Where to Stay in Cape Town and the Cape Winelands

Cape Town is a fairly large city with many potential neighbourhoods to base yourself in. Each area creates a different kind of trip.

Base yourself in the City Bowl and you walk to breakfast and galleries. Base yourself in Camps Bay or Sea Point and you get the Atlantic, the sunsets and a strip of restaurants. Carry on down the False Bay coast to Kalk Bay and the pace slows down. Drive 25 minutes north or 45 east and you are among the vineyards, which is where most people wish they had spent an extra night.

We spent three months in the Cape and moved around it. Two rental apartments in the City Bowl, a few nights on the False Bay coast at Kalk Bay, Christmas Eve at Meerendal in the Durbanville wine valley, and a stretch based in Stellenbosch town for the Winelands. This is the guide we would give a friend: pick the area that fits your trip first, then the place to stay, and a safety check too.

In a Rush? Our Cape Town and Winelands Picks

Where to Stay in Cape Town: The Best Areas at a Glance

If you only read one section, read this one. Cape Town is spread out and the drive between areas matters, so pick by the kind of trip you want.

• City Bowl – Best for first-timers who want to see as many sights as possible. Central and well connected. Take an Uber rather than walk the quieter surrounding streets after dark.
• V&A Waterfront – Nest for families and easy days. Restaurants, the aquarium and the Robben Island ferry all in one place. Polished rather than local.
• Camps Bay, Clifton and Bakoven – Best for the beach, the sunsets and the views. You will want a car or Ubers.
• Sea Point and Green Point – Best value on the Atlantic side, and the promenade is one of the great city walks.
• Constantia and Newlands – Best for leafy, quiet and wine estates inside the city limits. Easier with a car.
• Kalk Bay and Simon’s Town – Best for a slower few days by the sea, and our pick for the calm half of a trip.
• The Winelands: Durbanville, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek – Best for a night or two among the vines. Durbanville is the closest and the least obvious.

City Bowl – Best for First-Time Visitors

The City Bowl is the flat, walkable heart of Cape Town, and if it is your first visit it is the easiest place to get your bearings. You can walk to the Company’s Garden, the museums, the Bree Street and Kloof Street restaurants, and the bottom of the Table Mountain cable car road.

We stayed here twice and our second choice was much better than the first. Our first apartment was on Darling Street, right in the middle of the centre and close to Long Street, and we were asked for money every time we walked out of the door. Our second was on Leeuwen Street, just off Bree, five blocks away, and it was a completely different experience. Five blocks is the difference between a stressful walk home and an easy one, so look at the exact street rather than the district.

Two things we would look for again: a building with a security guard in the foyer, and a flat that is not on the ground floor. For a hotel rather than an apartment, Labotessa is the one we would book. We had coffee in its front courtyard and it felt calm and green with very attentive staff despite being bang in the city centre.

Kalk Bay and Simon’s Town – Best for a Slower Few Days by the Sea

Kalk Bay is a fishing village on the False Bay side of the peninsula, about 40 minutes from the centre, and it is the part of Cape Town we would send a friend to first. There is a working harbour where the boats land, a row of secondhand bookshops and cafes, tidal pools you can swim in, and the whole thing sits between the mountain and the sea with the railway line running along the shore.

We rented an apartment here for a few nights, mostly for the ocean views and the beach walks, and Ubered down to see the penguins at Boulders Beach near Simon’s Town. Nobody hassled us once. It is much quieter and less hectic than the city, so it works best as the second half of a trip rather than the whole thing, unless you are happy driving in for the sights.

For places to stay, Kalk Bay Cottage is the sort of thing to look for. Cottages and apartments are the norm here rather than big hotels, and the ones facing the water are worth the extra.

Camps Bay, Clifton and Bakoven – Best for the Beach and the Views

This is the Atlantic Seaboard, a string of white sand beaches under the Twelve Apostles, and it is where Cape Town looks like the photographs. Camps Bay has the beach and the restaurant strip, Clifton has four small coves reached down flights of steps, and Bakoven is the quiet residential end.

