Cape Town Map With The Best Places to Visit

Cape Town is a fascinating city with a wide range of attractions. If you’re looking for an urban escape with a mix of culture, wildlife and stunning scenery, you’d be hard pressed to find a better alternative to the Mother City. I illustrated this Cape Town map to help you visualize the layout of the city because it can be a little confusing, especially for first-time visitors.

Table Mountain National Park and various other natural landscapes divide the city into many smaller districts, with some seaside neighborhoods exhibiting their own unique relaxed atmosphere thanks to their seclusion from other parts of the city.

Cape Town Map With Popular and Lesser-Known Suburbs

Cape Town map

Why I Created This Map

I find that creating graphics, like this simple map of Cape Town, helps me better illustrate the characteristics and overall layout of a place. I like to keep these maps simple and helpful, by only including the highlights of a destination.

In this Cape Town map, in addition to all the little neighborhoods and suburbs that come to mind when you think of the city, I’ve also marked out some of the lesser-known gems worth checking out.

You’ll find a collection of the Mother City’s seemingly endless attractions, with culture, history, nature, and landscapes all merging together to create an absolutely exhilarating experience.

Cape Town’s City Centre

The city centre

Cape Town’s city centre is the beating heart of the Mother City, offering a vibrant mix of history, culture, and modern charm. There are plenty of things to see and do here. It’s famous for the bustling V&A Waterfront, where a range of shops, restaurants, and sweeping harbor views draw both locals and tourists.

The historic Cape Malay neighborhood of Bo-Kaap

Just nearby, the De Waterkant neighborhood offers a colorful mix of trendy cafes and boutiques, while Bo-Kaap, famous for its brightly painted houses and rich Cape Malay heritage, is growing in popularity and certainly deserves a visit. Believe me, the photos you’ll get here are worth it!

The Cape Town Waterfront

From the waterfront, you can also book a ferry tour to Robben Island, the site where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. It's located just 7 miles or 12 kilometres north of the harbour on the Cape Town map. The tour lasts around three to four hours and makes for an eye-opening glimpse into South African history.

Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard

View of Lion's Head from the Sea Point promenade

The Atlantic Seaboard is where you can find some of Cape Town’s most affluent suburbs, including Clifton, Camps Bay, and Sea Point. Not only is this area popular with wealthy Capetonians, but also with visitors to the city. A few of Cape Town's best hotels can be found in and around the Atlantic Seaboard.

On the map of Cape Town above, you can see all these suburbs are located in close proximity to one another just west of the city centre.

The scenery here is nothing short of spectacular with the various peaks of Table Mountain National Park serving as the perfect backdrop to some of the city’s best beaches. Just a word of warning, though: they can be pretty chilly!

7 Warm beaches in Cape Town perfect for having a dip

Cape Town is known for its chilly waters thanks to the Atlantic Ocean, but not all parts of the city have such cold water. These 7 beaches have water temperatures similar to those in the Mediterranean.

7 Warm beaches in Cape Town perfect for having a dip

Aerial view of Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard

Going from north to south, these are the suburbs you’ll want to visit along the Atlantic Seaboard, beginning with Sea Point and ending with Hout Bay:

• Sea Point
• Bantry Bay
• Clifton
• Camps Bay
• Bakoven
• Llandudno
• Hout Bay

Sea Point is one of Cape Town’s most densely-populated neighborhoods. It’s a lively part of the city with a popular promenade making for leisurely oceanside strolls. Just south of Sea Point is the small suburb of Bantry Bay, known for its stately homes hugging the craggy rock face.

Clifton 1st Beach, one of Clifton's 4 beaches

Clifton and Camps Bay are popular for their beaches, while Bakoven and Llandudno also have great beaches yet aren’t quite as busy. Further south lies Hout Bay, a picturesque fishing suburb completely surrounded by mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. Hout Bay also marks the start of the famous Chapman’s Peak Drive.

View of Camps Bay from Clifton

Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs

The stunning Chapman's Peak Drive ends in Noordhoek

There are over two dozen Southern Suburbs in Cape Town, so I’ve only listed a small selection. The vast majority of the Southern Suburbs aren’t popular with visitors, however, a good number of them are definitely worth taking a look at.

