Vote for Table Mountain's Twelve Apostles Terrace in 2025 MICE awards
The Twelve Apostles Terrace at Table Mountain has been nominated as one of five finalists for the best events venue in Africa in the 2025 MICE awards. The other finalists include Kirstenbosch gardens and the Rovos Rail events train.
Click here to vote for your favoute.
Table Mountain soars up to 1087m high above Cape Town and forms part of the Table Mountain National Park, managed by SANParks. The administrative office can be contacted at 021-712-2337. The most common tourist activity is to take the cable car to the top; but you need to hike up to earn the view.
Table Mountain Restaurant
The resaurant at the top of Table Mountain is called the "Table Mountain Cafe". Prices are a big higher than on the ground, but they're the only option.
Looking South
Travel Review
This past weekend, my friend and I decided to hike up Table Mountain through the Plattekloof hiking route. We planned this hike weeks in advance. When the weather man forecasted some light showers and clouds most of the day, we were not discouraged one bit!
After 1h30min of climbing, it was all worth it!! The view on top was just amazing and to our surprise, the sun was shining brightly at the summit.
The temperature was low at the foot of the mountain and gave the impression that, it was not a good day to hike, while on top there was good weather with stunning views. All in all it was a great day to spend on top of table mountain, nature's 7th Wonder of the world!
Submitted by Thokozani Zuma on the 1st June 2013.
De Villiers Dam
The De Villiers Dam is the southern-most dam on Table Mountain.
The De Villiers Dam is nestled at the base of Klassenskop, with Orange Kloof (restricted area, requires permits) to its west. It is easily reached on the bridle path from Constantia Nek. The dam is at the start of the lower back Table (the lowest points classified as being at the top of Table Mountain).
De Villiers dam wall at dusk (Klassenskop in the background:
Sunset from De Villiers Dam, with Klassenskop on the left and Orange Kloof in darkness; we can just see Suther Peak sticking out in the middle.
Last stone laid to complete the building of the De Villiers Dam on 22 Feb 1910:
Overseer's Cottage
The Overseers Cottage is one of the few places in which you can legally overnight on Table Mountain. To make a booking phone 021-712-7471 It's situated opposite the De Villiers reservoir. The easiest way to get to the overseers cottage is from Constantia Nek up the bridle path; but it is also easily accessed starting from Cecilia Forest.
Constantia Nek
One of Cape Town's rare lightning strikes hits a pine tree and sets it alight, above the bridle path leading up from Constantia Nek.
Devils Peak
Devil's Peak lies on the eastern end of Table Mountain and is 1000m tall, making it the second highest peak in the Table Mountain range (so if you want to join the exact 1000m club, you know what to do). Its name is speculated to relate to the smoking competition between Van Hunks & the devil, which results in the clouds forming the "table cloth".
It's a relatively simple, although strenuous, hike up from Tafelberg Road to Devil's Peak; and the views from the top make it well worth the effort. To get to the start drive on Tafelberg Road past the lower Cable Car station, and then about a km past the start of the Platteklip Gorge hike, you'll see a sign on the right indicating the start of the Devil's Peak hike - the sign is slightly obscured by bushes as you approach, but easily visible when you are alongside it. There is a parking spot on the opposite side of the road from the sign.
View of Lions Head
This is an unusual view of Lions Head, looking through the mist, from the heights of the India Venster route up Table Mountain (this spot is about 100m below the upper cable car station).
Platteklip Gorge route up Table Mountain
The quickest route up Table Mountain is via Platteklip Gorge; this photo of the route was taken from Devils Peak.
Avoid Misty Conditions
If you can see a cloud ("table cloth") above Table Mountain, it's probably not best to go up, as the conditions at the top may be atrocious, and the cable car may not be operating due to the lousy weather.
Table Mountain Cable Car
Here's the view of Camps Bay from next to the Upper Table Mountain Cable CarStation.
And here's the view of the Twelve Apostles Hotel from the top:
The Table Mountain Cable Car is rated 4.5/5 based on 1 customer review
Rating
4.5
/5 : I went on the Cable Car for the first time in the 1980s. The view remains stunning - it is simply spectacular to be floating up alongside steep cliffs with a sheer fall of a few hundred metres, and the sight of the city, the sea, Lion's Head and Robben Island below. I was surpised at how much our kids enjoyed the experience, with their highlight being climbing on the numerous rocks at the top of Table Mountain, which resulted in many hair-raising moments for us parents! The main improvement is the cable car itself - the floor rotates giving everybody a fair chance to look through the windows on either side. The only thing which detracted slightly from an otherwise perfect experience were the ill-tempered people in the queues at the top, waiting to go down. Rob Baker>
Best & worst accommodation in South Africa
- Free State
- Bloemfontein best accommodation & worst
- Gauteng
- KwaZulu-Natal
- North West
- Western Cape
- Beaufort West best accommodation & worst
- Cape Town
- Grabouw
- Paarl
Hotel prices
- latest Cape Town hotel prices
- latest Durban hotel prices
- latest Johannesburg hotel prices
- latest Pretoria hotel prices