Our kids love busses. What about yours? Whenever we see the red city sightseeing busses cruising the streets, they want to hop on as well and enjoy the Mother City with a perfect 360 degree panoramic view from the upper deck of the bus. And you know what? If you sign them up for the kids club, they will receive a free ticket every year until their 15th birthday for themselves and a friend (under the age of 15). Check it out!
With 30 stops and over 50 of Cape Town’s top attractions, the Hop On Hop Off Bus is not only a fun thing to do for the tourists, but also for the locals as you will learn many interesting facts about the different sights along your way. The audio guide is available in 16 different languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Arabic, Turkish, Afrikaans, Zulu) and even features suitable Kids Commentaries to make it a fun ride for the little ones, too!
Your ticket will be valid for 24 hours, so make the most out of it and explore as many places as you can in one day. You can follow the best sights and attractions across two different bus routes (BLUE and RED) and a third YELLOW route which is a 90 minute walking tour that takes you through the historic city center and Bo-Kaap.
The Red Route Bus and the Blue Route Bus depart every 20 minutes and you can track the location of the busses live. Check the live tracker here: LIVE TRACKING
You can find the exact summer time table here: TIMETABLE
The Red Route (90 minutes when you don’t hop off)
The first stop on both the Red and the Blue Route is the V&A Waterfront. From here, you can start all the fun and choose your favourite hop on hop off stations. Find below a list of attractions that you will find at each bus stop:
Stop 1. V&A Waterfront: Two Ocean’s Aquarium, Watershed Craft Market, V&A Food Market, The Cape Wheel, Various Harbour Cruises, Helicopter Rides, Shops and Restaurants
Stop 2. The Clock Tower (also part of the V&A Waterfront): The Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, The Zeitz MOCAA (Or Museum of Contemporary Art Africa), The Chavonnes Battery Museum
Stop 3. The Cape Town International Convention Center: This is only a great stop when you are going to visit an event or exhibition. Otherwise, there is no need to get off the bus at this station.
Stop 4. Foreshore: This stop probably serves more as a pick-up point for people staying in the city. There is also not much to explore around this area.
Stop 5. 81 Long Street (the tour office): At this stop you can hop off the bus and start the Yellow Walking Tour around the city. It will take you Greenmarket Square, Company’s Garden, City Hall, The Grand Parade, The District 6 Museum, The South African Museum, The Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center and The Castle of Good Hope.
The Historic City Tour starts at 10:30, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00 & 16:00.
The Bo-Kaap Tour starts at 10:30, 13:30, & 16:00.
Stop 6. Jewel Africa: This is more of a shopping stop for some shiny things. South Africa is rich in gold and diamonds, so a visit to a jewellery shop surely doesn’t hurt. But if you don’t want to spend your money on a random bus stop, you might as well skip this stop.
Stop 7. Table Mountain and the Aerial Cable Way: This is surely a must-stop for tourists who visit Cape Town for the first time. But maybe you come back another day so that you can make the most out of your bus ticket on that day. In the summer months, the waiting periods to hop onto the cable way are insane and can take up to several hours. So you basically spending 3-4 hours at Table Mountain already without having the chance to see all the other fabulous attractions on the route. Our suggestion: skip this stop while being on the bus tour and reserve it for another day where you have more time at hands. You can always book your tickets for the cable way in advance, but you still have to queue the line, unfortunately.
Stop 8. Camps Bay: Buzzing, trendy and fabulous Camps Bay! You should definitely devote some time to explore the beach, have some ice cream at the beach front and stroll along the busy promenade to take some spectacular pictures of the beautiful mountain range and ocean views. You can see the Twelve Apostles, the back of Table Mountain as well as Lion’s Head.
Stop 9. The President Hotel in Bantry Bay: This is simply a luxury hotel in one of the fanciest parts of town. But nothing spectacular really. So it’s up to you, but we recommend to skip this stop to discover some “real” sights.
Stop 10. St.John’s Road in Sea Point: This stop is close to the Sea Point Swimming Pool Pavilion – a lovely public swimming pool right in the heart of Sea Point. But if you’re not in for a swim, you can also take a walk at the promenade, explore some restaurants and shops and then hop on the bus again.
