town as Gareth Pearson. Best known as the co-founder of First Thursdays, launched in 2012, Pearson helped transform a handful of late-opening galleries into one of Cape Town’s defining monthly cultural rituals, drawing thousands of people into the CBD to explore its galleries, bars, restaurants and streets on foot. That interest in the street-level life of cities has since evolved into a broader focus on urbanism and placemaking, and these days his focus is increasingly on the city itself. Pearson is Placemaking Lead at the Mission for Inner City Cape Town, an independent non-profit launched in 2025 to help drive the regeneration of the city centre. Working across the public and private sectors, the Mission supports projects ranging from public art and lighting to events and longer-term public-space upgrades. Recent initiatives include Jazz in the City, Inner-city Saturdays, and the colourful Daisy Crossing on Strand Street, created with artist Helen Moore. He also leads Stadium Place Lab, an urbanism studio dedicated to creating lively, people-centred public spaces – recent projects include the Longkloof precinct – and he remains a director of Cape Town Furniture Week,

Welcome to Mother Sippy, where we shine a light on the talented winemakers, brewers, distillers and mixologists that make sure the Mother City never goes thirsty! From new wine releases to taprooms pouring perfect pints, Mother Sippy is your guide to all that’s good and great in Cape Town’s world of drinks. First things first: don’t let the colour fool you.  Pour a measure of TØSTE – pronounced ‘toast’ – and the deep crimson hue suggests something sweet, perhaps even a little syrupy. Berry liqueur? Ribena with a kick? Not even close. Take a sip and it’s surprisingly clean and citrusy, with blood orange and grapefruit leading the charge. Then comes a flicker of jalapeño heat, followed by a cooling note of menthol. Hot. Cold. Sweet. Bitter. It’s hard to pigeonhole, and that’s part of the delight, which inevitably leads you into taking another sip. TØSTE is the latest release to emerge from Hope Distillery, the Salt River distillery founded by Lucy Beard and Leigh Lisk in 2014. Hope was Cape Town’s first licensed craft distillery and, while gin remains at the heart of the business, the range has steadily expanded to vodka, rhum agricole and agave spirits alongside collaborations and bottled cocktails. And TØSTE is something different again. Officially it’s a spirit aperitif, inspired in part by the Scandinavian glögg traditions. It’s a project that has been nearly two years in development, but was only officially launched to the public this week. Cocktails are booming and a boom

Cape Town is a city built for walking, whether you’re tossing a ball on the beach or heading out for a day on the trail. Need some help? Start with our guide to the best day walks in Cape Town. But just because the hound is allegedly man’s best friend doesn’t mean your pooch is welcome everywhere in the city. And in many places, there are rules and regulations to follow, along with permits required for some of the city’s best mountain walks.  And let’s be honest, the rules can get pretty confusing. The City of Cape Town does not have a single policy covering every beach, park and trail, so if you don’t want to fall foul of law enforcement or your fellow beach-goers, you need to pay attention. Siiiiiiiit! Good. At Fish Hoek, dogs are welcome beyond the lighthouse but are prohibited on the main beach. At Hout Bay, they can run in the middle section but not at either end. On some beaches, they can go well in winter, but must stay home in summer. And if you are heading into Table Mountain National Park, you will usually need a permit before setting off. It’s hard to keep up.  The City does have a comprehensive guide to what’s allowed where, but we’ve made it even easier to find where to walk your dog in Cape Town, where the lead needs to stay clipped on and where four-legged visitors are not welcome. RECOMMENDED:  😋 The best restaurants in Cape Town🍳 The best breakfast and brunch spots in Cape Town☕️ The best cafés and coffee shops in Cape Town📍 The best things to do in Cape

There are hotel renovations, and then there are total reinventions. The last time I stayed at The Table Bay Hotel, it was pretty dire. The rooms were tired, the furniture in poor condition, and the carpets made you think twice about walking barefoot in your own room. Opened by Nelson Mandela in 1997, it had once set the benchmark for five-star hospitality in Cape Town, but nearly three decades later the heavy wooden furniture and floral chintz were showing their age. So I was more than a little relieved when The Table Bay closed in February 2025. There was little doubt that the grand old dame of the V&A Waterfront needed a nip-and-tuck. What emerged instead was more like an episode of Ultimate Makeover. Enter a R1-billion refurbishment, 45 additional rooms and suites, an entirely new food and beverage offering, a destination spa, and a change of flag. Reopening as the InterContinental Table Bay Cape Town, it became the first InterContinental hotel in the city, even though Sun International still runs operations behind the scenes.  Likewise, the bones of the original hotel are still here. That enviable location on the edge of the working harbour, to start with, as well as the soaring lobby and mountain-facing terrace. And with a celebrity chef in residence and a very swish new spa open to the public, it’s a space for locals and residents alike.   Why stay at InterContinental Table Bay? Location, for starters. You’re quite literally attached to the V&A Waterfront, with direct a

When Hesheng changed hands in 2023, regulars had reason to worry. For years, the unassuming little restaurant on Sea Point Main Road had built a fiercely loyal following around the cooking of Zeng Meie – known simply as ‘Ma’ – who was as famous for her taciturn (to put it kindly) service as for her handmade dumplings. The new owners, who had worked alongside Ma before taking over, did the smartest thing possible: they changed very little. The service is a little warmer than before, but the dining room is little changed – still no-frills to speak of – and the menu remains as extensive as it is delicious. And, most importantly, the xiao long bao are still good enough to justify a journey across town. The backstory Hesheng has been part of Cape Town’s Chinese restaurant scene for more than a decade. Ma became something of a local legend, not least for the dumplings and noodles made from scratch in the kitchen. Although the restaurant was sold, little has changed, and Hesheng remains one of the most dependable places in Cape Town for handmade dumplings, noodles and Chinese dishes that are a welcome change from your typical ‘sweet-and-sour ' fare. The vibe  Hesheng is not about to win any décor awards. And regulars love it that way. Step inside from the busy Main Road strip and the dining room is much as you’d find in a backstreet of Hong Kong or Beijing: bright lighting, tables crammed in and a waving golden cat on the counter. It’s not the space for fine napery (here it’s a bo

Forget sitting on the couch doom-scrolling on your phone. If you’re going to be looking at a screen, Cape Town’s newest virtual-reality attraction wants you on your feet, ducking, dodging and working up a sweat. What is The Park? The Park Cape Town opened in August 2026 on Kloof Street, bringing a fully immersive VR experience to the City Bowl. VR isn’t exactly new, but what sets The Park apart is that it is Cape Town’s first ‘free-roam’ VR experience. That means players move around a large physical arena, rather than standing in one spot while exploring a virtual world, with wireless headsets and controllers translating their movements into the game. So how do you not run into a wall? I hear you ask. Good question. At The Park, the digital world is mapped onto the real world, with digital ‘walls’ and no-go zones showing you where you can and can’t move.  It’s all colourfully, wonderfully disorientating. The empty room you walked into suddenly becomes a futuristic saloon, an interplanetary battlefield or a decidedly creepy horror show. Those humanoid friends you walked in with? Suddenly they have become carnival entertainers, intergalactic soldiers or offbeat robots. And you’ll want to bring your friends, because this virtual experience is made all the more fun by real-life connection. I took my teenage son and some friends for a trial, and they alternated between howling with laughter at those who couldn’t ‘walk the plank’ high above London (OK OK, it was me who couldn’t s

Michael Broughton is smiling again. The chef who spent nearly two decades turning Terroir – on De Zalze estate in Stellenbosch – into one of the Cape Winelands’ best-known restaurants has swapped the vineyards for Hermanus, and fine-dining flourish for a tiny cottage kitchen and fish fresh off the boats. And it looks like he couldn’t be happier. This new chapter for Broughton is certainly not Terroir-by-the-sea, though. At Fisherman’s Cottage, Broughton is deliberately keeping things simple with a compact menu, blackboard specials (where the real magic lies), superb seafood and a wine list that takes its cue from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. As he puts it, he doesn’t want anything ‘poncy’. He says it’s fine to arrive in your shorts and plakkies, as long as you eat well surrounded by friends and family and leave thinking: “That was flipping lekker. I’ll be back.” Now what’s not to love about that? The Backstory Fisherman’s Cottage is in the heart of town and is certainly not new to Hermanus. The building itself dates to the late-1800s and was built first as a home, then became a coffee shop and, eventually, a seafood restaurant. Most recently it was run for 11 years by the late Anton Verhoogt, who died tragically in an accident in 2025. Broughton’s journey to Hermanus was unintended. After Terroir closed during Covid, he spent several years consulting and developing plant-based products. When Verhoogt passed away Broughton offered to help keep Fisherman’s Cottage running for a f

