Scenic drives / Garden Route, Cape Town

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'Iconic' is one of my favourite words (as those who have read my travel pages will know) and there are few locations in Cape Town that better deserve this adjective than the Chapman's Peak Drive!

The 9km route, with its 114 curves is the road on which you'd like to test drive a high performance car early in the morning when there are no other motorists around! Indeed, when you visit, the spectacular setting may seem more than a little familiar from car ads that you have seen in the past!

There are a couple of stopping points along the drive which allow you to get out an admire the stupendous views - however, be warned that in high season, these (and indeed the road itself) can get pretty crowded.

The road is on the western side of the Cape peninsula, so the sun sets into the ocean, making late afternoon a wonderful time to do the drive. I would suggest driving it from south (Noordhoek) to north (Hout Bay), as this allows you fantastic views of Hout Bay itself, but frankly it's so wonderful that you'll probably want to drive it more than once!

The tariff is not cheap - R30 one way for an ordinary car (again, as with many tourist attractions, there is a R7 discount if are clever enough to have bought a Wild Card - see my South Africa travel tips). However, there is no doubt that it is worth the money.

Chapman's Peak is frequently closed for maintenance and repairs, as well as for events such as the Two Oceans Marathon and the Cape Argus cycle race. I would therefore suggest that you consult the website below to avoid disappointment.

For those with a taste for absolute trivia, Chapman's Peak was the backdrop (excuse the pun, which you'll understand just now) for South Africa's most famous series of comparative adverts. The first of the series was for Mercedes and was based on a real life incident where a motorist drove over the side of the Chapman’s Peak road over the cliff and survived (obviously a glowing testament to Merc's safety). Later, BMW ran an ad showing their car driving along the same part of the road (without going over the edge), whose pay off line was, “We take the bends”. And to top it off, Land Rover produced an ad showing their vehicle driving up the cliff which the Merc went down! This series is still taught as a case study to marketing students more than 20 years after the event! (For more on South Africa's sometimes inspired advertising, follow this link

If this has whetted your appetite for scenic drives, then I suggest that you also consider doing the drive around the peninsula including the Ou Kaapse Weg pass across the peninsula, the drive along the east coast of False Bay through Gordon's Bay and Betty's Bay (which is also the first section of the Garden Route) and (for my money), the best of all, the short but glorious Boyes Drive along the eastern side of the peninsula, which provides panoramic vistas over False Bay (and can also be incorporated into the peninsula drive).

Yet more reason to hire a car for your visit to Cape Town!

The drive between Hermanus and the Strand along the eastern section of False Bay is often overlooked, but makes for a glorious (longish) day trip, as well is being the beginning/end of the Garden Route.

I think that the view out over False Bay (either from the Gordon's Bay road looking west, or Boyes Drive looking east - see my travel tip elsewhere) is more spectacular than that from Chapman's Peak because instead of just looking out over the Atlantic, you can see the mountains on the other side of the bay - the fact that they are so far in the distance puts into perspective how enormous False Bay really is! (The only downside of a spectacle on this grand scale is that it is virtually impossible to do it justice on a photo)

The coastal road between Strand and Hermanus is in good repair, but is winding and can be slow going if the traffic is heavy or you're stuck behind something big (so allow yourself lots of time). The scenery is jawdroppingly beautiful - for preference, drive it from Strand to Hermanus as the driver gets a better - and slightly safer - look at the scenery, but this is one route on which I'll happily abandon my usual wisdom of "never travel the same route twice" as it's just so staggeringly beautiful that you'll want to do it again (and again)!

The coastline along this section is rocky, but punctuated with inlets and beaches which seldom get crowded and are a welcome relief to the massed ranks of tourists on the more popular beaches of the Peninsula. There are little towns all the way along this section of road as well as a couple of parking areas close to beaches which make good stop offs for lunch or a dip (provided that you're up to dealing with the chilly water temperature). If you're picknicking, just beware of the baboons, which are rampant in towns such as Pringle Bay and have long since become accustomed to people. On a happier wildlife note, whales are often visible from the road during the season.

On this last trip, we stayed in Paarl and took the scenic route back to Cape Town International airport. We drove through Franschoek and over the stunning Overberg range through to Elgin, and joined the coast road near Kleinmond, from where we headed west via Pringle Bay, Betty's Bay and Gordon's Bay to Strand, where we rejoined the N2 highway to the airport. This is a gorgeous drive as you combine the mountains of the wineland with the coast, and although it is anything but a direct route to the airport, it is a lovely way to make the journey part of the experience!

