For travellers who have never visited Cape Town before, it can be quite challenging to pick a safe and family-friendly suburb for their stay. So here is a list of the most tourist-friendly and upmarket accommodation spots in Cape Town.
1. The suburbs around the Atlantic Seaboard are very popular among locals and tourists. Camps Bay, Bantry Bay, Clifton, Sea Point and Green Point are very safe, close to all major amenities and provide quite a few holiday accommodations of which almost all of them include sufficient safety features to ensure your safe stay in the Mother City. If you want that holiday feeling with an ocean view, these are the places to start looking for a nice hotel, BnB, AirBnB or guest house.
2. If you prefer to stay close to iconic Table Mountain, then we recommend the suburbs on the other side of the Atlantic Seaboard. Gardens, Vredehoek, Oranjezicht and Tamboerskloof all offer beautiful views of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, are safe and located right in the heart of the Mother City. The city centre is only a stone-throw away and you can easily reach all major amenities including the V&A Waterfront, shopping centres, the Table Mountain cable car and much more! These are also the areas where you’ll find the most expats and European cultures.
3. A bit further out of town in the Southern Suburbs, you’ll find some family-friendly areas, too! Newlands is equipped with little village-style houses, bars, restaurants, and gorgeous forests and streams. It’s relatively close to the city centre, but well outside of the hustle and bustle. Constantia is part of the Constantia wine route and offers quite a few upmarket wine estates and a lush, leafy suburbia. Observatory is less suitable for families, but also a trending hot spot for people of all nationalities. It’s a bohemian backpacking hub, and most of the accommodation available is affordable and bustling hostels.
4. If you want to have the beach right in front of you, but don’t like to stay in the slightly more expensive inner city areas, then you have a choice of three tourist-friendly places along the coast. Bloubergstrand is where you’ll find the famous, picture postcard view of Table Mountain and a lot of surfers and kite-surfers utilising the excellent condition for their sport there. On the other side of the False Bay Coastline, you’ll find Muizenberg and Kalk Bay. They are only about 30 minutes away from the bustling city centre and offer a very laid-back and relaxed holiday atmosphere with lots of boutique shops, bars, restaurants and good vibes. The long, sandy beach is also a perfect spot for local surfers (and those who want to learn it) and you’ll get the best seafood out there.
5. Another family friendly place to stay (and also quite popular among tourists) is the suburb of Hout Bay. It’s a scenic 30 minute drive away from the city of Cape Town and you’ll find quite a few activities out there. Hout Bay has lovely restaurants, trendy markets and lots of things to do for the kids. Whether you go to an animal park, on a boat ride to watch seals or become more adventurous with Acrobranching – you can do all of that in Hout Bay! And a big plus: it’s close to one of the most beautiful beaches in Cape Town – Llundudno.
6. Further away from buzzing Cape Town is the Cape Winelands which includes Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl. Here you’ll find the most amazing wine farms, restaurants and idyllic guest houses that Cape Town has to offer. You could stay for a couple of years and wouldn’t be able to see all the wine estates in that area – there are simply too many! So here is your perfect reason to come back again, because you have to continue this fabulous habit of tasting some of the best wines in the world!
7. If you don’t mind staying further away from Cape Town and getting closer towards Cape Point, you can look for safe and family-friendly accommodation in Noordhoek, Kommetjie and Scarborough.
Areas To Avoid
Some of the suburbs around Cape Town are less attractive and higher crime spots than the ones listed above. The Cape Flats (which consist of the townships Khayelitsha and Gugulethu) are the most dangerous area and should be fully avoided by tourists and visitors. It’s an area that even locals don’t walk in since 95% of crimes in Cape Town occur in these townships.
There are township tours available for people who are interested to see how life is being lived in a township. Those tours are safe and you’re always entering the places with an experienced guide and a group of people. We have been part of such a tour ourselves in the very early days of our Cape Town adventure and we really have to say it was one of the best parties we ever had! You might think that you’re guided through the township and watch other people like animals in the zoo. I had the same feeling at the very beginning of the tour, but when we got to meet the locals at their Shebeen (at the township pub), we simply had a good time together, drank the local beer, ate their traditional dishes, danced, sang along and experienced their very fascinating culture. We can 100% recommend a township tour!
There are different township tour options available. Head over to our travel experience partner GetYourGuide to see if that’s something for you:
