5 Best Sights in City Centre, Cape Town

Originally named Heerengracht after a canal that once ran the length of the avenue, this street has always been Cape Town's principal thoroughfare. There are a couple of historical buildings dating to the early 1900s including the Adderley Street Flower Market (one of the city's oldest markets, located in Trafalgar Place between Strand and Darling streets), but it's evolved into a heavily congested and primarily commercial stretch full of office blocks, large franchise stores, regular traffic chaos, and the vast concourse of the city's main railway terminal. What sidewalks exist are packed with street vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables to cell phone covers and tea towels, serving people going to and from work. Stay on your toes and keep valuables safe and it can be a place to feel the bustling pulse of everyday Cape Town. 

In the heart of the city, this is a great place to seek relief from a sweltering summer day if the beach is packed. These lush, landscaped gardens are all that remain of a 43-acre tract laid out by Jan van Riebeeck in April 1652 to supply fresh vegetables to ships on their way to the Dutch East Indies. By 1700 free burghers (Dutch-speaking colonists no longer indebted to the Dutch East India Company, aka VOC) were cultivating plenty of crops on their own land, and in time the VOC vegetable patch was transformed into a botanic garden. It remains a calm haven, surrounded by museums, art galleries, the country's oldest cathedral, and Parliament, and is graced by fountains, exotic trees, rose gardens, and a pleasant little tea shop (careful, though, there's also a large café which is not so pleasant). At the bottom of the gardens, close to Government Avenue, look for an old well that once provided water for the town's residents and the garden. The old water pump, engraved with the maker's name and the date 1842, has been overtaken by an oak tree and now juts out of the tree's trunk some 6 feet above the ground. A huge statue of the colonist Cecil Rhodes, the Cape's prime minister in the late 19th century, looms over the path that runs through the center of the gardens. He points to the north, and an inscription reads, "Your hinterland is there," a reference to his dream of extending the British Empire from the Cape to Cairo. A self-guided walking brochure with detailed historical information about the gardens and nearby sights is available at the shop adjacent to the small but informative visitor center.

For more than a century this cobbled square served as a forum for public announcements, including the 1834 declaration abolishing slavery, which was read from the balcony of the Old Town House, overlooking the square. In the 19th century the square became a vegetable market as well as a popular watering hole, and you can still enjoy a drink at an open-air restaurant or hotel veranda while watching the crowds go by. Today the square has been re-cobbled, and the outdoor market sells predominantly African crafts from around the continent. It is also flanked by some of the best examples of art deco architecture in South Africa.

This stunning cathedral was once the religious seat of one of the most recognizable faces—and voices—in the fight against apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As the first Black archbishop of Cape Town (he was elected in 1986), he vociferously denounced apartheid and relentlessly pressed for a democratic government—he also spoke out for the rights of other minorities, including gays and lesbians. It was from these steps that he led a demonstration of more than 30,000 people and coined the phrase the Rainbow People to describe South Africans in all their glorious diversity. The cathedral continues in its active monitoring role today, holding the new government to account. Designed by Sir Herbert Baker in the Gothic Revival style; construction of the Anglican house of worship began in 1901, using sandstone from Table Mountain. The building contains beautiful examples of late-Victorian stained glass, the largest stained-glass window in the country, and a 1,000-year-old Coptic cross. If you want to hear its magnificent organ being played, attend the choral evensong at 6 on Sunday evening. Cathedral guides conduct hour-long tours of the building by arrangement.

This pedestrian-only promenade stretches about five blocks from St George's Cathedral through the city center to the financial district. Shops and cafés line the mall, and street vendors sell everything from T-shirts to African arts and crafts. Street performers and dancers gather daily to entertain crowds of locals and visitors, who rub shoulders on their way to and from work or while sightseeing. The very good St G's food market is held near the Cathedral end of the mall every Thursday (except in winter) from 11 to 3.