When the winters in the Northern Hemisphere become too much, many people now head to one of the world’s prime tourist destinations: Cape Town, South Africa. This city has turned into one of the top ten tourist destinations in the world during the past decade.
A large percentage of tourists of course visit the city because of its pristine beaches. When their family and friends in the other half of the globe are turning on the central heating, they are tanning on one of the numerous sandy beaches.
Cape Town is a great travel destination for a family. Even with a baby in your family there’s still no reason for not having a holiday filled with sun, sand and sea. When flying in, you can rent a car at the airport. For the baby’s sake try and get one that is equipped with a graco car seat. Then find a guest house that’s baby-friendly and start having fun!
One of the guest houses we recently visited even had a spa baby where we could bathe our baby in the more natural upright position. Not all guest houses will have this of course, but it just shows the level of sophistication of many South African guest houses.
Another favorite tourist attraction of the Mother City, and one that you can hardly miss, is Table Mountain. This colossal massif juts out from the ocean to loom over Cape Town like a mother hen guarding her children. An open secret that all Capetonians know is that if the wind blows on one side of Table Mountain, you are sure to find a peaceful beach free from wind on the opposite side. The view from the top of Table Mountain is incredibly beautiful. You can either hike to the top or take the cable car.
And then there is the V&A Waterfront. Here you can dine at one of the numerous world class restaurants while watching boats come and go in a living harbor. A little further afield you will find the Cape Winelands region – where some of South Africa’s top quality export wines are produced. Another must-see is the Cape Point nature reserve. Here you can take a cog-wheel train to an observation post point where you can watch two of the world’s great oceans meet: the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. There’s also a fine restaurant with views of False Bay and the granite mountain ranges of the Cape Peninsula.
It’s unlikely that you will get a lot of time to read in Cape Town, unless you do so when everyone else is sleeping. If you love reading, make sure to pack your digital book reader. Once the other members of your family are sound asleep, you can proceed to read your best-loved detective story while savoring the fresh sea breeze coming in through the open window…