Cape Town has no end of fancy fine-dining restaurants: all starched white tablecloths, hefty wine lists and plates covered with gels, foams and purées where you can spend hours playing ‘spot the food’.  BURI is not that. Rather, at this brand-new eatery in the city’s ever-buzzy East City precinct, two of the city’s most energetic chefs have given the humble boerewors roll – hence the name ‘BURI’ – a little lift without getting too fancy. It’s like that boerie roll you remember from the family camping holiday or the school fête. Only... better. The backstory BURI, which opened on Harrington Street in August 2026, is the newest concept from chef-restaurateurs Neil Swart and Anouchka Horn, co-founders of the Belly Restaurant Group. But while their other restaurants – Belly of the Beast, Galjoen and Seebamboes – are all about smart multi-course menus and long evenings at the table, BURI is more of a hit-and-run kind of spot. Their premise is simple: make a proper boerewors roll, pay proper attention to every component and resist the temptation to turn it into something unnecessarily fancy... and unrecognisable. The vibe Set on up-and-coming Harrington Street, BURI is a walk-in, spur-of-the-moment kind of place, not destination dining that requires a deposit and months of planning. Hungry now? Let’s go get a ‘BURI’, is more the vibe.  From the BURI-master to the merch on sale, it all feels proudly South African, with a hint of nostalgia. There’s even a photo of chef Neil on a lino

Before you decide where to stay for that weekend break in Hermanus, it’s best to decide why you’re there. Is it to tee up at the golf course? Book a B&B on that side of town. It’s a 27-hole layout, so there’s plenty to keep you busy. Or is it to head up the valley in search of the fine wines of the Hemel-en-Aarde? You might want to look at a farm stay instead. But if you want easy access to the Cliff Path for whale-watching, as well as the ease of walking to the shops and restaurants of the town centre, then One Marine Drive ticks all the right boxes. Set on the western edge of the centre – a 10-minute walk at a leisurely pace – it sits directly opposite the ocean and the famous Cliff Path, with Fick’s Pool, the tidal pool and seaside restaurant, just about on the doorstep. Turn right for a coastal walk to New Harbour. Turn left for Hermanus’s restaurants, galleries and Old Harbour. In season, guests in the front-facing sea-view rooms can pretty much watch for whales in Walker Bay without leaving their rooms.   Why stay at One Marine Drive? Well, apart from the chance to watch cetaceans from your couch, there’s plenty more. Let’s start with the location. One Marine Drive sits right on the seafront, with just Marine Drive and a patch of grass separating you from the Cliff Path. From here, the Overberg’s your oyster. During my stay, I walked the entire length of the path, from Klein River Mouth at Grotto Beach to New Harbour, so you can pretty much leave your car in the free un

Cape Town has never been short of neighbourhood cafés and coffee shops, but when it comes to the kind of experience that would give NYC’s famous Katz’s Deli a run for its money? Well, those are harder to find. For more than a decade, Kleinsky’s in Sea Point has perhaps been the city’s most reliable answer to that particular hunger pang, with a loyal following flocking to their Regent Road store for hand-rolled bagels, proper pastrami and perhaps the best rugelach in town. It’s a formula that worked so well that they expanded to Johannesburg and London. And now they have come around the mountain, opening a brand-new branch at the High Constantia Centre, bringing bagels, breakfasts, ‘noshes’ and New York-style deli classics to one of Cape Town’s leafiest suburbs. The Backstory Kleinsky’s started out in 2014 as a small Sea Point eatery, with brothers Adam and Joel Klein drawing inspiration from the Jewish delis of New York. But this was no cut-and-paste; instead, the plan was to create a Cape Town version of a classic Manhattan deli: old-school recipes and cultural memory, served with a contemporary twist and local attitude. Despite the expansion, Kleinsky’s holds firmly to its founding principles of getting the basics right before letting loose with a little menu creativity. The bagels are still hand-rolled, slow-fermented, boiled in malted water and baked. The pastrami is still made just the way it was at the start. The Russian dressing is made in-house. And yes, the Reuben ba

