Simon's TownNamed after the Dutch governor Simon van der Stel, Simon’s Town has a rich maritime history dating back to 1743 when it became the official anchorage for ships of the Dutch East India Company. To protect the bay against attack by foreign fleets, the company built the Zoutman Battery on the northern outskirts of the settlement in 1793. Simon’s Town served as the Southern Atlantic base of the Royal Navy between 1814 and 1957, when it was transferred to the South African Navy.
Ramble down the Historic Mile, which has 21 buildings dating back more than 150 years, or visit Jubilee Square with its monument to Able Seaman Just Nuisance – one of the few dogs to attain naval rank! Other attractions include Simon’s Town Museum, the South African Naval Museum, Warrior Toy Museum and Martello Tower, built in 1796 as part of the British fortification of Simon’s Bay. Fish Hoek...features a magnificent sweep of sandy beach and opportunities for swimming and snorkelling off Jager Walk. From August to December, the walkway is a good vantage point for whale-watching. For many years, Fish Hoek enjoyed the status of being one of the only ‘dry’ towns in South Africa. Kalk Bay...owes its name to the 17th-century lime kilns in which crushed sea shells were burned to make lime. The picturesque fishing harbour was built in 1913 to protect boats against the gales that often lash False Bay. The harbour is a hive of activity when boats return with catches of Cape delicacies such as snoek, geelbek and yellowtail. St. James...with its colourful wooden changing rooms, tidal pool and sandy beach, is a popular family beach. It was named after the St James Church, which was demolished in 1900 to make way for a railway station after the original platform, built 17 years earlier, became inadequate. Muizenberg...with its wide sweeping beach, offers safe swimming, surfing and is a popular destination for South African holidays. It has variously served as a cattle post (established in the 1670s by the Dutch East India Company at nearby Sandvlei), a winter anchorage for company ships and a military outpost. In the 1740s, the fort became known as Muijsenberg after Wynand Muijs, the sergeant in charge. Among its cultural treasures is the Natale Labia Museum, a beautiful dressed-stone mansion built in the 1930s for Prince Natale Labia and Princess Ida Labia. It now serves as a satellite museum of the South African National Gallery. De Post Huys, built in 1673 by the Dutch East India Company as a signal house and a small fort, is one of the oldest European-built houses in South Africa. Also of interest is Rhodes’ Cottage, an unassuming thatched home where Cecil John Rhodes died in 1902. Groot Constantia...forms part of the farm granted to Governor Simon van der Stel in 1685. He named his farm Constantia and planted the estate’s first vineyards. After his death in 1712, the farm was divided into three. Groot Constantia changed hands several times until it was bought by Hendrik Cloete in 1778, and remained in the Cloete family for over a century. During this time the estate’s wines became world-famous.
Its focal point is the magnificent U-shaped Cape Dutch manor house 5 with its unusually high gable; the house is now a museum portraying life at Constantia from the 17th century on. At the rear of the manor house is the Cloete Cellar, dating back to 1791, with its magnificent sculptured pediment by Anton Anreith. Victoria And Alfred WaterfrontCentred around the Victoria and Alfred basins of Cape Town’s harbour, the Waterfront 3 is one of South Africa’s top tourist attraction. Its huge variety of attractions, activities, speciality shops and restaurants, all within the setting of a working harbour, include the Two Oceans Aquarium, Telkom Exploratorium and IMAX Cinema in the BMW Pavilion. Visitors can take a cruise around the harbour, a longer boat trip in Table Bay or a helicopter flip over the city.
Art and craft enthusiasts should visit the Waterfront Craft Market and Red Shed Craft Workshop. The Waterfront is also the embarkation point for tours of Robben Island; now a museum and nature reserve, it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. | 
