Not so touristy things in Cape Town
There are all the usual tourist activities to do in Cape Town, like shop at the V&A Waterfront, visit Robben Island, walk in the Botanical garden, and go up Table Mountain. But if you just stick to the guidebook, you’re going to miss out on a lot of cool things Cape Town offers.
Here are a few less touristy things to do in Cape Town that every local will vouch for.
Visit a market
Forget the shiny giant malls. On a weekend you’ll find Capetonians at their favourite markets, or even trying out a new one as there are so many. The Neighbour Goods market at the Old Biscuit Mill is probably the most popular and well-known market in Cape Town, but the Bay Harbour Market in Hout Bay and the Root 44 in Stellenbosch isn’t far behind.
Attend the Labia Theatre
Tired of the same old Hollywood blockbusters? Why not have an alternate film experience at the Labia Theatre, Cape Town’s original Independent Art Movie house. Enjoy art movies, foreign films, independent movies, and other motion picture works that are a little off the mainstream centre. If that isn’t appealing enough, the Labia is the only theatre where you can watch a movie while sipping a drink from the fully-licenced bar.
PechaKucha Nights
The name PechaKucha comes from a Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, which aptly describes the relaxed, informal style of these evenings. PechaKucha Nights are a phenomenon spreading around the globe, and in Cape Town are held once a month at the Assembly. PechaKucha 20×20 is a style of creative presentation, using 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds. The images change automatically and the speaker talks along to the images. Anyone can attend, and entrance is free. Sit and relax at the bar, and feel free to strike up a conversation with your favourite presenter of the evening.
Strawberry picking
Something you can do with the whole family is strawberry picking at Polkadraai Farm near Stellenbosch. It’s strawberry season now so you can enjoy the sweet, fruity delights of summer for a reasonable cost. There is also the farmstall at Polkadraai that’s open year round and a nearby restaurant to end the outing with a craft beer.
HintHunt in Woodstock
Woodstock is on the outskirts of the Cape Town City Bowl, and has a distinct urban, bohemian flavour of its own. The Old Biscuit Mill is home to the popular Neighbourgood’s market, which is definitely touristy, but it’s also host to HintHunt, a group game that will let you and your friends tap into your inner sleuths. We don’t want to give the game away but you will have 60 minutes to work your way out of a tiny room by solving puzzles. Woodstock is best experienced on foot. So if you’re staying in town, like at a hotel in Greenpoint, you can simply catch a ride via CitiBus.
Get you game on at “Games On”
Games On is Cape Town’s premier Gaming Lounge. Located at the Rondebosch Riverside Mall, Games On is a world class gaming lounge for Xbox, PlayStation, and P.C. LAN-based internet gaming with hundreds of games to choose from, on high speed quality equipment. Games On provides a relaxed atmosphere where the emphasis is on healthy social gaming, so that like-minded people can meet and compete.
Hop on the wine tram
Cape Town boasts the world’s longest wine route. There’s nothing better than spending a lazy afternoon going from wine farm to wine farm. You could do it every day for a year and probably still not visit every wine farm in the Cape. There is one problem though, and that is that you obviously don’t want to drink and drive. The Franschoek Wine Tram takes care of that for you.
Passengers aboard the hop-on hop-off tour experience a unique way of seeing the Franschhoek Valley as they journey in an open-side tram and open-air tram-bus, stopping in at some of South Africa’s oldest and favourite wine estates.
There’s something for everyone in Cape Town. If this list doesn’t do it for you, do the best thing you can – stop a friendly local and ask him his favourite activity to do in Cape Town. You won’t be disappointed.