Cape Town by Luxury Train

Cape Town is the dramatic full stop at the end of a journey through southern Africa — a city pinned between the flat-topped bulk of Table Mountain and the cold Atlantic swell, where Cape Dutch gables, Bo-Kaap's candy-coloured streets and Robben Island's grim history sit within a few miles of world-class vineyards. It is a city of layers: colonial and indigenous, European and African, mountain and sea, and it rewards slow exploration by cable car, coastal road and wine estate as much as by its buzzing V&A Waterfront.

For rail travellers, Cape Town is the classic terminus of a South African luxury train journey. The Blue Train connects the city with Pretoria on its legendary 27-hour transcontinental run, while Rovos Rail's Pride of Africa uses Cape Town as one end of several storied routes — including its flagship journey up through the Karoo to Pretoria and its extended safari-style itineraries reaching as far as Dar es Salaam. Arriving in or departing from Cape Town by private compartment, with Table Mountain framed in the window, is one of the great bookends of African rail travel.

Whether you begin or end your trip here, Cape Town rewards a stay of several days: time enough for the mountain, the Peninsula, the Winelands and the city's remarkable food scene before or after your onward journey by rail.

Table Mountain

The city's defining landmark, this flat-topped massif rises over 1,000 metres above the city bowl. The rotating-floor cableway whisks visitors to the summit in under five minutes for panoramic views over the Atlantic seaboard, the Twelve Apostles range and Robben Island.

Robben Island

A UNESCO World Heritage Site and former political prison where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years. Ferries depart from the V&A Waterfront for guided tours led by former political prisoners.

V&A Waterfront

Cape Town's historic working harbour turned lively promenade of shops, seafood restaurants, craft markets and the excellent Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), housed in a converted grain silo.

Bo-Kaap

A hillside neighbourhood of cobbled streets lined with vividly painted 18th- and 19th-century houses, historically home to Cape Town's Cape Malay community, with mosques, spice shops and cooking traditions dating back generations.

Cape of Good Hope & Cape Point

At the tip of the Cape Peninsula within Table Mountain National Park, dramatic cliffs meet the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean currents, with a historic lighthouse and resident baboon troops along the way.

Boulders Beach

Near Simon's Town, a sheltered cove famous for its resident colony of African penguins, viewable from boardwalks just metres from the water.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

One of the world's great botanical gardens, set against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, celebrated for its fynbos collections, sculpture trail and elevated "Boomslang" canopy walkway.

Constantia and the Cape Winelands

South Africa's oldest wine-producing area, a short drive from the city centre, with historic estates such as Groot Constantia offering tastings, cellar tours and Cape Dutch architecture amid vine-covered valleys.

Company's Garden and District Six Museum

The Company's Garden is Cape Town's oldest public green space, bordered by the South African National Gallery and Iziko Museums; nearby, the District Six Museum tells the story of a vibrant community forcibly removed under apartheid-era policies.

Cape Town's food culture reflects its position at the crossroads of Africa, Europe and Asia — nowhere more so than in Cape Malay cuisine, brought by slaves and political exiles from the Indonesian archipelago in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its legacy lives on in the Bo-Kaap's kitchens and beyond.

• Bobotie — a fragrant baked dish of spiced minced meat with a golden egg-custard topping, dried fruit and turmeric, widely considered South Africa's national dish.
• Cape Malay curry — mild, sweet-spiced curries flavoured with cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, often served with yellow rice and sambals.
• Bunny chow — a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with curry, a Durban invention now found on menus across the country.
• Braai — South Africa's beloved barbecue tradition, featuring boerewors sausage, sosaties (skewers) and grilled snoek fish.
• Cape seafood — West Coast rock lobster, line-caught snoek, and fresh oysters, especially around Saldanha Bay and the V&A Waterfront's seafood restaurants.
• Biltong and droëwors — air-dried cured meats and sausage, a ubiquitous South African snack sold at markets and farm stalls.
• Cape Winelands wines — world-renowned Pinotage, Chenin Blanc and Cap Classique sparkling wines from Constantia, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.
• Rooibos tea — a naturally caffeine-free red tea unique to the Cape's fynbos region, served throughout the city's cafes.

Markets are central to Cape Town dining: the Old Biscuit Mill's Neighbourgoods Market in Woodstock and the Oranjezicht City Farm Market are weekend institutions for street food, artisanal produce and live music, while the V&A Waterfront and Bo-Kaap offer more formal Cape Malay dining rooms.