THE V&A WATERFRONT : Cape Town - museums, art galleries, restaurants, Table Mountain, beaches, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Good Hope Nature Reserve, Winelands, Robben Island.

A Unique Experience..

Hundreds of thousand of foreign tourists visit South Africa every year, and most of these visitors plan a stop in Cape Town, the pride of the Southern African subcontinent. Blessed with blue skies, a balmy climate, a rich cultural heritage and a magnificent backdrop of ocean and mountain, the Mother City boasts a profusion of museums, art galleries, restaurants, shops, theatres, night spots and landmarks. Presided over by Table Mountain and skirted by the Atlantic Ocean and a string of exquisite beaches, top attractions include the bustling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the famed Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, the Cape Winelands, and Robben Island.

The V&A Marina is just one of our attractions that hosts a multitude of upmarket restaurants, boutique style shops, jewellery stores that cater for your every whim. This could be on your doorstep should you wish to stay at the Marina's very own residential development.

These apartments are the word in style, elegance, luxury and comfort. All the apartments are self-catering with view's either across the Marine Basin, Table Mountain, or the heart of the City. These self-catering apartments are fully equipped with all the home comforts, plus TV/DVD, internet facilities and they are all air-conditioned.

Within a space of five minutes you could be sitting at one of the many speciality restaurants, taking in a movie at the IMAX theatre, or sipping a cocktail watching one of our famous sunsets, or enjoying a concert at the Amphitheatre, an intimate open-air venue in the heart of the complex which plays host to a wide variety of entertainers, and is especially popular on sultry summer evenings when the music wafts on the gentle sea breeze.

Visit Vaughan Johnsons's Wine Shop, which borders Market Square. The selection here is unequalled in the city and their staff can arrange for cases of the Cape's finest wines to be shipped home.

In your excitement to take in everything the Waterfront has to offer, be sure to take some time to browse around the Pierhead, a small extension of the harbour overlooking both Victoria Basin and the entrance to Alfred Basin. This shopping and entertainment enclave offers superb views across the Victoria Basin which, in turn, holds the Victoria Museum Ship, a reproduction of an old-time sailing ship. The Pierhead also boasts a variety of bistros, coffee shops and restaurants. Although there are fewer shops in this little corner, one 'must see' is the Coca-Cola Collectables shop.

The headquarters of the V&A Waterfront Company is situated on the stately Old Port Captain's Building, once the hub of activity in the dock. On the East Quay is the restored Clock Tower (built in 1887, and housing displays on the workings of the old harbour).

Back on the west rim of the basin, however, is one of the Waterfront's most visited attractions. The Blue Shed houses the Waterfront Craft Market, with stall after stall of arts and crafts, and a boundless array of handwork, curios and memorabilia for the enthusiastic shopper. Stallholders cater for the well-heeled tourist market, ensuring their wares are wonderfully creative and colourful, and offer a little bit of Africa to take home.

One of the most popular additions to the V&A Waterfront is the world-class Two Oceans Aquarium, a marine wonderland with transparent underwater tunnels, a touch pool and tanks that hold a fascinating array of marine life found along the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts of Southern Africa. Displays include prismatic tropical fish, a look at the ancient coelacanth, a shark tank, a seal tank opening onto the new basin and the Open Ocean exhibit - two million litres of seawater which is home to creatures both great and small. The aquarium complex also houses a classroom and gift shop.

From the aquarium, cross the Dock Road, the heart of the old harbour and directly below the Portswood Complex you will find the treasures of the Scratch Patch. This is for the young and old alike, everyone will be delighted when uncovering the semi-precious stones hidden among the rocks and pebbles.

A few steps further on are Dock House and Time Ball Towner, once used by passing ships to set their clocks. Buses to and from the city stop on this block, and on Alfred Square directly opposite, outside the Victoria & Alfred Hotel. Across the Dock Road is the Forum Conference Centre, which handles all inquiries and reservations for some of the facilities available at the Waterfront.

Undoubtedly one of the most exciting experiences at the Waterfront is the IMAX Cinema, situate in the BMW Pavilion on the corner of Portswood Road (leading up onto the highway running into the city) and Dock Road. Projected onto a five-storey-high screen, this Oscar winning cinematic experience is the world's largest film format, and includes multi-speaker digital sound in a comfortable wrap-around theatre.

Among the most popular offerings from the many charter companies operating from the harbour are round-the-harbour boat trips, twilight cruises, and even game-fishing expeditions and helicopter flights. Quay Four and Quay Five in the Victoria Basin offer boat charters and cruise trips into Table, Bay, and all the way around Clifton and other superb spots along the Atlantic seaboard. Particularly recommended are the one-hour cruises around Table Bay, the 90 minute Sunset Cruise and the two-hour Robben Island Cruise offered by Condor Charters. The luxury boat trips depart from Quay Four daily and their vessels have a fully-enclosed lounge, pub and aft-deck.

One of the highlights of a day at the V&A Waterfront will almost surely be a cruise to Robben Island. This holding place of political prisoners during the days of apartheid has attracted enormous interest since the release of its most famous inmate, Nelson Mandela.

Not only is the V&A Waterfront a hive of activity, should you wish to adventure into the heart of the City, you can catch a shuttle bus which departs from the Waterfront at regular intervals and takes you into the centre of town within five minutes, where you can shop until you drop at the infamous Green Market Square, or take a stroll through St George's Mall which is a bustling pedestrian concourse fringed with shops, arcades, kiosks, and bistros and where the local street musicians show off there many talents as they perform to the rhythm of the African beat.

Making your way up the famed Long Street, you will find the Long Street Baths, comprising a swimming pool, Turkish baths and steam rooms for either men or woman and a number of antique shops, such as the capetionians favourite, Second Time Around, which stocks vintage clothes.