Cape Town

Robben Island (Afrikaans: Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. The name is Dutch for “seal island.” Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km (2.1 mi) long north-south, and 1.9 km (1.2 mi) wide, with an area of 5.08 km2 (1.96 sq mi). It is flat and only a few metres above sea level, as a result of an ancient erosion event. Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned here.

At the tip of the Cape Peninsula 60 km south-west of Cape Town, lies Cape Point, a nature reserve within the Table Mountain National Park; a declared Natural World Heritage Site.  Cape Point is a nature enthusiast paradise. Rugged rocks and sheer cliffs towering more than 200 metres above the sea and cutting deep into the ocean provide a spectacular view!

This natural world heritage site, and Natural New 7 Wonder of the World, is a haven of magnificent mountains plunging into crystal seas fringed with bleached white sands of the Cape Peninsula. 

Located in the Silo District at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, this museum is the largest museum of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora.

 Founded in 1825 and situated in the historic Company’s Gardens, the Iziko South African Museum houses more than one-and-a-half million specimens of scientific importance, and has seen visitors from across the globe – all attracted by the vast historical collection the museum has to offer, which ranges from fossils to ancient insects and historical tools. 

The Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum is one of the earliest homes built in the Bo-Kaap area, dating back to the mid-eighteenth century. The museum, situated in the historic area that became home to many Muslims and freed slaves after the abolition of slavery, showcases local Islamic culture and heritage. 

One of Cape Town’s oldest buildings, has answered to many names over the last three centuries – each name reflecting the long and rich history of this site. 

The Mother City’s premier public art museum, houses a vast and critically engaging collection of historical, modern and contemporary artworks from South Africa and abroad; and seeks to create frameworks and spaces that are mixed and mobile and that can operate in trans-disciplinary setting.

Originally built between 1777 and 1778 as a home for Willem Cornelius Boers, a high-ranking official in the Dutch East India Company – sits on what was once the outer limits of Cape Town, hence the name of the street it is located on, Buitenkant (outer edge). 

 The only remaining example of the Georgian-style red brick houses once common in Cape Town, Bertram House is said to have been built c.1839 by English immigrant and notary, John Barker, and who named the house in memory of his late wife, Ann Bertram Findlay. 

Dates back to 1685, when the land was granted to Simon van der Stel – thus making it one of the oldest commercial wine farms in South Africa. Its Orientation Centre in the Jonkershuis complex uses panel, object and archaeological displays to give an overview of Groot Constantia from the past to present, including slavery on the estate. 

 Built between 1666 and 1679 by the Dutch East India Company, the Castle of Good Hope is regarded as the oldest remaining colonial building in South Africa – and stands as a distinct reminder of the country’s complex colonial past. Known locally as “The Castle”, today this 17th century bastion fort is home to a number of historical collections, including the William Fehr Collection managed by Iziko Museums of South Africa.