There is a reason Cape Town, South Africa is considered by many to be one of the best travel destinations in the world. It is packed with beautiful scenery and attractions sure to land you a ton of amazing photographs. With the help of many photographers and popular Instagrammers, we have compiled this huge list of all the best places to photograph in or near Cape Town. We hope you enjoy it and it helps you plan your trip to Cape Town. Below we have all the locations saved on a Google Map that you can access to help plan your vacation and see where all these amazing places are located.
Chapman’s Peak
One of the most beautiful drives you can take is along Chapman’s Peak Drive, which hugs the face of Chapman’s Peak between Hout Bay and Noordhoek. In the great image below from Jessica, you can see the roadway on the vertical face of the mountain with the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean below.
In another beautiful image from Chapman’s Peak, this one from Iryna Bezmertna, you can see the view out over the bay.
Table Mountain
Table Mountain is the most recognizable landscape from Cape Town. The flat-topped mountain is a huge tourist attraction, with nearly every visitor either hiking it or riding the cable to the top. You will definitely want to capture the amazing view from the top of Table Mountain, like in the image below from @shoham652.
Another fantastic view from the top can be seen in the image below from Aaron.
Cape Point
Cape Point is a promontory at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula. It is one of the most southern points in Africa, as is its neighbor, the Cape of Good Hope. While both are worth a visit, Cape Point is more famous for its mountainous and scenic landscape, which you can see in the below image of Nathalie Schatzman taken by photographer Noemi Désirée.
West Coast National Park
West Coast National Park is actually about 75 miles north of Cape Town, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is an easy drive and well worth it for the beautiful landscape, as you can see in the below image from Lonne Bekkers.
West Coast National Park is also famous for its wildflowers, which bloom from August to September, and can be seen in the below image from Sydney Maherry.
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
The beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens lie at the eastern foot of Table Mountain. The gardens were established in 1913 to preserve the native flora of South Africa. The beautiful flowers and scenic views are shown in the image below from Chris Singh.
Lion’s Head
Lion’s Head is another of the fantastic mountain peaks in Cape Town that shares the skyline with Table Mountain. The hike to the top only takes about an hour and offers fantastic views of the city and the ocean. It is a great spot to catch a sunrise as you can see in the image below from Victoria Watson.
You can get a good view of the road and surrounding hills in the image below from instagrammer @dr_leo_sa.
The amazing view from the top of Lion’s Head is really on display in the image below, also from instagrammer @dr_leo_sa.
Kloof Corner
Kloof Corner is a popular hiking spot on Table Mountain. You can reach the trail on the road to the cable car. It is located on the last bend before you reach the cable car. Kloof Corner is a bit of a steep hike, and is also popular with rock climbers, so it is not for everyone, but you can still get great views even if you don’t make it to the top. You can see the fantastic view from Kloof Corner in the belo image from RJ Carino.
Another view from Kloof Corner showing the landscape view instead of the city is shown in the image below from Lelo Maimela.
Oudeschip Shipwreck
There is a pretty cool shipwreck you can reach with a bit of hike to Oudeschip Point. There are actually two wrecks, but the second is much harder to reach. Check out Sandy Bay shipwreck hiking trail for detailed instructions. You can see the hike out to the wreck in the below image from Jaco De Villiers.
St. James Beach
St. James is actually a suburb of Cape Town, located on the False Bay coast between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay. St. James beach is famous for its victorian-style bathing boxes (signs of the former British Colony), tidal pool and other rock pools You can see the famous colored beach huts in the image below from N&J.
Muizenberg Beach
Muizenberg Beach is another location where you can find the picture-worthy colored beach houses. This beach is located in the Cape Town suburb of Muizenberg, which is located where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay. It is just a bit northeast of St. James. This beach is famous for the colored houses and the surfing. You can see examples of the fantastic bathing boxes in the two images below from @shoham652.
Some more beautiful bathing boxes and a fun pose are on display in the below image from Belle.
Bo Kaap
Bo Kaap is a popular area of Cape Town known for its bright and pastel colored houses. Bo Kaap is a former township that was known as the Malay Quarter and remains Cape Town’s center for Malay culture. You can see some of the colored houses in the image below from @shoham652.
Woodstock
Woodstock is an area just east of Cape Town’s city center. The area has been gentrified over the past decade and is a popular area. For purposes of photography, it is home to some great street art, as you can see in the below image from Zolisa Pule.
More street art in Woodstock can be seen in the below image from Michaela-Anne Hanekom.
Robben Island
Robben Island is a small island in Table Bay off the coast of Bloubergstrand. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its history as a fortified prison that housed the likes of Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma. The island also offers beautiful views, as you can see in the below image from Sile Nziweni.
