Rotating cableway
A full turn.
Matthiasmullie — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Danie van der Merwe from Cape Town, South Africa — CC BY 2.0 · Dietmar Rabich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dietmar Rabich — CC BY-SA 4.0
The flat-topped mountain that guards Cape Town and gives it its most famous image, rising about 1,085 metres above the city and bay, with a level summit some three kilometres long over which a thick white cloud, the tablecloth, sometimes spills. Visitors ride to the top on the cableway, running since 1929, whose modern cars rotate a full turn on the way up, so riders see the city and ocean on every side in about five minutes. Others climb on foot by the steep Platteklip Gorge path in two to three hours. On top are short walking paths and viewpoints over the city, Robben Island and the Cape Peninsula, and the unique fynbos plants that make the mountain part of the UNESCO-listed Cape Floral Region, along with small rock hyraxes, called dassies. Cableway prices vary by time and are cheaper online, and the first car goes up at 8.30 am. It stops when winds are strong or cloud covers the summit, so check its status on the official site before you go.
A full turn.
City and ocean.
The Cape Floral Region.
Tafelberg Road, cableway lower station, Cape Town
Daily when the weather allows; it stops in high winds or thick cloud, so check its status on the official site.
