Tours are not necessarily what we seek out when traveling to a new destination. However, we are happy to book them when necessary or when we want to take more of a back seat approach to our travels. They also come in handy when trying to make the most of your trip and to get more insight into a place that you would otherwise not know about.
Tours are necessary when going diving with sharks because more than likely you do not have the equipment to go diving with sharks on hand when you are traveling. Going on a wine tour is always nice to do especially in such a beautiful wine country. Also, learning more about a culture and getting first-hand experience of a destination from a local is a great way to either get better acquainted with a destination before exploring it further yourself or to make the most of the time that you have left in a destination.
This is where traveling Cape Town comes into play. With so much that you can do in and round this city, it is nice to be able to book some tours in order to accomplish it all. We missed out on some things when we were only there for four days. We also could have really used a tour of Table Mountain rather than hiking the mountain ourselves and accidentally taking one of the most difficult paths. A food tour of the city also would have introduced us to more South African cuisine while we were there.
All of these reasons and more is why we have a lot of recommendations for the best Cape Town guided tours that are available to you.
Typically we use guided tours for three different reasons.
- Limited Time
- Getting Acquainted with the City
- Equipment or Expertise-Specific Activities
This happens often to us as we tend to travel very fast and need to make the most of our time. This means that we book tours that will take us around certain places in the city to make sure that we do not miss what we came to see. This helps us not waste any time while in a destination and maximize the things we see.
This is a great way to use tours, and we tend to do this with cities we are unfamiliar with. We will book tours once we arrive in a destination to get acquainted with the city and to know where we want to travel to. Sometimes this can be a walking or cycling tour. Sometimes this can be a hop-on hop-off bus tour. Either way, it is a great way to learn more about the city when we first arrive. Especially when you are likely extremely tired when you first land in a city, you do not want to be wandering around getting lost right off the bat.
Obviously we could not have gone paragliding in Pokhara, Nepal or fishing in South Africa without booking a tour. These are activities that require equipment that we do not travel with or expertise that we just do not have and are not able to learn while there. This is when booking a tour is absolutely essential.
Cape Town Guided Tours
We have compiled a list of tours in and around the city of Cape Town that are at the top of our list for things to do. The tours have been organized into lists of city tours, food tours, tours from Cape Town, and a few other activity-specific tours. This will help you pick and choose which tours fit best into what you want to do and where you want to go.
Cape Town is a beautiful city with something for every type of traveler. There was no shortage of activities to fill this list. Whether you just want a local to show you around the city so that you are more
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Cape Town City Tours
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Cape Town Walking Tour
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Cape Town Cycling Tours
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Cape Town Bus Tour
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Cape Town Food Tours
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Cape Town Hiking Tours
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Tours from Cape Town
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Cape Point Tour
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Cape Town Penguins Tour
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Winelands Tour Cape Town
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Whale Watching and Shark Tours Cape Town
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Cape Town Safari Tour and Garden Route Tours
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Cape Town Helicopter Tours
The best way to get to know more about a city and the areas is to learn from a local. This is where walking tours, cycling tours, and bus tours help to get you introduced to a city like Cape Town. Booking one of these early in your trip will help you get more comfortable to your surroundings and introduce you to areas you will want to revisit. It also gives you a chance to ask as many questions to a local as you can to prepare you for your trip. Alternatively, you can book one of these late in your trip to make sure you accomplish something that you did not earlier in your trip.
In this tour you can walk the streets of Cape Town townships while getting a drive to various locations where you will explore. This is the perfect walking tour if you want to learn more about every day life in Cape Town.
Bike through some of Cape Town’s points of interest. See more than a walking tour while learning what you can from you local guide. This is the perfect alternative to the walking tour if you are comfortable cycling.
If you do not feel like biking, then the hop-on hop-off bus tour is the perfect thing for you. Get a full day pass and see more of the city or the areas of the cities that are on your to-do list. Also with this pass is a cable car pass to Table Mountain and a free walking tour included.
Get exposure to food and music with this recommended tour. With a drumming experience and meal involved, you get to really experience the culture that Cape Town has to offer.