There’s a lot of construction going on in Claremont right now. If they’re not digging up Imam Haron Road or blocking the side streets, houses are being pulled down and apartments are going in.  But for the last month or two, it’s the shopfront of 109 Belvedere Road that’s caught my eye, not least because one of the first things to go on the wall was a new sign.   “Chingu. Authentic Korean Food.” The Backstory   This corner of the southern suburbs is a surprisingly diverse hotbed of global cuisine. Lebanese Bakery is perhaps the OG of the area, but I’m also partial to Pho House next to Coimbra Bakery. Further down the road, Edo Sushi hits the quality/price notes just right. The kitchen at Hot Stuff always looks a little dubious, but their naan breads and Pakistani plates are superb. But Chingu is the first Korean restaurant in this part of town, and long may it last. While the restaurant may be new, the energy in the kitchen comes with a Cape Korean pedigree. Chingu is the new outing from Chone-Hee Cho, who also runs the popular Korean Kitchen in Stadum on Main. At Chingu, she works hand in hand with Saburo Adaniya. “At Korean Kitchen, we found that a lot of Muslim customers would come in and ask about the food, but unfortunately, we sell pork there,” explains Saburo. “So she had the idea to open a restaurant that would be more inclusive for Muslim diners. ‘Chingu’ means ‘friend’ in Korean, and she wanted the restaurant to feel friendly and for customers to build a relations

There are plenty of places to find good fish and chips in Cape Town, but often they’re let down by plastic tablecloths and indifferent service, or only offer a simple takeaway menu. The food might be good, but the occasion is forgettable. The leafy suburb of Newlands might not immediately spring to mind when it comes to finding great seafood, but when you throw in a central location, lovely décor and a restaurateur with decades of experience in the business, you have a restaurant worth seeking out. Say hello to Fishmonger. The Backstory Fishmonger may be new to Cape Town, but for once those Joburg foodies are ahead of the game. This is the first Cape Town outpost for a restaurant brand already familiar to many diners in Gauteng, where you’ll find branches in Rosebank, Bryanston and Centurion. That it arrives in Newlands is thanks to owner Aki Hadjipetros, who brings 40 years of restaurant experience to this new venture, adding a much-needed seafood option to a corner of Cape Town filled with its fair share of cosy pubs, coffee shops and Italian eateries.  In fact, with Fishmonger adding to the menu of restaurants in Newlands, the suburb is turning into quite the foodie hotspot! The Vibe Let’s be clear: this might be part of a (small) chain, but it’s not the seafood-chain experience you might have had elsewhere. From the moment you step through the front door, the feeling is upmarket yet relaxed. Modern, with a bit of vintage style. It’s a restaurant of two halves, but the low

Set on the historic Blaauwklippen wine farm, founded in 1682, the rebuilt manor pairs Cape heritage inspiration with contemporary interiors. It’s all surrounded by generous gardens to offer an easy sense of winelands escape on the quieter fringes of Stellenbosch. With wine tasting and plenty of activities on the farm, it’s as much a base for exploring as it is a destination in itself.  Why stay at Blaauwklippen Manor? Start with the setting. Blaauwklippen is close enough to Stellenbosch to make it easy to explore this historic university town. It’s not quite close enough to walk, but a few minutes’ drive and you’ll soon discover the vibey streets of the Eikestad. But there’s also plenty to keep you settled in on the estate without feeling the need to venture out. Because this is not simply somewhere to sleep after a day of indulgent tastings. On Blaauwklippen you’ll find estate walks and tastings on site, as well as weekend markets and family-friendly activities (more on that in a bit). The hotel’s understated sense of luxury is another draw, and from the concierge-style service on arrival to the considered approach to hospitality, there’s a boutique charm to Blaauwklippen. What are the rooms like? Blaauwklippen Manor offers a choice of room categories, spread across the restored Manor House and the adjoining Jonkershuis. Far and away my favourite are the four expansive suites in the restored Manor House, all shaped by high ceilings, layered interiors and a modern-heritage ae

There’s certainly no shortage of great steakhouses in Cape Town, whether you prefer yours old-school in the mould of Hussar Grill, or something more contemporary like the recent addition of East City Grill. But in a crowded landscape, CARNE stands apart, and has done ever since chef Giorgio Nava first opened the doors to his Milanese-inspired steakhouse in 2007. In a city where restaurants come and go, a run of almost 20 years is pretty darn impressive, but it’s not hard to see why. The Backstory CARNE – ‘meat’ in Italian – is the work of Giorgio Nava, one of the best-known chefs in Cape Town’s Italian restaurant scene. He first made his name in the Mother City with 95 Keerom, which fast became one of the city’s favourite Italian restaurants, before the pandemic put paid to this palace of pasta (and so many other delicious dishes). But, just a few steps away, across Keerom Street, CARNE endured. In a similar vein to 95, Nava opened CARNE with a simple but powerful idea: apply Italian refinement, and a discerning approach to ingredients, to cuisines South Africans love to eat. It worked for pasta at 95, and proved a hit when it came to meat at CARNE. The Vibe Unlike the leather booths and dusty-wine-bottle aesthetic of many steakhouses, the Keerom Street setting of CARNE is elegant and contemporary without being flashy. It’s changed little since opening, and yet still feels on point. Translucent ‘ghost’ chairs, art on the walls, low ceilings. It’s intimate, sexy and modern, wi

