Cape Town, South Africa – The Ideal Family Holiday Destination
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.
Cape Town is probably first and foremost known for its lovely beaches. When your friends and family in the Northern half of the globe are sipping hot wine to stay warm, you could be relishing the African sun on one of the city’s many sandy white beaches.
The Mother City, as Cape Town is often called, is an ideal destination for the family traveler. Even those families that include a very recent addition in the form of a baby will find that Cape Town is a great destination. You can fly in from numerous cities around the glob, rent a car and get baby-friendly accommodation all in a matter of hours. Note: When renting a car try and book one that’s fitted with a Graco car seat for the baby.
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.
Then there’s the V&A Waterfront, where you can enjoy a world class meal while watching a living harbor at work. And there’s the Cape winelands, where many South African export wines are produced. Another top tourist destination is the nature reserve of Cape Point. Here a cog-wheel railway leads to a lookout point where you can see two ocean meet: the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. A lovely restaurant, built into the mountainside, offers spectacular view of False Bay and the mountains of the Cape Peninsula.
It’s unlikely that you will have the opportunity to read a lot in Cape Town, but by all means pack your digital book reader. When everyone else in the family has fallen asleep, you can finish reading your favorite detective story while listening to the gentle sound of waves breaking on the rocks.