Rhodes Memorial
Rhodes Memorial is located on Devil’s Peak. The memorial offers great architecture with many good photo ops plus fantastic views. You can see some of both in the below image from @myrrrtheee.
You can see the main view of the memorial in the below image from The Worth Foundation.
Another view of the memorial with a fun pose from Denae Erasmus.
Another portrait in front of the memorial showing more in the below image from Mas’udah Sauls.
Clifton 2nd Beach
Clifton is a ritzier area of Cape Town featuring four great beaches that have been ranked among the best beaches in the world. Clifton’s 2nd beach is the most popular. You can see the magazine-cover worthy image below from @wherescatarina.
Signal Hill
Signal Hill is located next to Lion’s Head and is also called Lion’s Rump for that reason. Like the other mountains in the area, it offers fantastic views, as you can see in the below image from Nina Rachelle.
Bloubergstrand
Bloubergstrand is a suburb located north of Cape Town, along Table Bay. It is full of fantastic beaches with great views of the bay and mountains, as you can see in the below image from Madeline Maree.
The view is so good, I wanted to feature a few more shots. The one below is from Vivi.
The picture of this happy couple on the beach came from Christo Peev.
One final shot showing of the golden sand at sunset shows how magical this place really is. The image is from Robin Kyle.
Table Bay
We have addressed several locations along Table Bay, but we need to just include the whole bay because anywhere you choose along the coast is going to make a great shot. Even in cloudy and cold weather, the below image from Kimberley Smuts is still awesome.
The Company’s Garden
The Company’s Garden is located in central Cape Town and dates back to the 1650’s. It is a great place with natural beauty and tons of monuments that makes for great photo ops. One of the popular monuments is shows in the image below from Liliana Rego.
You don’t even need the monuments though as the stuff growing in the Garden is a great backdrop for your shot as you can see in the below image from Bri Connelly aka @coolpotatochip.
Langebaan
If you make the drive up to West Coast National Park, you should check out Langeban, the city just north of the Park. You can see the fantastic beach and still bay in the below image from Bri + Ellie.
Kasteelpoort
Kasteelpoort is another amazing location on Table Mountain. This hike is especially delightful as you hike up the Twelve Apostles side of the mountain with great views of Camps Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The hike can take 2-4 hours depending on your speed and ends with a picturesque spot on a rock ledge, as seen in the below image from Charlotte Lint.
Another great shot captured at Kasteelpoort is the image below from instagrammer @dr_leo_sa.
Noordhoek Beach
Noordhoek is another suburb of Cape Town, located near Chapman’s Peak. The big attraction is the long pristine beach. In the below image from Brad Newton, you can see the great view from the beach.
In the image below from Saya Yamamoto, you can see the entire beach and just how amazing it looks. How are there not tons of people on it!
Hout Bay
Hout Bay is a suburb south of Cape Town that is loaded with great ocean views, like the one below from Chantelle Pienaar.
Camp’s Bay
Camp’s Bay is an affluent suburb situated between the ocean and Table Mountain. Everywhere you look is a beautiful view of mountains or ocean. You can see both in the below image from Mirte van der Zee
The area is also great for sunsets and landscape shots thanks to the rock formations you can find. The image below is another image from instagrammer @dr_leo_sa.
V&A waterfront
The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, more commonly called V&A Waterfront, is a big shopping center located on the harbor in Table Bay. In addition to shopping, it offers lots of quirky attractions, a harbor full of boats and views of Table Mountain. It is also our first introduction to the giant frames that are scattered throughout Cape Town and make for great Instagram shots, as you can see in the image below from Nat Amorim.
Another shot of the yellow frame centered on Table Mountain is seen in the below image from Terri Turriff.
Boulders Beach
Boulders Beach, also referred to as Boulders Bay, is an inlet between granite boulders located on the Cape Peninsula on the way to Cape Point. It is famous for being the home to a colony of African Penguins. Even with a fence, you can get quite close to the penguins as seen in the below image from Nadezda Tymchishina.
In another great image, this one from Kellie Paxian, you can see more of the beach where the penguins are hanging out. You will also notice this area is in the middle of a residential area just south of Simon’s Town.
Sea Point
Sea Point is a suburb just west of Signal Hill that is loaded with beaches, tide pools, playgrounds, a promenade and hip eateries. There are tons of great photo opportunities to be found at Sea Point, like the one below from The Green Room at Hout Bay.
Kalk Bay Harbour
Kalk Bay is a fishing village on the coast of False Bay. This is a great place to shoot the ocean, the picturesque fishing boats, the famous caves or surfers. You can see the bay in the below image from Shannan Goetsch.
Have you been to Cape Town? What was your favorite place to visit? Share your favorite shot with us in our Facebook Group or in the comments and let us know if you have somewhere we should add to our list!
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