Winter Travel 2002: Where Next

Great Escape: South Africa

Forget Rockefeller Center and Times Square -- this year, spend the holidays on the beach in Cape Town.

By Joanna Coles

Sunday drive: A drive south along Chapman's Peak Drive.

(Photo: Courtesy of South African Tourism)

You'll arrive in the delicious heat of the South African summer. After checking in, dump your bags, grab a picnic lunch, and climb to the top of Table Mountain to orient yourself. Beneath you lies the harbor and city center (built in 1652 as a victualling station for Dutch sailors); to the west are the Twelve Apostles mountains, which sheer straight down into the treacherous Atlantic; swivel east and you're facing the notorious Cape Flats and its miles of shantytowns; and finally, gaze south to the vineyards and rich forests that lead eventually to the Cape of Good Hope. Spend Christmas Day swimming with the local colony of penguins in the warm turquoise waters off Boulders Beach; later, feast on peri-peri shrimp at the Black Marlin. Then welcome the New Year by reveling amid the fireworks and champagne on Clifton's Fourth Beach -- the South African equivalent of East Hampton.

Where to Stay

Steenberg Country Hotel, an unbeatably romantic seventeenth-century inn (doubles from $130; 011-27-021-713-2222); Cape Grace offers spectacular views of either the harbor or Table Mountain (doubles from $250; 011-27-021-410-7100).

Where to Eat

Black Marlin (011-27-021-786-1621).

Nightlife

Take a sunset drive south along Chapman's Peak Drive, stopping off to admire the stunning Atlantic views -- but beware of the baboons.

Sight-Seeing

Between revels, take a day trip to the Stellenbosch vineyards to sample the delicious Cape wines (start with Buitenverwachting Estate; 011-27-021-794-3522). Be sure to explore the brightly painted nineteenth-century streets of Bo-Kaap and check out the Museum of District Six, the black area bulldozed in 1966 after the government declared it a Whites Only area.

Must-See

Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela spent eighteen years in a six-by-ten-foot cell.

Web Guide

General Information
South Africa Travel.net
Out and About

Hotels & Restaurants
Steenberg Country Hotel
Cape Grace
Clarence House Cape Town
Top 20 Hotels
Restaurant Directory

Site-seeing
Stellenbosch Vineyards
District Six Museum
The Robben Island Museum

Etc.
Sunday Times
Cape Town Shopping

* New York Metro is not responsible for the services and information provided by these sites. Sites were chosen based on the type of information provided and were not further tested.