It is the most expensive part of the city to sleep in, and you are 15 to 20 minutes from the centre, so you will be in a car or an Uber most days. The wind also funnels through here in summer, which is why locals pick their beach by the day rather than by favourite. Our picks are Living Hotel Lion’s Eye for the sea views and Sovn Boutique Hotel if you want Camps Bay without the noise.

Sea Point and Green Point – Best Value on the Atlantic Side

Sea Point is the answer if you want the ocean without the Camps Bay price. It is a proper neighbourhood, busy with people walking dogs and running on the promenade, which is a wide paved path along the sea that runs for miles and is one of the nicest free things to do in the city. Green Point sits next to it, closer to the stadium and the V&A Waterfront. Both are walkable, well lit and full of cafes.

V&A Waterfront – Best for Families and Easy Days

The V&A Waterfront is the low-friction option. Everything is contained and easy: restaurants, the Two Oceans Aquarium, the Robben Island ferry, shops, and security everywhere. If you are travelling with children, nervous about the city, or only have two nights, it removes almost all the friction. The trade-off is that it feels the least like Cape Town of anywhere on this list.

Constantia and Newlands – Best for Leafy and Quiet

Head round the back of Table Mountain and the city turns green. Constantia has wine estates inside the city limits, Newlands has the botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch just up the road, and both are cooler, quieter and more residential than anywhere on the Atlantic side. You will want a car. We spent an afternoon at Beau Constantia and it is a lovely, easy introduction to South African wine if you are not driving out to the Winelands.

Where to Stay in the Cape Winelands

The mistake most first-timers make is doing the Winelands as a day trip from Cape Town. A few nights out here changes it completely, mostly because you can actually drink the wine. It also breaks up a trip nicely: city, coast, vines.

Durbanville – The Wine Valley 25 Minutes From the City

Almost nobody writes about Durbanville, which is exactly why we would send you there. It is a small wine valley about 25 minutes north of Cape Town, far closer than Stellenbosch or Franschhoek, so you can have a night among the vines if you only have time for a very quick overnight.

We stayed at Meerendal Boutique Hotel on Christmas Eve and it is still one of our favourite nights of the whole three months. It is a working wine estate, calm and green, with a restaurant on site, and best if you want don’t want to have to leave the estate once you’re there. We heard about it as our Cape Town-ian friend’s mum manages the estate. We paid for the room and the recommendation is ours though!

Stellenbosch – Best Base for Touring the Wine Farms

If you want to tour the farms properly, base yourself in Stellenbosch. It is a university town of oak-lined streets, Cape Dutch gables, good coffee and more wine estates within a short drive than anywhere else in the country. We rented a place in town and used it as a base, which we would do again: you can walk out to dinner, which you cannot do on most of the estates. We stayed in the town for over a week and explored many vineyards here.

Remhoogte is the estate we would point you at for a tasting, up in the hills with a view back over the valley. It has rooms too, although we only visited. For more on the town itself, we have a separate guide to Stellenbosch wineries and wine bars.

Franschhoek – Best for the Wine Tram and a Splurge

Franschhoek is the prettiest town in the valley and the most expensive place to sleep in it. We did not stay here, we came for the day and rode the Wine Tram, which is the best way to see several farms without a designated driver. If your budget stretches to one night in the Winelands, this is the postcard version, and the tram makes it easy.

Full details of the tram, the tasting rooms and where to eat are in our guide to Franschhoek, the Wine Tram and the best wineries.

Which Areas of Cape Town Feel Safest?

This is the question underneath most searches for where to stay in Cape Town, so here is the short version. The areas visitors generally feel most comfortable in are the Atlantic Seaboard, the V&A Waterfront, the leafy southern suburbs and the False Bay villages. The City Bowl is fine by day and lively in the busier pockets at night, but you have to be street-aware and take an Uber rather than walking, even a few blocks, by night.