There are plenty of polished farm stays in the Cape Winelands, but perhaps few manage to weave together quite the tapestry of luxury accommodation, rich heritage and fine food, quite so elegantly as Vergenoegd Löw, which traces its histoy back to 1696. Mix in proper eco-credentials and a flock of Insta-worthy runner ducks and it’s easy to see why this farm at the gateway to Stellenbosch has become so popular as a quietly luxurious Winelands retreat. Why stay at Vergenoegd Löw? For starters, location. It’s minutes from the N2, putting it within easy reach of the airport, Somerset West and Strand, while also being convenient for Stellenbosch and the surrounding Winelands. Then, you’ll love the breadth of experiences on offer. You can come for a romantic Winelands escape and spend your days moving between your private pool deck, a long lunch at Geuwels and an afternoon tasting in the Wine Lounge.  But you can just as easily lean into the estate’s sustainability story, with its regenerative farming, rich birdlife, working vineyards and famously eco-friendly pest control courtesy of a flock of Indian Runner ducks. There’s a delightful spa that taps into the farm’s fynbos bounty, as well as a pair of restaurants led by one of the Cape’s best-loved chefs. And that’s before we even mention the wine, which you could discover over lunch, or at a specialist tasting. What are the rooms like? This isn’t a one-size-fits-all wine-farm hotel. Depending on what kind of stay you’re after, ther

There are surely few better places to raise a glass of bubbles than the estate where South Africa’s Cap Classique story began. And now there’s another reason to linger at Simonsig Family Vineyards in Stellenbosch, with the opening of Vonkel at Simonsig, a brand-new restaurant alongside the estate’s tasting room. This year marks 55 years since Frans Malan produced the first Kaapse Vonkel in 1971, creating South Africa’s first (ever!) bottle-fermented sparkling wine at a time when most local fizz was carbonated and sweet. Malan kick-started a movement that has seen South Africa produce some of the world’s finest sparkling wines (even if we still can’t call them champagne). Today, the Stellenbosch estate is run by the third generation of the Malan family, with Michael Malan taking over as cellarmaster in 2022.  And while the bubbly is reason enough to visit, we now have Vonkel, which marks the return of a full restaurant to the estate. The restaurateur (and sommelier) behind it all is Marc Botes, who brings an unfussy, Mediterranean-inspired menu built around seasonal produce and top-notch ingredients. That means locally made burrata and mozzarella from Puglia Cheese, San Marzano tomatoes (chefs swear by these Italian beauties), imported Italian 00 flour, and Simonsig’s own extra-virgin olive oil. Pizza dough undergoes a 36-hour sourdough fermentation before being hand-stretched and baked in the wood-burning oven.  What’s on the menu? Vonkel opens at 9am for brunch, with everyth

Start inflating the lilo! Up The Creek is heading back to the Breede River in February 2027, and organisers have announced the first batch of artists set to play one of South Africa’s longest-running outdoor music festivals. First of all, mark your calendars: the 2027 edition runs from 11-14 February, with more than 50 artists across four stages over the four-day weekend. Tickets are limited to just 2500 festival-goers, keeping Up The Creek nice and intimate compared with many of South Africa’s larger music festivals. Leading the first artist announcement is former Springbok Nude Girls frontman Arno Carstens – always a crowd-pleaser – alongside aKING, Barto, BCUC, Booshle G, Dierbaar, Georgetown, Keanan Eksteen, Magé, MaxX & Love, Pedro Barbosa and SUGARBIRD. There are plenty more names still to come, with organisers promising more than 50 live performances across the weekend. Carstens needs little introduction to South African rock fans. As frontman of the Springbok Nude Girls, he helped soundtrack the country’s alternative-rock explosion of the 1990s, before carving out a successful solo career spanning rock, pop and more atmospheric singer-songwriter material. Also heading back to the festival circuit is aKING, the rock band from Bellville built around vocalist and guitarist Laudo Liebenberg. Formed in 2007, the group broke through with 2008 debut Dutch Courage, blending melodic rock with touches of folk, country and pop. Expect the sort of big, radio-friendly choruses tha

