Many would argue that nearby Clifton’s four beaches take top billing in Cape Town, but while Clifton is indeed lovely, the beaches can only be accessed by walking down steep sets of stairs cut into the Cliffside. Camps Bay Beach, on the other hand, is right next to the main road, and unless it’s December or January, it will take you five minutes between parking your car and walking barefoot on the wide, white sand beach. Take an early-morning walk (and go for a swim if you can brave the chilly Atlantic water), then have coffee at the Sandbar, the nicest of the cafés lining the beachfront. Or go before sunset; bring a picnic basket and a bottle of wine, and avoid the pounding music and overpriced drinks at the beachfront bars.

On a map, Cape Town looks like it’s at the tip of Africa, but you can still drive two hours farther south to Cape Agulhas, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, or Cape Point, as it’s known locally, is a stunning and rugged area, with panoramic cliff-top views over the beaches. The reserve is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, and it alone contains more plant species than there are in the whole of the United Kingdom. It is also home to more than 250 species of birds, several species of antelope, the Cape Mountain Zebra, and baboons—which you can often see from the road on the drive down. There are great hiking paths (maps are available at the information office at the top of the funicular leading to the Cape Point Lighthouse).

No visit to Cape Town would be complete without a trip to the Winelands, just 45 minutes east of the city, and an astoundingly beautiful region of mountains sheltering green valleys and vine-covered slopes. It is also home to the historic towns of Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Paarl, each with its own wine route where member wineries open their estates to the public. Each winery has a tasting room, in which you can try out different wines for a nominal fee, and many have restaurants or sell picnic hampers to enjoy on the grounds. There is not much of interest in the towns themselves, which are lined with wonderful examples of Cape Dutch and Georgian architecture, and luxury hotels and excellent restaurants abound. If your time is limited, pick one area and focus on two or three estates. Meerlust in Stellenbosch and Fairview (on the Paarl wine route) are favorites.

This five-and-a-half-mile toll road carved into cliffs 1,900 feet above the sea runs between Hout Bay and Noordhoek and has unparalleled sweeping views of the coast and the ocean. Go just before sunset, and stop at one of the lookout points. Even better, get a Capetonian friend (or a driver) to take you, and open a bottle of wine as you survey the endless sea and sky.

In 1966, the Nationalist government proclaimed District Six, a mixed-race suburb famous for its jazz scene and colorful nightlife, a whites-only neighborhood. Over the next fourteen years, around 60,000 people were moved from this inner-city area to new townships several miles away from central Cape Town, on the bleak and inhospitable Cape Flats. The area was razed but never developed, and it became a stark daily reminder of apartheid. The District Six Museum bears testament to these events through a collection of photographs, maps, street signs and personal accounts.

Afternoon tea is still enjoyed in Cape Town, which retains distinct colonial influences. The Mount Nelson Hotel is known for their full cream teas, but tea and scones are available all over. The plush sofas and harbor views make the lounge of the Cape Grace a very pleasant spot to enjoy scones and cake with tea, and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is a time-honored tea-and-scones destination. Also lovely is Suikerbossie, midway between Llandudno and Hout Bay (look out for the sign; there’s nothing else on that stretch of road); it’s popular with families for its playground and lawn.

Introduced in 2013, the Franschhoek Wine Tram is a fun new way to explore the winelands. The vintage inspired vehicles (there is a tram and a bus) stop at some of South Africa’s most famous wine estates for tastings or lunch if you have made a reservation. The two different lines operate daily and stops include Rickety Bridge, La Grande Provence and La Couronne among others. One obvious advantage, of course, is that you can drink and not worry about driving.

Whether you want to surf, cycle, rappel or shark dive, Cape Town can offer adventures of all kinds. We can will set you up with an expert local guide who can tailor a day’s adventure. Indagare members can contact the Bookings Team to arrange.

During Apartheid, Nelson Mandela and many other prominent African National Congress members spent decades incarcerated at Robben Island. The island and its infamous prison are about a 40-minute yacht ride off the mainland. A former political prisoner will offer you a private tour and an absorbing view of the not-very-distant past. Indagare members can contact our Bookings Team to arrange a tour.

