Cluster · Cape Town

Table Mountain lower cableway station

Weather-led cluster: the lower cableway station and its car park; go on the first clear, calm morning, by ride-hail car, and expect a queue.

Key facts

28″ bags: forbidden
Time budget: half
Rescue coverage: 100% ≤7′; max p90 4.2′
Places: 4

Table Mountain lower cableway stationPhoto: Discott, CC BY-SA 4.0

Rules in force · 10Nine African countries on this site have no trip line bec…Across the subregion, plan every road leg to arrive befor…After dark, use ride-hailing or a hotel car between areas

Africa ↗When a route touches a yellow-fever country — even a transit of 12 hours or more — keep the original yellow card (ICVP) in your hand luggage; health desks and airlines can refuse boarding or entry without it.
Africa ↗Nine African countries on this site have no trip line because governments advise against travel; several others have no-go regions. Read your government's advice for every country on the route before paying deposits.
Southern Africa ↗A rental car may leave its home country only with the rental company's cross-border letter, the registration papers and paid road taxes at each post; driving into Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique or Angola without them ends at the border.
Southern Africa ↗Across the subregion, plan every road leg to arrive before sunset: livestock, wildlife, pedestrians and unlit trucks make night driving the main cause of serious visitor accidents.
South Africa ↗Check visa and entry rules for your passport with the Department of Home Affairs or a South African mission before booking; exemptions depend on nationality, and the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is optional for most visa-exempt visitors in 2026.
South Africa ↗Travelling with children: accompanied foreign children no longer need a birth certificate, but unaccompanied minors, South African children and some passports that omit parents' names still do; check with Home Affairs and your airline before you fly.
South Africa ↗Driving is on the left. If your licence is not in English or has no photo, get an International Driving Permit before you travel; rental companies also check it.
South Africa ↗National park gates open and close at fixed times; you must be inside your camp before the gate closes, and speed limits in parks are enforced.
Cape Town ↗After dark, use ride-hailing or a hotel car between areas; do not walk between the City Bowl, Bo-Kaap and the Waterfront.
Cape Town ↗The Table Mountain cableway stops in strong wind: keep a spare morning and check the operator's status page before you go.

Actions

Map to the centre

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Directions

From where I am

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Walking weather, next 5 days

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Forecast: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), model data for this point.

Plan

How the ground walks, and what is here

Bound and physics

The lower cableway station, car park and the start of Tafelberg Road.

Slope: steep
Stairs: Steps at the station
Shade: low
Surface: paved road and paths
Sleep here or visit: visit

On the ground

Where to rest, how to leave, where to sleep nearby

Rescue anchors

12 places to rest · checked on a 40 m (130 ft) grid

A rescue anchor is a spot where you can stop and recover if the walk goes wrong: a bench, a café, a toilet. Every letter on the map is one anchor, and each has a card below. We check that any point in the cluster is within about 7 minutes’ walk of one, so you are never far from somewhere to sit down.

Map © OpenStreetMap contributors. Lettered circles: rescue anchors (green works in any conditions, amber only on hot days). Dashed outline: the cluster. Red dots: spots more than 7 min from any anchor (none if you see no red). North is up; not for navigation.

Lower cableway station (WC, café, shade)

Toilet · Food & drink · Place to sit · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions

Small café or shop, north-west side

Place to sit · Food & drink · works in any conditions

Shaded seating, north side

Place to sit · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions

Food stall or café, north-east side

Food & drink · Place to sit · works in any conditions

Shaded seating, west side

Place to sit · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions

Café or shop, east side

Food & drink · Place to sit · works in any conditions

Small café or shop, south-west side

Place to sit · Food & drink · works in any conditions

Shaded seating, south side

Place to sit · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions

Food stall or café, south-east side

Food & drink · Place to sit · works in any conditions

Kirstenbosch Tea Room near the main gate

Toilet · Food & drink · Place to sit · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions

Two Oceans Restaurant at the Cape Point car park

Toilet · Food & drink · Place to sit · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions

Boulders Beach entrance kiosk

Toilet · Food & drink · Place to sit · works in any conditions

100% of the cluster is within 7 min of an anchor in any conditions (slowest walker, worst cell 4.2 min) · 100% on hot days

Nodes in this cluster

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway
The cable car to the top of the mountain: go at the first departure on a calm, clear morning; it stops in wind or cloud, so keep a spare day.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
A large garden on the east slope of the mountain: go in the morning for shade and birdsong, or on a summer evening for a concert on the lawn; the Boomslang canopy walkway is the one thing not to skip.
Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope
A half-day trip to the tip of the peninsula inside the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve: go early, drive the whole reserve road slowly for wildlife, and budget the funicular or the climb to the old lighthouse.
Boulders Beach penguin colony
A boardwalk beach at Simon's Town with a breeding colony of African penguins: go early or late for fewer people, and pair it with Cape Point on the same peninsula drive.

Listen: audio walk →

Edges out

directed

To	How	p50	Climb
City Bowl: Company's Garden and museums	Car north	~15 min	flat

Red lines here

Follow staff instructions on the cableway and near cliff edges.

Deep dive

Around this cluster

Straight-line distance; walk time adds 30% for streets.