Project Description
Cape Town Photo Tour
Cape Town is the perfect addition to any Southern or East African Photo safari. It can be taken at either the start or the end of a safari and is perfectly suited to travellers wanting that “Beach and Bush” combo!
It’s no wonder that Cape Town tops the international list of cities you should visit, and that’s even more true for those with a passion for photography (and fine dining!). This Cape Town Photo Tour offers a range of accommodation options and three days of private touring of The “Mother” City, visiting all our favourite photographic and scenic hotspots.
This itinerary can be fully customized and scheduled to meet your specific requirements. There is so much that Cape Town has to offer that managing your time in this incredible city takes some careful planning…and we are here to help!
Getting to Cape Town is very simple, as it’s a popular holiday destination. If you are starting your photo safari in Cape Town, there are several direct flight options from the US and Europe. Alternatively, you would use Johannesburg as your hub, which works well.
If you add Cape Town at the end, you could start your day with a coffee on a game drive in Botswana in the morning and sip a sundowner in Cape Town while watching the sunset over the ocean—it’s that easy!
Adding Cape Town to the end of a photo safari in Kenya is easier than you might think, as there are near daily flights from Nairobi to Cape Town (with a brief stop in Victoria Falls). If you want to do the ultimate photo safari, you could combine Kenya with Botswana and then go into Cape Town at the end. It’s just a thought…but what a thought!
In Cape Town, we have hand-picked an eclectic collection of accommodation options ranging from funky hotels in the city centre with the hustle and bustle of this vibrant city on your doorstep, or perhaps you would favour a hotel closer to the beach or the V&A Waterfront.
Cape Town has some of the best restaurants and eateries in the world, so we recommend booking accommodation on a bed-and-breakfast basis. During your day on tour lunch will be arranged and included and in the evening we will be happy to share our list of favourite restaurants with you. Cape Town has plenty on offer!
The best way to see Cape Town and have the flexibility to be in the right place at the right time of day (for photography and crowd avoidance) is to have a private guide and vehicle at your disposal.
We have teamed up with a fantastic company in Cape Town and designed several routes that we think showcase the best of what Cape Town has to offer in terms of experiences and mind-blowing scenery.
We recommend three full days of exploring with your guide, but this can, of course, be extended if you want to do more. We offer three standard day routes, but if there is anything in particular that you would like to see and do, we can always include that for you.
In Cape Town, they say that you can experience four seasons in one day, so it’s essential to have flexibility on your day-to-day itinerary. If, for example, you wanted to go up Table Mountain, but there was cloud cover that day, you could switch it around and go on another day with ease.
Route 1: Chase the Sun Peninsula Tour
This day will take you around Table Mountain in the right direction for the best light. Starting in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in the glorious morning sunlight, you then pass through the rest of the Cape Peninsula (Muizenberg, Kalk Bay) and visit Cape Point and the Boulders Beach Penguin colony. The tour ends with a spectacular drive over Chapman’s Peak Drive!
Route 2: Table Mountain
Not many cities in the world are so dominated by a mountain. Everywhere you go in Cape Town, Table Mountain is there to help you get your bearings. It’s essential to keep an eye on the weather to time your trip to the top on the cable car so that the view is not obscured by the Table Cloth – a rolling bank of clouds that cascades over the front of the mountain – (best photographed from nearby Signal Hill or on a helicopter!).
After descending the mountain, you can explore the city centre, including the brightly coloured houses of the Bo Kaap. Several unique galleries and museums in Cape Town speak to the city’s incredible history. For street art fans, there is plenty to see in Cape Town. Perhaps you would like to venture out of town to the west coast across Table Bay to capture the mountain from a wider perspective across the ocean at sun set.
Route 3: The Vineyards
The wine regions of Cape Town are stunningly beautiful and offer wines and food that are beyond compare. We like to send our guests to several vineyards, each with its own charm. If you have more than a passing interest in wines, we could even arrange a time for you to visit a vineyard with the winemaker!
Areas like Stellenbosh, Paarl and Franschhoek have some world-class restaurants we can recommend or perhaps an al fresco picnic would be more appealing. Everything is possible on a private tour like this.
Other Routes:
Depending on the time you want to travel, there may be seasonal options of routes to enjoy. For example, Hermanus (2 hours from Cape Town) has some of the best land-based whale watching in the world, and it is around October each year. We also have some hidden gems away from the main tourist areas that we would love to share with you.
Suppose this is the end of your photo safari itinerary. In that case, most international flights leave in the evening, leaving you in the morning to perhaps grab some souvenirs and lunch in the world-famous Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. If this is the start of the itinerary, then you would leave early in the morning and be on safari in time for your afternoon game drive or boat cruise.
Six days is simply a recommendation, and we will be more than happy to adjust the length and include tours that suit you exactly. Please complete the form below, and one of our expert safari planners (will be more than happy to talk you through your options.
2025 Prices
Giving an accurate costing for a Cape Town Photo Tour is very much dependent on several factors, such as the time of year, the number of people travelling, and the type of accommodation you prefer. Our expert travel planners can get you an accurate quote very quickly and offer some optional additions to suit your specific requirements. Please complete the form below to get a no-obligation quote from us.
As a ballpark figure, though, a 6-day package in January with three full days of private guiding staying at The Commodore Hotel would be approximately $3,500 per person sharing a room. This price changes if you are more than 2 people as the cost of the privately guided vehicle is divided by the number of guests.
5 nights at a Cape Town Hotel (Bed and Breakfast)
3 days of Private Touring in Cape Town
Lunch and refreshments on your tours
Expert guidance and photo route recommendations
Airport transfers
Entrance fees and tourism levies
Laundry, gratuities and items of a personal nature
Visa fees if required
International and regional flights
Single supplement for solo travellers
When is the best time to visit Cape Town?
Due to its location and geography, Cape Town has a unique climate compared to the rest of Southern Africa. It has more of a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers (Oct to May) and colder, wetter winters (June to Sept).
That said, it doesn’t get as cold as winters in Europe and North America, and you can have bright sunny spells in winter that feel very “Summery” to most people who live in the Northern Hemisphere.
The warmest months are January and February, with average daytime temperatures around 28°C (82-83°F). The coolest months are June, July, and August, with average daytime temperatures around 19°C (66°F)
Is Cape Town Safe?
Like many other cities in the world, you should never be complacent about your safety. The areas you will go to on your tours in Cape Town are incredibly safe, and your local guide will escort you. You would really have to venture “off the path” to end up anywhere you shouldn’t. It doesn’t happen by accident.
In the evenings, your hotel can arrange a car to take you to dinner, or several services like Uber work well and are incredibly affordable!
How easy is it to get around Cape Town by car alone?
We have several clients who opt to drive themselves around Cape Town, and the road networks are excellent (if a little congested in rush hour). For example, this is an excellent option if you want to venture further up the Garden Route. Cape Town has an excellent cellphone network, so using Google Maps will help you get around easily.
Ready to start planning your trip?
Great add-ons to the Cape Town Photo Tour
Sabi Sands Photo Safari
Type: Bespoke Photo Safari
Where: Sabi Sands
When: All Year
Duration: 6 Days
Price from: USD8,950
