Cape Town has one of the most dramatic settings of any city and one of the most weather-dependent itineraries. The mountain closes in high wind, the coast changes character with it, and a plan that fixes those to a particular day is a plan that will get rearranged for you.
Four days covers the city, the peninsula and the winelands without rushing. Five gives you the spare day that the weather will eventually demand.
This is one of the few destinations where a car makes a real difference. Public transport does not reach most of what people come for, and the peninsula drive is itself one of the best things to do.
The mountain sits in the middle of the city, and everything else radiates around it and down the peninsula.
Southern hemisphere seasons, a Mediterranean climate, and a famous wind. Summer is dry and windy; winter is green and wet.
The best window of the year
Late summer into autumn: warm, dry, and with the summer wind easing off. The peak holiday crowds have gone and the mountain is open more reliably than in midsummer.
Spring, green and quieter
Warming up, wildflowers in the region, and well before the peak season crowds. Some wind, but a good balance of price and weather.
Peak season, peak prices, peak wind
The domestic holiday period: everything is open and busy, prices are at their highest, and the south-easter wind is at its strongest — which is when the cable car most often closes.
Winter: wet, green and cheap
The rainy season, mild rather than cold, with the landscape at its greenest. Much cheaper and emptier, and this is when whale watching along the coast is at its best. A worse beach trip and a perfectly good everything-else trip.
A four-day trip with the peninsula and the winelands needs Premium; the free version covers one destination for up to three days.
