- Get your bearings
The locals use Table Mountain as an orientation point ("Can you see the mountain? Good, walk towards it and we're on your right ...").
But Cape Town's irregular layout can sometimes leave tourists wandering around in perplexed circles. Central Cape Town is known as the City Bowl.
The main street is Long Street, home to plenty of restaurants, the city's nightlife, some quirky shops and a dozen or more backpacker hostels.
Much of the action happens around the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, a shopping mall-cum-restaurant complex based in the harbour on the city's northern shores.
A little further around the coast, Camps Bay and Clifton are the local answer to St Tropez, where the city's young and beautiful meet to sip martinis while watching the sun setting into the Atlantic.
The Visitor Information Centre is on the corner of Burg and Strand Streets (021 426 5639; www.tourismcapetown.co.za); it opens 8am to 5pm from Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 1pm on Saturdays, 9am to 1pm on Sundays.
- Check in
The city's oldest hotel is the Mount Nelson at 76 Orange Street (021 483 1000; mountnelson.co.za). Rooms reflect the hotel's 19th-century origins, and the extensive grounds offer respite from the busy city centre - just a 10-minute walk away. Doubles start at R4 950 including breakfast.
For a more modern option, try An African Villa at 19 Carstens Street (021 423 2162;), a boutique hotel with chic African-themed rooms and a friendly welcome. Doubles from R995, which includes breakfast.
Cape Town Backpackers is just off the main drag at 81 New Church Street (021 426 0200;). Rooms are spotless and stylish; even the dorms come with a fluffy towel at the end of each bed. Dorm beds are R110 excluding breakfast. Doubles are R300 with a shared bathroom, R500 with an en-suite bathroom.
Take the cable car that revolves 360 degrees as it sweeps visitors to the flat top of Table Mountain. The Lower Cableway Station is on Tafelberg Road, a five-minute cab ride from the city centre. The cableway runs every 15 minutes from 8am until around 9.30pm, return tickets R145 .
It's a fine way to spend the morning, but if you're feeling energetic the challenging two-hour walk to the 670m summit of Lion's Head gives a superlative view of the city with its landmark as a backdrop.
- Window shopping
For alternative souvenirs check out the African Music Store, the African Bead Centre and the multi-storey Pan African Market on Long Street. Make time for some hard haggling at the excellent curio market at Greenmarket Square.
- Lunch on the run
It's a steep hike to get from the Long Street area to the Noon Gun Tea Room on Longmarket Street (0 21 424 0529), but worth the effort for the best koeksisters in town. These fabulously sweet snacks are given the Cape Malay treatment: a twist of deep fried dough dipped in syrup and powdered with cinnamon and coconut. The cafe also serves curries, but the main reason to hike up here is for what happens at noon. Just before midday, scramble up the path to Signal Hill for some wonderful views and to hear the noon gun in action - a cannon that heralds the afternoon every day except Sunday.
- Cultural afternoon
Cape Town has some fascinating museums that are sufficiently close to one another to be combined on a busy afternoon. Start in the Bo Kaap, the city's Muslim district. Inhale the aromas of Cape Malay cooking and admire the glorious clash of brightly painted houses on Chiappini Street, probably the most photographed road in the city. The Bo Kaap Museum at 71 Wale Street offers a history of the area; it opens 10am to 5pm daily except Sunday, admission R10.
The Slave Lodge on the corner of Adderley and Wale Streets is one of the city's best laid-out and most interesting museums; it opens 10am to 5pm daily except Sunday, admission R15.
Next stop: the Company's Gardens, a fine city park. Once little more than a vegetable patch for the Dutch East India Company, the park today houses the government buildings and the Tuynhuys - the president's official office in the city. It's also home to the South African Museum and Planetarium (open 10am to 5pm daily, R15, and the National Gallery (open 10am to 5pm daily except Monday, R15).
Take the south-east exit from the park and head towards the fascinating, if distressing, District Six Museum on the way; the wretched years of apartheid are exposed in all their cruelty. It opens 9am to 4pm daily except Sunday (to 3pm on Mondays); suggested donation R10.
End your historical hike at the Castle of Good Hope - the city's oldest building, containing exhibits of South Africa's military history; open 9.30am to 4pm daily, admission R20.
Buses leave every 20 minutes from the main bus station on Adderley Street to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront (021 408 7600; waterfront.co.za); the fare is R4. Much of the place is plainly devoted to tourism, but it also has some local shops (don't miss the township art in the Red Shed) and a postcard view of the mountain. Mitchell's pub at the Waterfront serves excellent beer of the same name, fresh from a micro-brewery along the Garden Route. Join the locals at the outdoor tables for a fine pint and a spot of people watching.
- Sunday morning: Go to church
St George's Cathedral (021 424 7360), known affectionately as "The People's Cathedral", welcomed worshippers of all races during the apartheid years. It became a regular meeting point for civil rights protesters, even being raided by the police on a couple of occasions.
As the seat of the Archbishop of Cape Town, the cathedral saw crowds of parishioners flocking to hear the sermons of Desmond Tutu in the 1980s as he campaigned for an end to apartheid. He still attends mass whenever he is in Cape Town.
Sunday services are at 7am, 8am and 12.15pm, with evensong at 7pm. On other days it opens 8am to 5pm (Saturdays to 1pm).
- Take a hike
The three-hour Footsteps to Freedom walking tour provides a good overview of the historically packed central district. It starts at the Visitor Information Centre. Tours leave daily at 10.30am and cost R100 (021 426 4260).
- A walk in the park
Spread out a blanket and enjoy your picnic in the magnificent Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (sanbi.org). Founded in 1660 by the first governor of the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck, the park was bequeathed to the nation by the later owner Cecil John Rhodes. Work off your lunch by following the fynbos walk: the Cape's most celebrated plant is at its most colourful in the summer months. From November to April a series of concerts is held in the park on Sunday evenings. The gardens open 8am to 7pm daily, admission R32.
- The icing on the cake
You can taste some splendid wines just 10 minutes from the city centre. In fact, the Constantia vineyards were the first to be planted back in 1685.
Enjoy down-to-earth, no-hassle tastings and a walk through the magnificent grounds of South Africa's original wine estate, Groot Constantia (021 794 5128, grootconstantia.co.za). The grounds are littered with old relics, monuments and a couple of good museums. They open 10am to 5pm daily, tastings R25 .
Shun the quick route back and take a scenic tour along Chapman's Peak Drive. From Constantia take the R64 to Noordhoek, then head north. - The Independent