Stop 11. Winchestor Mansions: This is another seafront hotel located in a 1920s Cape Dutch building. If you’re not into the wonders of architecture, you can easily skip this stop, too. Otherwise, you could go and explore the promenade and some interesting public art which will guarantee you fun pictures.
Stop 12. Green Point Park: This is a beautiful re-creational space in the middle of the city with plenty of green space to take a walk, let the children explore gigantic playgrounds and admire the views. Green Point Park is a great place for a coffee or picnic. On the oceanfront, you will also find the historic Green Point Lighthouse. First lit in 1824, it was the first solid lighthouse structure on the coast of South Africa.
The Blue Route (140 minutes when you don’t hop off)
Stop 15. The Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel: Yes, another hotel, but this one carries some real history with many famous people staying at the hotel in the past. During the Second Boer War, the hotel became the British military headquarters and hosted Winston Churchill. It has also hosted H.G. Wells, Lady Jenny Churchill, Rudyard Kipling, Agatha Christie and Edward, Prince of Wales. Following the British customs, it still offers the most amazing High Tea in town.
Stop 20. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden: You might have noticed that the route is missing a few stops in between. This is probably due to the fact that the Yellow Route previously was a bus tour, too. Now, you can discover this part in the walking tour and they simply took out these stops. The over 100 years old botanical garden is huge with so many flora and fauna to discover that it is again rather time consuming to do this as an in between stop. You can easily spend half a day strolling around the Botanical Garden and sitting down for a picnic or lunch. So we recommend to skip this stop and come back another day with more time at hand.
Stop 21. Constantia Nek Wine Stop: This is the stop where you can change to the Purple Route and do a little wine tour around the stunning wine farms in Constantia. The Purple Route (30 minutes when you don’t hop off) pays a visit to the following wine estates:
- Groot Constantia
- Eagles Nest Wine Farm
- Beau Constantia Wine Estate
Stop 22. World of Birds and Monkey Jungle: This is a bliss for the little guests on the bus as they can explore some wildlife and get a hands-on experience with cute little monkeys. World of Birds is open 7 days a week and the Monkey Jungle is open for visitors between 11:30 – 13:00 and 14:00 – 15:30. So make sure to be there at the right time.
Stop 23. Imizamo Yethu Township: This is an authentic township with more than 30,000 people living there. You can go on a 40-minute guided tour with a local resident who will show you the other side of town. In very few cities in the world, the inequality is so visible as in Cape Town. So this is an eye-opening experience.
Stop 24. Mariner’s Wharf in Hout Bay: This is a great stop to get some souvenirs at the Harbour Bay Market or go a seal island expedition while you are there. You will also find the freshest sea food in town.
At Stop 8 the Blue and the Red Route will meet again and you can go back to the start at the V&A Waterfront.
Cape Town Kids Club
Children from around the world are invited to become a kids club member which makes them special guests on the bus! Each member (aged between 5 and 15 years), will receive a a fun activity pack to entertain them on the bus. On top of that, each member will also receive a free birthday ticket for themselves and one friend (aged 5 to 15) every year to celebrate your birthday, up to and including your child’s 15th birthday.
- Registrations need to be made a minimum of two weeks prior to the child’s birthday in order to qualify for the free vouchers.
- The free vouchers are valid for four weeks – one week before the date of birth and three weeks after the birthday.
- The friend accompanying the child need to be under 15 years of age.
What are you waiting for? You can sign up your children here: https://www.citysightseeing.co.za/en/cape-town/kidsclub-info
Prices
You should definitely buy your tickets online as it is cheaper than getting them at the ticket office and you can find quite a few specials for children and families, students and pensioners. Check out their Specials to make a bargain: SPECIALS
- Children (3y and under) = FREE
- Classic 1 Day Ticket: Adults = R259, Children (3y+) = R150
- Premium 2 Day Ticket: Adults = R359, Children (3y+) = R250
- Deluxe 3 Day Ticket: Adults = R429, Children (3y+) = R350
- Red Bus Special: 2 Kids aged up to 17 travel FREE with every 1-day adult ticket purchased. Only valid on Weekends, Public & pre-set School holidays = R275
Please check their website for the latest online ticket prices: ONLINE PRICES
Website
https://www.citysightseeing.co.za/en/cape-town
Phone: +27 (0) 21 511 6000 / info@citysightseeing.co.za
