Cape Town's attractions are spread across a peninsula 60 kilometres long, which makes transport the main planning question rather than guiding.
Book ahead
Robben Island. Days or weeks in season — ferry places are limited and sell out. Crossings are cancelled in rough weather, so leave a spare day rather than booking it for your last morning.
The tour is led partly by former political prisoners, which is what makes it more than a boat trip.
Table Mountain cable car — book online to skip the ticket queue, but understand that the weather decides. Go on the first clear still morning of your trip rather than saving it. The cable car closes in high wind, which happens often.
The Platteklip Gorge walk up is a steep two to three hours with no shade and no technical difficulty, and is the alternative when the cable car is shut.
Shark cage diving at Gansbaai, seasonal and weather-dependent, a week ahead.
The car question
Public transport does not usefully cover the peninsula, the winelands or the coastal drives.
Rent for two or three days rather than the whole trip, and use ride-hailing within the city, which is cheap and widely used.
The Cape Peninsula loop is the standout: Chapman's Peak Drive cut into the cliff, Cape Point, the Boulders Beach penguin colony, and back through Simon's Town and Constantia. A full day, and self-driving lets you stop.
Chapman's Peak is a toll road and occasionally closes for rockfall.
The winelands: take a tour
Because the point is tasting and South African drink-driving limits are strictly enforced.
Small-group tours to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek cover three or four estates. The Franschhoek wine tram is the alternative — hop-on hop-off between estates, which removes the driving question entirely and lets you set the pace.
Constantia, inside the city, is the oldest wine region in the country and can be done in an afternoon.
The township tour question
Worth addressing directly.
Tours to Langa, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu span a wide range. At one end, operations owned and guided by residents where the money stays in the community and the content is history, politics and daily life. At the other, bus tours photographing people from behind glass.
The first can be genuinely valuable — South Africa's recent history is not visible from the V&A Waterfront. The second is reasonably criticised as poverty tourism.
Ask who owns the operation, who guides it, and where the money goes. Operators who cannot answer clearly are answering.
What needs nothing
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, on the mountain's eastern slope, with a canopy walkway.
Bo-Kaap, the painted Cape Malay quarter — residential, so photograph considerately.
The Atlantic seaboard — Camps Bay, Clifton, Llandudno — reachable by ride-hail.
Lion's Head at sunrise or full moon, a straightforward walk with the best view of the city.
Practical
Safety. Cape Town has high crime rates in some areas. Do not walk between neighbourhoods at night, use ride-hailing after dark, and take local guidance on which areas are fine on foot. Tourist areas are heavily policed.
Season. November to March is summer — warm, dry, and windy, with a southeaster that can be relentless. Whales are in Hermanus roughly June to November.
Load-shedding. Scheduled power cuts have affected South Africa for years. Most hotels and restaurants have generators; check whether yours does.