[Closed] Cape Town Recommendations please

I rode with the iride people, they were great. Picked up from hotel, drove out to trails and had a great half day of riding. They made it really nice and simple. With a bit of research you could probably sort it yourself and hire a car but I was there for work and just squeezed it in around other stuff.

I'd concentrate your hotel searching around the waterfront area of Cape Town, if you want to stay in the city itself.

I can't comment on hotels, as we stay with my family.
You should definitely get a hire car as most of the best things about Cape Town are not actually in the city! Eg, the beaches (Bloubergstrand for the classic view of Table Mountain, and those down both sides of the Cape Peninsula), suburbs on the False Bay side like Muizenburg, Kalk's Bay and then on to Hout's Bay for the worlds best calamari and chips, Chapman's Peak Drive, the winelands and all the fantastic winery restaurants in Somerset West, Stellenbosch and Franschoek... shall I go on?

Biking wise, I only road ride out there, again on my stepdad's spare bike so can't comment on hire, but for MTB it seems to be focussed on the Tokai forest.

HTH!

To the list above I'll add Simonstown and Cape Point and De Noordhoek Farm Village, which has De Noordhoek hotel and some great bars and restaurants.

http://www.denoordhoek.co.za/

The way the Rand is going, places like this are becoming quite affordable.

Definitely hire a car with ****nav and collect it at the airport. Don't neglect the inland areas like Franschoek and Stellenbosch as there's also lots to see (and drink!) there. If you're there for the Cape Argus race, why not try to get a last-minute entry? They take overseas entries until very late.

Awesome, thanks for the input guys!

I forgot to tell you about this excellent fish restaurant in Kalk Bay, which is on the way to Fishoek and Simonstown: http://www.brassbell.co.za/wmenu.php

Live bands at weekends while you eat and drink, with fabulous sea views.

I met up some awesome locals for a couple of days riding at Stellenbosch and Tokai when I was out there in 2014.

Thumbs up for the Brass Bell from me too. Many a happy evening in there eating lobster.

To second some of the stuff above - excuse name spelling mistakes below

Car yes (ime very pricey but perhaos there are deals). Beaches / BBerg-strand, wine region, penguins and southern most tip, we also found the inland road (route 67?) as it arid then loop back via Southern bit of Garden route. You might even consider 1/2 nights outside cape town so you can tour a bit

Cape Town we also have family there so no hotel tips in city, Victoria dock worth a look round then try and find something local, any sports on at Newlands ? Table mountain of course

Hotels depends what you mainly want to do. With a week I would consider 4 days in Cape Town and then 3 days out of the city depending on your interests and time of year (winelands, whale watching, hiking in the mountains). If you really want beaches to laze in the sun, consider Sea Point or Camps Bay. For high end luxury, the 5 star hotels are good (Westin, Taj, V&A waterfront properties) but you can get very affordable, very good accommodation (apartment with kitchenette and outdoor pool) right in the centre or in De Waterkant or very nice B&B accommodation in Green Point or Gardens.

Definitely hire a car. You may not need it for the full week as many things to do can be done by public transport (Robben Island, Table Mountain, blue/red route open top bus covers a lot of city bowl and northern peninsula sights) but I would hire one for at least 3-4 days of a week.

You could ride from the city bowl along Signal Hill Road or Tafelberg Road but I wouldn't choose to ride around the city centre. Most of the off-road stuff is outside of the city, e.g. Tokai is ~30 mins drive.

Boulders beach = penguins wandering around on the beach. It's a reserve now but peanuts to get in.

Good suggestions above and I would add Kirstenbosch gardens if you like plants and flowers. At the right times of year it is stunning.

Cable car up table mountain is good but I thought the views from the cable car were more interesting than the top.

Hotels can't help as we also have family there.

If you've never driven out there you do need your wits about you. Some of the driving is "interesting".

If you get stuck in traffic leave no bags or shiny stuff visible.

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/anybody-ridden-in-south-africa

old tread. But go on thehub now called bikehub.co.za

Be carefull with the advice above things have changed. There is no real good riding left close to Cape Town. The mountain burned a while ago and many places as the whole of Tokai have been off limits for a while.

Have a look at the durbanville area Bloemendaal and all the tygerberg MTB club trails. You have Delvera near Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch had Yonkershoek but this as well had a massive fire and is only partially open again. Check near Wellington where you have Welvanpas although my acquiantance farm on the trails burnt down last year as well. Otherwise ther is some around paarl. You have bottelarij hills in between stellenbosch and durbanville. Bit further away you have Paul Cluver Thandi oak valley and there is another place the other side of the road last ones are all the Grabouw area.

They are quite into manicured trails if you like the rougher stuff choice is limited. Let me know what you are into i have been to the place many times.

Forget riding from hotel in Cape Town, this changes if you stay around Durbanville. Why hotel there is many great B&B around some even right next to the lovely trails.

And on the car question yes get one public transport in general is a no for foreigners.