The single most useful thing we learned is that it is street by street rather than area by area. Look at the exact address, pick a building with a guard in the foyer, and avoid ground-floor flats in the centre. We wrote a much longer piece on this, including what the city actually feels like day to day: is Cape Town safe?

Compare Places to Stay Across Cape Town

Prices swing a lot by area and by date here, so it is worth comparing the whole city on one map before you commit to a neighbourhood.

The same for the Winelands, if you are adding a night or two out of the city:

Things to Do From Each Base

Where you stay changes what is easy.

From the City Bowl you can walk to the start of the Platteklip Gorge route up Table Mountain and to Lion’s Head, both of which we hiked on weekend mornings when the trails were busy.

From Camps Bay or Sea Point you are close to the coastal road down to Hout Bay and Chapman’s Peak.

From Kalk Bay you can reach Boulders Beach, Cape Point and the tidal pools without ever going near the centre.

From the Winelands you are in tasting-room country.

If you would rather book the big ones in advance, these are the Cape Town tours and tickets that get booked most:

For the full list, including the things we would do again and the ones we would skip, read our guide to the best things to do in Cape Town. If you are eating your way round the city, we also have guides to vegetarian and vegan food in Cape Town and Cape Town for coffee lovers.

Heading on afterwards? Our Big Five safari at Rhino River Lodge is on the other side of the country and pairs well with a Cape trip.

How Long to Split Your Stay

If you have a week, we would spend four nights in the city on the coast and the rest in the Winelands. If you have ten days, four in the City Bowl or on the Atlantic side, three in Kalk Bay and three in the Winelands. If you only have a long weekend, stay central.

Where to Stay in Cape Town FAQs

What Is the Best Area to Stay in Cape Town?

For a first visit, the City Bowl if you want to walk to things, or Sea Point if you want the ocean without the Camps Bay price. Camps Bay and Clifton are the best beach bases but you will need a car. For a slower few days, Kalk Bay on the False Bay coast. Pick by the kind of trip you want, because the drive between areas is real.

Where Should First-Time Visitors Stay in Cape Town?

The City Bowl or the V&A Waterfront. The City Bowl puts you within walking distance of the museums, the restaurants on Bree and Kloof Street and the Table Mountain road. The Waterfront is more contained and easier if you are travelling with children or feeling cautious, though it feels less like the real city.

Which Areas of Cape Town Feel Safest for Visitors?

Visitors generally feel most comfortable on the Atlantic Seaboard, at the V&A Waterfront, in the southern suburbs like Constantia and Newlands, and in the False Bay villages such as Kalk Bay and Simon’s Town. It varies street by street rather than district by district, so check the exact address and look for a building with security in the foyer.

How Many Days Do You Need in Cape Town?

Four nights is enough for Table Mountain, the Waterfront, a beach day and one drive down the peninsula. A week lets you add Cape Point and a night or two in the Winelands. Ten days is when it stops feeling rushed.

Is It Worth Staying in the Winelands as Well as Cape Town?

Yes, if you can spare a night. Doing the Winelands as a day trip means somebody has to drive and nobody drinks much. Durbanville is only 25 minutes from the city, Stellenbosch is the best base for touring farms, and Franschhoek is the prettiest and priciest. The Franschhoek Wine Tram solves the driving problem for a day.

Do You Need a Car in Cape Town?

Not if you stay central or at the Waterfront, where Ubers are cheap and plentiful. You will want one for Camps Bay, Constantia, the peninsula and the Winelands. We used Ubers in the city and hired a car for the days we went further out.

Where Did You Stay in Cape Town?

Two apartments in the City Bowl, one on Darling Street and a better one on Leeuwen Street just off Bree, then a few nights in an apartment in Kalk Bay, Christmas Eve at Meerendal in the Durbanville Wine Valley, and a spell based in Stellenbosch town for the Winelands.

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