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Chapman's Peak Drive is a scenic route running along the coast of the Atlantic ocean on the western side of Cape peninsula. This road " hewn out of the face of sheer mountain" is 9 km long and has 114 curves. Here you can find a lot of places where you can stop the car to admire the scenery and take photographs.
These are a few facts concerning this spectacular drive, but they don't reflect the true beauty of this route. I can just say that it is incredible - you drive along almost a vertical wall of the mountain on one side and on the other side there's the ocean with rugged coastline, sandy beaches and little cosy bays. On a bright day the water seems to sparkle with the reflected light giving the scenery a firy-like appearance. When the sun hides , all of a sudden the scenery changes showing its much more ominous face.
But Chapman's Peak Drive is not only about spectacular views, it's also a masterpiece of engineering. It was constructed between 1915 and 1920 but because of rockfalls has been closed several times for maintenance purposes. All along the way you can see nets and other devices protecting the road. But the rock slides happen and then the drive can be temporarily closed. So it's advisable to check before setting off if the drive is open.
Chapman's Peak is a toll road.

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I love taking visitors over Chapman's Peak Drive, which is one of the most spectacular coastal roads in South Africa. It starts at the picturesque fishing harbour of Hout Bay and then winds up to Chapman's Point, revealing breathtaking views of the sandy bays down below, until the road reaches sea level again at Noordhoek. After extensive restoration and fortification works the road was reopened in 2005 as a toll road.From time to time the road is closed when we have heavy rockfalls, but the road is monitored regularly to ensure the safety of the road users.
There are numerous parking bays and picnic spots along the road and on the slopes. A hiking trail with beautiful views leads to the Chapman's Peak (3 to 4 hours time needed; take water along

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Chapman's Peak Drive is one of the world's most scenic mountain drives and has recently undergone renovations to ensure the safety of travellers using the route. The drive winds and curves around the peak, and there are some look-out points where one can stop and take in the spectacular sea views. Parts of the drive can be hazerdous- the drop down to the sea is steep.But protective barriers have been placed at dangerous corners.Take it slowly.
There are also designated picnic areas along the route.Baboons have become a problem, because people will insist on feeding them (this is prohibited)- so take care when stopping.They get quite cheeky.
The views are breathtaking- especially at sunset.

Forts built by the Dutch in the 18th century can also be visited, with the original cannons and barracks still standing on the slopes of the Peak. The East fort is the oldest operating gun battery in the world. There are good hiking trails in the mountains surrounding the area.
At the foot of the drive, near Hout Bay, there is a beautiful statue of a bronze leopard, gazing out to sea.
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This drive is an absolute MUST SEE & DO when visiting Cape Town.

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This is one of the most scenic and beautifull drives that you will ever do in your life. After being closed for several years due to rock slides and unstable cliff faces, this fantastically scenic drive has reopened after a major reconstruction that involved state-of-the-art engineering techniques, some of which had never been used on South African roads. Work began on the drive in 1910, when it was considered an impossibility. Charl Marais, a mining surveyor, wasn't deterred by the task and set about surveying a route by sending a worker ahead of him to chop out footholds and create rudimentary platforms for his theodolite. With the help of 700 convicts, dynamite, picks, and shovels, a road was chipped and blasted out of the rock. Chapman's Peak Drive officially opened in 1922. You can access the drive from both Noordhoek and Hout Bay.
Today it is a toll road, but not that expensive.

Recently, the Chapman's Peak Drive was reopened! However, sometimes it can be closed again due to rockfalls. When you get onto the road, you have to pay a toll. But it's not too expensive.
It's a fantastic drive along the very windy road a few hundred meters above sea level, basically in the rock! It's really worth doing it!

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We were here in December and truly thought that we had missed the whales, which was a crying shame because at that time I had never seen a whale before.

Anyway, at one of the small roundabouts in the park, I see a sign that says whale spotting, so we take that turning, park up, and walk up to the look out.
Would you believe it, there are another couple up there, and all of a sudden they shout that they have spotted a whale, they too were totally shocked!

We were high up at this lookout, but I was so excited and couldnt believe my eyes!
My piccies here do not do these whales justice at all, my camera at that time was basic and didn't have a good zoom - but I saw them with my own eyes which was the main thing.