Your first Cape Peninsula tour: Chapman's Peak, Cape Point and the Boulders penguins

A Cape Peninsula tour is the classic full day south of Cape Town: out along the Atlantic coast through Camps Bay and Hout Bay, over Chapman's Peak Drive to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, then home up the False Bay side past the penguins at Boulders Beach. On a first trip to Cape Town, Spice Escapes runs that whole day for you on South Africa Discovery, with a host, lunch on the way and a small group of people travelling on their own.

Below is the day stop by stop, as our itinerary runs it, with what the national park and Cape Town Tourism say about each place.

The day in order: Atlantic side out, False Bay side home

It is the first full day in Cape Town, the morning after you land. The group sets off after breakfast, and the route runs like this:

• The Atlantic coastline through Camps Bay and Hout Bay.
• Chapman's Peak Drive, along the cliffs.
• The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, and the Cape of Good Hope itself.
• Cape Point and its lighthouse.
• The False Bay coast to Simon's Town and the penguin colony at Boulders Beach.
• Back to Cape Town by the coastal route.

Breakfast and lunch are included, with lunch at a local restaurant on the way. Cape Town Tourism puts Boulders Beach alone at about an hour's drive from the city centre, so this is a long day out, and somebody else is doing the driving.

The holiday runs 29 Mar 2027 – 8 Apr 2027. See the dates and book online on the South Africa Discovery page.

Camps Bay and Hout Bay: the Atlantic suburbs on the way out

The day starts on the Atlantic Seaboard, the run of seaside suburbs that Cape Town Tourism traces from the V&A Waterfront down to Hout Bay. Camps Bay comes first, then Hout Bay, where Chapman's Peak Drive begins.

Of the two ways Cape Town Tourism gives for reaching the penguins, this is the one it calls an incredibly scenic drive: Camps Bay, Hout Bay, Chapman's Peak, then past Noordhoek and Kommetjie.

Chapman's Peak Drive: 9km and 114 bends on the cliffs

Locals call it Chappies. The road's own website gives the route as 9km with 114 curves, running between Hout Bay and Noordhoek and skirting the rocky coastline of Chapman's Peak, which stands 593m high. It promises 180° views and places to stop.

The road took seven years to build and opened in 1922. Today it is a toll road. Cape Town Tourism says the toll pays to maintain it and prevent rockfalls, and the road's site lists 1.6km of catch fences and a 155m half tunnel at the base of the peak.

Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope: two lighthouses and a fenced reserve

Both are in Table Mountain National Park, which SANParks says stretches 70km from Signal Hill and Table Mountain in the north to Cape Point in the south. This end is the only fenced section, because of its wildlife: look out for eland, red hartebeest, bontebok and zebra.

The history is the sailors' kind. SANParks records that Dias first called it the Cape of Storms in 1488, that Portugal's King John II gave it the name it has now, and that Sir Francis Drake called it "The Fairest Cape in all the World" in 1580.

At the point there are two lighthouses, one still working, on what SANParks calls the most south-western point in Africa. Our itinerary gives you the choice of walking up to the historic lighthouse or taking the Flying Dutchman funicular, which is not included in the price. Cape Town Tourism gives the funicular as 585m long, rising 87m, with 40 people to a car.

Boulders Beach: the penguins of Simon's Town

On the way home comes Boulders Beach, just outside Simon's Town, and one of only a few land-based colonies of endangered African penguins in the world. Cape Town Tourism puts it at between 2,000 and 3,000 birds, settled there since the early 1980s.

You watch them from three boardwalks. SANParks asks everyone to stay on them and not to touch or feed the birds, whose beaks it calls as sharp as razors. The species needs the care: SANParks records a loss of more than 80% of the world's breeding pairs in just over 50 years.

A host, lunch arranged and a group you met the night before

Nobody in the group has to plan the route or find a lunch stop. Sue Giddings meets the group at arrivals in Cape Town and stays for the whole trip, and the peninsula day follows a first dinner together, so you set off already knowing faces.

Most people on a Spice holiday book on their own. Groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty. A room to yourself carries a supplement, set out on our single supplement page.

The whole holiday is 10 nights, from £3,499. It also takes in a day in the Franschhoek winelands, an overnight at a private game reserve with a sunrise game drive, and a free day with an optional trip up Table Mountain, weather permitting, or to Robben Island. New to this kind of holiday? Read our guide for first-time solo travellers or see our solo holidays for the over 50s.

If you cannot make the South Africa dates

Crete Discovery is the shorter choice, nearer home: 7 nights, 5 Oct 2027 – 12 Oct 2027, from £1,499, hosted by Lauren Fawkes. It uses two bases only, Aghios Nikolaos and then Rethymno, and one day goes up to the Lasithi Plateau for a home-cooked lunch at a family taverna.

For long-haul wildlife on the water, Maldives Wildlife Cruise & Beach Chillout is 12 nights, 27 Nov 2027 – 9 Dec 2027, from £4,199, with Jonathan Banks as host. Seven nights are on MV Felicity, a wooden boat for twelve guests at most, and a whole day goes to searching for whale sharks off Dhigurah.

See all our holidays in South Africa and wildlife and safari holidays, or read about escorted tours worldwide.

Questions people ask

How long does a Cape Peninsula tour take?

A full day. On South Africa Discovery the group leaves after breakfast, stops for lunch on the way and returns to Cape Town by the coastal route.

Is the funicular at Cape Point included?

No. Our itinerary lists the Flying Dutchman funicular as not included, and you can walk up to the lighthouse instead.

Is Cape Point where the two oceans meet?

Not officially. SANParks names Cape Agulhas as the southernmost tip of Africa and the official meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It describes Cape Point as the most south-western point in Africa.

Can you get close to the penguins at Boulders Beach?

Close, from the boardwalks. SANParks asks visitors to stay on them and not to touch or feed the penguins, which can nip.

Do you need to be fit for the Cape Peninsula day?

The itinerary builds in a choice. At Cape Point you can walk up to the lighthouse or take the funicular, and at Boulders the penguins are watched from boardwalks that Cape Town Tourism describes as wheelchair friendly.

See the dates and book South Africa Discovery online

See the dates and book online on the South Africa Discovery page, which carries the live price and the Book button. Availability: 9 places left.

Questions before booking can go to Sue Giddings, your host, through our contact page, or to Rosie, the chat on the holiday page.