A visit to Cape Town is not complete without hiking its famous mountain, Table Mountain. The iconic mountain towers over the city and has a massive plateau at its peak giving it the name. It is an incredible hike, and one that if you are not prepared for may catch you off guard as it did to us. We did not buy a map or a tour and decided to ask our driver to drop us off at a trail head. It turns out we followed the path of one of the hardest trails which included some free climbing and some dangerous parts. It really took our breath away. Both in climbing and in the view at the top. Make sure that if you are not booking a tour that you plan your route accordingly. We suggest a tour.
Though Cape Town has some incredible tours within the city, it also has some beautiful tours outside of the city as well. Actually, a lot of the tours here were at the top of our list when we were visiting the city. Things like visiting Cape Point Nature Reserve and seeing the penguins at Boulders Beach were things we could not miss. We also have on this list a tour that we wish we would have taken and definitely regret not doing it. Seeing great white sharks up close.
Cape Point Nature Reserve is a beautiful place and a must-visit if you are in the area. The best part about going here is the view of the ocean from the lighthouse and the incredible sound of the rough waters crashing against the rocky shores. You will see some wildlife here as well. There is also a museum that you can visit where you will learn of the many stories of boats that this treacherous area has claimed.
Penguins? In South Africa? This was our reaction when we first heard about this. Yes, an area near Cape Town is home to a large colony of penguins and you can get right up next to them and even swim with them! This was such an amazing experience for us and one that we would recommend anyone do when in Cape Town without hesitation. Penguins are the best and to be able to get that close to them was unbelievable. Just be respectful when you are there.
Cape Town is a well-known region for their world famous wineries. This makes it the perfect time to visit as many of the wineries as possible. How do you do this? Book a guided tour of the wineries and make the most of your time there. It is not possible to drive it yourself and to taste all of the wines. Legally. And it is no fun if somebody has to be the designated driver. So book a tour and enjoy it with a group of people. Or book a private tour and enjoy your time together in a more intimate setting while somebody takes you from winery to winery. Full day or half day, there are guided wine tasting tours of Cape Town to cover you. Do yourself a favor and book a Cape Town vineyard tour. You will not regret it.
Taking these tours is sure to invoke some adrenaline into your travels. Jump in a cage and get face-to-face with great white sharks or spot whales from a more safe distance. Either way, embarking on one of these tours will be sure to make you experience these creatures up close and personal and create memories you will never forget.
These tours were chosen as safari tours departing from Cape Town. This saves you from needing to have your own transportation to get to the place where the safari will begin. Instead you can still have the enjoyment of a fully guided tour. One tour is a full day tour, whereas the others are multi-day tours so be prepared for a little bit more of a time commitment. However, our tour of Addo Elephant National Park was one of the most incredible experiences we have ever been on. Being so close to the animals in the wild was incredible and something that we will never forget. A Cape Town safari tour is something that you can not pass up on when you are there. It is also nice to be able to book the Cape Town Garden Route tour along with the safari because it is a beautiful drive.
This can really put the cherry on top of any trip. The ultimate view of Cape Town. A helicopter tour of Cape Town will really put into perspective the beauty of this city and everything that you were able to see while you were there. This is the best way to top off your trip. An experience that you will never forget. If you want more of a hands-on experience, then book a tandem paragliding tour of Cape Town and get the real adrenaline experience high above the gorgeous city.
Conclusion
As you can likely see, Cape Town has so much to offer. You can spend months here doing something everyday and feel like you have more of the city to see. This is why we recommend booking in a few tours into your trip. Especially to just take your hands off of the controls and being able to relax when you are traveling rather than worrying how to get somewhere or where you are going to eat.
This is when a tour will come in handy and help you to enjoy the moment in your travels. Alternatively, you can book a tour like diving with sharks to add some excitement in your travels. This is something we missed out on while we were in Cape Town and would absolutely be the first thing we do if we ever return. It is one of the best places to see Great White sharks in the world. Unfortunately our time in the city was short and we had to make the most of the time that we had.
Do not lose out on booking guided tours while in South Africa. Make sure you plan them in advance so that you know the places you are definitely not going to miss out on.
Have you been to Cape Town before? What tours did you take? What tours did you wish you would have taken? Leave a comment below.