Neighbourgoods Market

If you only have time for one shopping excursion, make it the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill on a Saturday morning. The market, on a rather insalubrious stretch of industrial properties, has become a weekly ritual for many Capetonians. Go early and eat breakfast at a communal table at the bustling market, which sells fruit and vegetables, artisanal vinegars and honey, pancakes and coffee, nuts, seeds and pestos. Try to resist loading yourself down with goods (or not; I managed to bring a bottle of fynbos vinegar and a jar of ginger honey back in my suitcase—both supremely impractical), then head to the shops in the refurbished Old Biscuit Mill complex. Stop first at Heartworks; it has an irresistible collection of local ceramics and crafts.