Revenge for the Springboks will – we hope – be sweet this Saturday. The traffic in Green Point? Not so much. After New Zealand handed the Boks a bruising 33-16 defeat at Ellis Park last weekend, the rivalry moves south to DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday, 29 August, for the second Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour. And Cape Town is set to turn out in numbers – 62 000, a sold-out stadium, to be precise –  to cheer on the Bokke. And with thousands more supporters likely to descend on Green Point, the V&A Waterfront and the CBD to soak up the gees before and after the match, the roads are going to be... interesting.  So, whether you’re heading to the stadium for the game or just into town for the afternoon, it pays – like Rassie – to have a game plan. Which roads will be closed? The City of Cape Town has warned motorists to expect heavy traffic, temporary road closures and access restrictions across Green Point and the stadium precinct throughout Saturday. With no shortage of understatement, “we anticipate significant congestion on our roads on match day,” says Alderman JP Smith, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security. Here at Time Out, we're calling it 'Rugby's Greatest Traffic Jam'. So how can you avoid it? For starters, leave the car at home if you can.  If you can't, restrictions will be in place from 6am until 10.30pm, affecting the following roads and sections: Granger Boulevard, between Green Point Circle and Beach Road Beach Road in Gr

Eighteen seats. One long table. A gorgeous cottage set amid lavender fields. And a multi-course menu by Michelin-starred chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen. You guessed it... JAN Franschhoek is back.  This hugely popular seasonal dining experience returns to La Motte wine estate in Franschhoek this spring, marking the fifth year running for what has become one of the most sought-after pop-up dining experiences in the Cape Winelands. As in previous years, JAN Franschhoek sets up in the 18th-century Veepos cottage, hidden away among the lavender fields of La Motte, with all 18 diners seated around a single communal table decorated in Jan’s signature maximalist style. Season V will see Van der Westhuizen once again turn his attention to the South African family table, reimagining familiar flavours, regional favourites and nostalgic food traditions through the lens of contemporary global cooking. So what exactly will be on the menu? Well, that remains under wraps for now. But expect a proudly local celebration of seasonal ingredients, familiar flavours given an unexpected twist, and plenty of beautifully paired La Motte wines. How it all works JAN Franschhoek Season V will run from 4 September 2026 to 30 April 2027. Dinner is served Wednesday to Saturday. Guests meet at the La Motte Manor House at 6.30pm, with dinner beginning promptly at 7pm. Sundays are a more leisurely affair, with an extended lunch experience. Guests are welcomed to the Manor House from noon, with lunch be

Kleinsky’s, the Sea Point deli famous for its hand-rolled bagels, hot pastrami on rye, rugelach and Russian honey cake, has opened a new branch at the V&A Waterfront, taking the cult Cape Town brand into one of the city’s most high-profile restaurant and retail destinations. Founded in Sea Point in 2014 by brothers Adam and Joel Klein, the inspiration for Kleinsky’s came from the famous Jewish delis of New York. The original Regent Road store quickly became a local favourite, building a loyal following around slow-fermented bagels, properly made pastrami and deli classics reimagined for Cape Town. “The delis of New York are so intrinsically linked to New York culture that they’re adopted by everyone,” says Adam Klein. “Bagels and coffee are the New York breakfast of champions.” Introducing that deli culture to Cape Town has always been part of the ambition for Kleinsky’s, and was the driver behind opening a store in the V&A Waterfront; a space known for its stiff competition and no-nonsense rents, as much as the serious foot traffic. Photograph: Kleinsky's.Adam Klein, co-founder of Kleinsky's. “We’ve always said we’re a New York-style deli, and we try to be as authentic as the delis you find there, but we also want to introduce what we do to a broader audience, and that’s why the V&A is such a great move for us,” says Klein. “We didn’t want to only be connected to these very specific neighbourhoods, so to be in a place like the Waterfront is a great visual space for us… It