I’ve included those that are quite popular, like Simon’s Town and Muizenberg, as well as a few you may not have heard of if you’re not familiar with Cape Town.

• Noordhoek
• Scarborough

Noordhoek and Scarborough are both on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula. Noordhoek marks the end of Chapman’s Peak Drive. When you arrive here, you’ll be greeted by an absolutely jaw-dropping view of the vast Noordhoek beach.

A little further south lies Scarborough, a small seaside town with yet another gorgeous beach popular with surfers.

Noordhoek beach

Over on the False Bay coast of the peninsula you’ll find a lot more coastal settlements and towns worth exploring. Here they are in order from north to south starting with Muizenberg and ending with Simon’s Town:

• Muizenberg
• St. James
• Kalk Bay
• Fish Hoek
• Glencairn
• Simon’s Town

Muizenberg is home to an iconic row of colorful beach huts and is one of Cape Town’s most popular surfing spots.

Muizenberg beach huts

Further south is St. James, also home to a striking row of beach huts, followed by Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek. Kalk Bay is a characteristic fishing town and has a number of great seafood restaurants to choose from.

Fish Hoek is one of the larger towns along this coast, popular for its coastal walks and Fish Hoek beach, a wide flat beach about 1 mile long.

One thing worth knowing about the water along the False Bay coastline, is that it is far warmer than the Atlantic Seaboard. The water temperatures are similar to those in the Northern Mediterranean.

This thankfully means swimming here is actually quite pleasant when compared to the icy waters of the beaches in Clifton and Camps Bay.

Whale watching is also popular in this area between June and September.

Glencairn beach

From Fish Hoek, it’s only about a 10 minute drive down to Glencairn, another seaside village with a great beach.

And finally we reach Simon’s Town, home to the South African Navy’s largest base. But that’s not all. A few miles south of Simon’s Town lies the famous Boulder’s Beach, where the African Penguin rules.

As you can imagine, this is a really popular spot with visitors as everyone wants to see the cute penguins going about their daily business at the beach. The penguins are unfortunately endangered and can only be found in a small area in South Africa.

Your guide to Cape Town's "Penguin Beach"

Simon's Town is home to the famous Boulders Beach, where penguins reign supreme. You might even spot a Rock Hyrax, a relative of the elephant.

Your guide to Cape Town's "Penguin Beach"

Simon's Town

Cape Town’s West Coast and Northern Suburbs

Blouberg beach

• Blouberg
• Durbanville

The West Coast and Northern Suburbs are not that popular with visitors, with the exception of Bloubergstrand, along Cape Town’s northwestern shores. From Blouberg beach, you’ll be treated to the most spectacular view of Table Mountain.

Durbanville, on the other hand, is located inland and is known for its rolling hills and wine farming. It’s quite a way out of the city centre with a semi-rural feel to it, so it's a good option if you want a break from the busy city.

Further Afield But Equally Exquisite

Bikini beach in Gordon's Bay

• Gordon’s Bay
• Kogelberg
• Pringle Bay
• Betty’s Bay
• Stellenbosch
• Franschhoek

As you drive east from Muizenberg along the False Bay coastline, you’ll eventually reach Gordon’s Bay, a small town sandwiched between soaring mountain peaks and the vast expanse of the endless southern ocean. Gordon’s Bay has its fair share of beaches and attractions so you can’t go wrong with a few nights here. 

Kogelberg Mountain Range

Continuing south along the coast leads to the Kogelberg Nature Reserve, home to the Kogelberg Mountain Range and an incredibly rich selection of plant species.

Pringle Bay and Betty’s Bay follow, with the drive from Gordon’s Bay offering up views of huge cliffs to your left, with the Atlantic ocean crashing onto the expansive shore to your right.

The beach in Pringle Bay

You can easily visit both Pringle Bay and Betty’s Bay for the day if you base yourself in Gordon’s Bay. It’s only a 30 minute drive away.

Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are both located inland from Cape Town, about 50 kilometres or 31 miles away. They’re both famous for their wine farms which produce some of the world’s top wines.

Stellenbosch

The vineyards and mountain landscapes in these parts are breathtaking and a visit to a local wine farm is one of the best things to do while in Cape Town.

And that concludes our Cape Town map guide!

I hope you found this visual journey both helpful and inspiring for your trip to the Mother City!

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