Since the 90’s the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront has been a tourist attraction beside the Table Mountain. The former harbour is a must to visit by every tourist to Cape Town. There is a large string of shops (about 300), hotels, restaurants, pubs and museums together around several harbour basins. Best is to visit the Waterfront in the late afternoon in summer. If you reach the Waterfront you should first do a tour to have a view of the Waterfront. A comfortable walk with some little breaks takes about 2 hours. Most of the visitors walk on the area near the open-air theater. At some days, mostly Sundays there are performed concerts. Suddenly the holiday-maker sees the Victoria Basin and promenade in front of it.
The Victoria Basin is the biggest harbor basin which is sometimes used for non-touristic activities. At two huge moorings you can often see cruise liners that dock here on their way to East Africa. Next to the fishing boats the quay dock lots of pleasure steamers who offer lots of tours to the harbour area as well as to Table Bay. Catamarans and sailing ships are recommendable. An unforgettable event is a sunset tour with a great view to the Table Mountain.
At the promenade one restaurant follows another. If you walk along the promenade you can see lots of sellers who want to sell you a boat trip or a circular flight or any other excursion. If you turn right at the theater you come pass a lot of souvenir shops. On the ways some bands play African songs or rather jazz. After about 200 metres you can see something like a lighthouse. It’s the Clock Tower.
Before runs a canal. The Alfred Basin is a small basin which is only related through a small canal with the Victoria Basin. If you want to go there by boat the small footbridge across the canal at the Clock Tower has to be pulled over. There are always masses of people who wave to the ship while its crossing the canal. A few month of the year a really beautiful and big sailing ship lies in this basin. Directly at the Clock Tower Square is the Nelson Mandela Gateway, the dock to Robben Island. On most days the tickets to this world famous place are sold out.
Behind the Victoria Basin a bit further to the inland is the V & A Waterfront Marina. There is a bridge as well, which is open for the boat traffic. In the last year a new suburb at the water was built here which is up to the European standard doesn’t have shrink the comparison to other European places of resident. Flats here cost millions of euro. In the harbour basin visitors can see a lot of yachts. On the western side is the Two Oceans Aquarium and behind is the 6* hotel “One & Only”. In the water you can see seals everywhere which are either lying in the sun on platforms or swimming in the water.
After finishing the tour you can either eat in one of the countless restaurants or rather drink a coffee or a glass of wine. If you want to go shopping you should visit Victoria Wharf. Once you are inside you have the feeling to get lost. This is how I felt and I couldn’t find some shops again. But at the second and third time it looks much better. With a bit of imagination you could picture the shopping mall as a two-storey square. At one of many entries you can achieve the walks. Best is to visit the upper floor first because there are most of the clothe shops. They have known brands like Nike, Adidas, and Woolworth everywhere but also exclusive brands like Gucci or Lacoste. After you can have a look at the first floor. There are a lot of different shops. They have clothes, cosmetics, books, music/video, telephone-operators, etc. You can also find some stands where you can buy African souvenirs. If you want you can also visit one of the two cinemas.
From the Waterfront you can comfortably walk to the Green Point Stadium with a bordering park. In the aftermath of the World Cup in soccer the connecting path was designed new because before the area was a bit dilapidated. From the Waterfront you can also walk comfortably to the city centre in almost 30 minutes. Last month the Waterfront was sold to African investors who want to expand the whole area massively. There is still enough space.
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