Cape Town’s pizza scene gets a tasty new spin this week, as Pizza Shed rolls out a new branch on Main Road in Newlands. A major refit of the space previously occupied by Full House Bar & Restaurant – and, before that, a Spur – has created a bright and colourful new restaurant that’s a perfect fit for this on-trend pizza brand. The opening follows the closure of Pizza Shed’s Observatory restaurant at the end of July. The brand had traded in the neighbourhood since 2022, but co-owner James Williams says the branch never attracted quite the same volume of customers as its other locations.  “We had been in Observatory for four and a half years, but there just didn’t seem to be the same footfall as at our other branches,” Williams told Time Out. “The business wasn’t performing as well as we felt it could elsewhere.” Pizza Shed was founded by Williams and his friend Tando Bavuma during the pandemic, beginning with a pizza oven built inside Williams’s garden shed. Known for its inventive toppings and superb Neapolitan-style bases, the business took off, expanding to Observatory, Bree Street and St James. Time Out Guide: The best pizza in Cape Town Williams says having a presence in Newlands had been on the agenda for some time, but finding the right commercial property proved difficult. When the Newlands space became available, Williams and Bavuma didn’t need much convincing. Pizza Shed’s new home is on the corner of Main Road and Dean Street in Newlands. It’s in the same building a

Listen up, noodle fans. Ramenhead is heading up the hill. The popular Japanese street-food restaurant announced on Tuesday that it will relocate from its original Parliament Street address to a larger space at 75 Kloof Street, with the new branch scheduled to open in spring. 75 Kloof Street. Does that address sound familiar? If you’re a foodie, it should, as that’s the former home of ëlgr, the contemporary European restaurant by chef Jesper Nilsson. ëlgr closed in May 2026, freeing up the sizeable Kloof Street site for the FYN Group’s expanded ramen, sushi and izakaya concept. Ramenhead was launched by the FYN Group in 2022, bringing a casual counterpoint to the group’s fine-dining restaurants. It quickly earned a hungry local following for its rich broths and noodles made in-house using the only Yamato ramen machine on the African continent. Ramenhead also operates at Time Out Market Cape Town, which will remain open. The move puts Ramenhead slap-bang in the heart of Kloof Street’s busy restaurant and nightlife line-up, while also giving the team considerably more room to expand the original concept. “Kloof Street has this energy, it's alive, it's unpretentious, it moves fast, and that's exactly what Ramenhead has always been about,” says chef-owner Peter Tempelhoff. “We built this concept on the idea that ramen should be serious about craft but never precious about it. This new space just gives that energy more room to breathe.” The new restaurant will continue serving the

The All Blacks have arrived in Cape Town for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, the much-hyped tour that will see New Zealand and South Africa face off in one of international sport’s fiercest feuds. But before the Springboks enter the chat, New Zealand begin their tour with a warm-up match against the Stormers at DHL Stadium this Friday, 7 August. Until then, the All Blacks will make their home at Athlone Stadium, which is serving as the team’s training base in the Mother City. Now, what I know about elite athlete nutrition could be written on a really small piece of paper, but I imagine our beefy visitors will be following carefully calibrated meal plans designed for them by highly qualified nutritionists. There will be weighed protein and whey powder and timed carbohydrates, along with your choice of electrolyte sachets. Maybe there will be a little New Zealand tjoppie and a Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc on standby for once the boots have been packed away. But do those clever nutritionists realise that their squad is training within a solid Damien McKenzie kick from two of Cape Town’s greatest takeaway institutions? Places where there’s enough spice to give Kolisi a shiver, and carbs to make Ox look like a lightweight. So if (All Blacks coach) Dave Rennie really wants to give his team a fighting chance, I’d suggest they put away the shakes and head across Klipfontein Road. Just, um, keep those mobiles out of sight, please? You might be built like the proverbial outhouse, but this i

Namaqualand’s famous wildflower season is shaping up to be one of the best in years, and Time Out has the inside scoop on an unforgettable way to experience it. Set inside Namaqua National Park, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Namaqua Flower Beach Camp will open for just one month this spring: from 14 August to 13 September 2026. Once the flowers begin to fade and the petals fall, the entire camp will be dismantled and trucked out, allowing the landscape to return to its natural state. And if you’ve always wanted to see the spring flowers, this should be the year you put in for a few days’ leave and head up the West Coast to the Northern Cape. Good winter rainfall during 2025, followed by early rains this year – who can forget that stormy week? – has created ideal conditions for an unusually abundant display across the Northern and Western Cape, as long-dormant seeds transform the usually arid landscape into a tapestry of daisies, gazanias, bulbs and a Smarties box of other indigenous flowers. However, let’s not forget that the flowers are famously unpredictable. Rainfall, temperature and sunshine all affect where and when the best displays appear, while different parts of the region reach their peak at different times. Even the time of day matters. Namaqualand daisies and gazanias are heliotropic – a fancy word meaning that they follow the sun – and usually close up during overcast weather. That means it’s best to explore on a blue-sky day, with the sun behind you, to soak u