Cape Town was named the Capital of Design in 2014 for the many innovative artists and craftsmen at work in the city. Explore the boutiques and showrooms of some of the most innovative talents at work with a resident who can tailor a shopping outing to your particular interests. Indagare members can contact the Bookings Team to arrange.

Take a hike up Table Mountain with a descendant of the original Hottentot or Bushmen tribes. As you scale this sandstone plateau rising above the Cape Flats, your guide will point out some of the approximately 1,470 species of plants – more than in all of the British Isles. You will learn about the local flora’s medicinal significance to the indigenous population as well as hear about the history of your guide’s tribe and its ties to this sacred mountain. The summit affords spectacular views of the entire city and beyond. After some time to enjoy them, you will descend by state-of-the-art revolving cable car. The hiking excursion will take approximately four hours. Indagare members can contact our Bookings Team to arrange a tour.

For those who want to better understand the social and community complexities of South Africa, a township visit can be an amazing opportunity. We can tailor a visit around volunteer options, education, crafts, healthcare or sports, depending on your group’s interests. Indagare members can contact the Bookings Team to arrange.

South Africa is a country with enormous social and economic divisions. For those interested in meeting some of the amazing individuals who are creating positive change in their communities, we can arrange special visits, ranging from community kitchen visits to school sports programs. To understand the local people, their struggles and their visions, Indagare community visits can be incredibly powerful but are always based on individual visits. Indagare members can contact our Bookings Team for more details on options in and around Cape Town.

Of all the small villages lining the False Bay coast of Cape Town (the Indian Ocean side), Kalk Bay is the loveliest. For that reason, it’s become increasingly trendy, with a number of good restaurants, and many art galleries and antiques shops. But it is still a working fishing village, where salty-tongued fisherman return from the sea at midday to sell the morning’s catch. Go early in the morning, have breakfast at the wonderful Olympia Café opposite the harbor, stroll around the galleries, and then go to the harbor to watch the midday action.

Surely among the world’s most gorgeous gardens, Kirstenbosch has an incomparable setting on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, its thirty-six hectares of landscaping merging seamlessly with the fynbos vegetation on the mountain. The gardens were established by Jan van Riebeeck in 1660, and they are still devoted solely to indigenous plants.

There are various, smaller gardens-within-the-garden: a fragrance garden, a medicinal plants garden, a sculpture path and a new atmosphere-controlled conservatory. The garden is at its peak in spring: mid-August to October. In summer, however, there are inexpensive Sunday early evening concerts of jazz or classical music or opera, to which visitors bring picnics. Afternoon tea and scones at the Kirstenbosch Tea Room inside the gardens is a Cape Town tradition, but the other food is not bad at all.

You will be helping local people and local enterprise while having the most wonderfully indulgent day ever at this ingenious day spa, en route to the Cape Winelands. The treatments (full body massage, head and scalp massage, foot and leg massage, hand massage, body scrub and a soak in a private Jacuzzi) are interspersed with a light lunch, cheese and wine in the afternoon, and chocolate and liqueur to finish. The beauticians are women from the local townships who have undergone a year’s training, and the spa is cooperatively owned.

The suburb of Woodstock was a drive-by zone for years but it’s been transformed into a groovy neighborhood in recent years, thanks mostly to the Old Biscuit Mill. That project, spearheaded by two gallery owners, started as a modest green market but quickly transformed the area into a city hot spot, with great food, art and shopping. It is now home to the well-known Goodman and Michael Stevenson galleries, both pioneers in showcasing South African artists. Acclaimed chef Luke Dale-Robertson’s Test Kitchen and Pot Luck Club & Gallery cemented the area’s status as new “it” place. If your itinerary allows, visit on a Saturday to browse the Neighbourhood Goods Market, a gathering of farmers, merchants, bakers and artisans, and to experience contemporary Cape Town life at its most vibrant.

The ideal start to a Cape Town visit is a cable car trip up Table Mountain. As you ascend and at the top, take in the spectacular views of the entire city and beyond; there’s also a range of paths at the top leading to different lookouts over the peninsula. Bring a warm jersey, no matter how hot it is down below; the mist can roll in with surprising speed on the mountain, and it can get quite chilly.