462. That's a big number.  And it's been 462 long and quiet days since we last heard any new music from GoodLuck. That was on 25 April 2025, when they released 'Would I Lie To You', a collab with UK artist Youngr. But now, after taking some time off to focus on family, the Mother City’s much-loved electro-pop livewires are officially back. The new single – ‘Last Deep Breath’ – is out now (like, right now) and marks what the band describes as the start of a new musical era.  After a few early listens to ‘Last Deep Breath’, it seems they’re certainly not sliding quietly into our Spotify playlists.  Instead, driven by euphoric beats and a nostalgic ’90s house streak, the track is a high-energy reminder of what made GoodLuck one of South Africa’s most successful live electronic acts. But beneath the dancefloor-ready production lies a more reflective message about living in the moment, because, as ‘Last Deep Breath’ reminds us, nobody knows quite how much time we have left. “This song feels bigger than just a release for us,” says lead vocalist Juliet Harding. “It’s a reminder that we’re all living on borrowed time in the most beautiful possible way. Somewhere along the line, we forget that we’re here to feel deeply, take chances, dance badly, fall in love and squeeze every ounce of joy from this life. Last Deep Breath is our invitation to do exactly that.’ If this track is their invitation, we’re on board. Formed in Cape Town by Harding and producer Ben Peters, GoodLuck have spe

It marks the end of an era for Cape Town foodies. Chefs Warehouse & Canteen on Bree Street has closed, ending Liam Tomlin’s long association with Bree Street, perhaps the best foodie street in Cape Town. Merchant Bar & Grill and the Room 91 private-events space have also shut. Announcing the move on social media, Liam Tomlin said the group had spent recent months taking “a thoughtful look at every part of our business to ensure that what we create remains inspiring, relevant and true to who we are. That process has led to some difficult decisions, but also some exciting opportunities." “After 45 years as a chef and restaurateur, including more than 20 years in South Africa and the last 14 years building our reputation on Bree Street, we have decided to consolidate our operations.” It’s important to note that the closure is limited to 91 Bree Street. The group’s other restaurants, including Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantia, Chefs Warehouse at Maison in Franschhoek, Chefs Warehouse at Tintswalo Atlantic, and Thali and Cantina in Stellenbosch, are unaffected. The Red Room, Tomlin and chef-partner David Schneider’s subterranean Pan-Asian restaurant at Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel, also remains open. The OG of small plates Tomlin first launched Chefs Warehouse as a cookery school and specialist food store on New Church Street in 2010. In 2014, the concept moved to Heritage Square on Bree Street, where Chefs Warehouse & Canteen became known for its informal service, communal ta

Just in time for whale season, the most famous hotel in Hermanus has had a refresh. The Marine Hotel is a Hermanus landmark that has watched over Walker Bay since 1902. Now, after a a smart refurbishment of its ground-floor public spaces, it’s looking fresher than ever! The refurb extends to a complete redesign of its Pavilion Restaurant, which means that – while we’d certainly recommend booking a room for the night – if your pockets aren’t deep enough to stay you can pop in for lunch and soak up the old-school grandeur of this iconic Cape Hotel. The new-look restaurant combines the feel of a contemporary brasserie with a light-filled greenhouse, while retaining many of the historic details that have defined the hotel for more than 120 years. Designed by Dawn Dickerson and Carmel Naudé of HotCocoa Interiors and Design, the room takes its cues from the fynbos landscapes surrounding Hermanus. Greens, timber and textured finishes run throughout the space, with a dramatic installation of 50 glass pendant lights suspended above a canopy of botanical greenery. Photograph: The Marine Hotel |The Pavilion Restaurant at The Marine Hotel in Hermanus The restaurant’s original black-and-white tiled floors have been retained, alongside the hotel’s arched windows and sweeping views across Walker Bay. New additions include green marble accents, timber tables with traditional turned legs, curved velvet banquettes and upholstered chairs featuring fynbos-print backs. It’s almost enough to di