I missed out on Cape Town in my 20s – but now I have a good excuse to visit

There’s something about a waterfront city that I adore. The show-stopping views, metropolitan buzz and aqua play offered by the likes of Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Vancouver meant they became instant favourites the moment I visited.

I searched out the best panoramas from their sky-high attractions and rooftop bars in my 20s and 30s, often sacrificing comfortable lodgings for super-sized sundowners, and then my travels paused while I had two children. Thanks to the pandemic and, well, let’s be honest, potty training too, they are still on pause.

There’s still one oceanfront stunner missing from my check list, however, and that’s Cape Town.

So when this madness is all behind us, and our children are of an age to appreciate the experience in its entirety, we’ll book a family holiday to South Africa. We have good reason to go. My partner Steve spent his teenage years there, schooling in Rustenberg and doing military service in Pretoria. He moved there with his dad, who sadly passed away before Steve and I met.

So a trip to South Africa will be a way to learn about family history, to walk in the footsteps of a dear grandfather we’ll only know through photographs and stories passed down. And once we’ve followed the family trail, perhaps even renewing an old acquaintance or two, we’ll end our tour in Cape Town. The genealogical associations run out here, but a visit to Robben Island and Nelson Mandela’s former prison of 18 years will help put recent history into perspective, sparking memories for Steve about what it was like to live through.

Cape Town will be the climax of an unforgettable trip, as we take in the sweeping coastal views from the top of Table Mountain, relax in the restaurants and play areas of the V&A Waterfront and explore the harbour by bicycle and boat. I’m hoping our budget will stretch to one of the city’s stock of luxury family-friendly hotels but it’ll be worth the splurge. Cape Town will have won a place in all our hearts. It won’t be anything like the trip I would’ve planned in my 20s, but I’ll be just as content sipping on my sundowner, creating a new chapter of family history.

Five great ways to experience Cape Town

Pippa de Bruyn shares her favourite corners of the city

1. You haven’t understood the city’s soul until you’ve ascended the mountain at its core and gazed into the blue expanse of ocean and heaven that surround it. It’s easiest to ascend by cable car from the City Bowl, but to appreciate the botany, walk up, then take the cable car down.

2. The circular route to Cape Point loops around the mountainous spine that runs the length of the peninsula. Crossing from dawn-rising False Bay to sunset-blessed Atlantic Seaboard, the weather may change dramatically. Highlights include the cliff-hugging Chapman’s Peak Drive, wind-swept Cape Point and naval Simon’s Town (where most visit the penguin colony at Boulders, also a lovely swimming beach). An unmissable day trip.

3. Some of the best swimming is in the tidal pools built by the city before the First World War. Some have picnic sites, barbecue facilities and changing rooms; all offer safety in a wonderful setting with gorgeous views. The best tidal pools are on the False Bay coast.

4. While touristy, the pedestrianised Waterfront is lovely for a stroll. It’s also the departure point for the ferry to Robben Island, where Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years, and home to the brilliant new Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, where Nicholas Hlobo’s dragon soars into the atrium cut into the original grain silo.

5. Café Paradiso is one of the city’s best family-orientated restaurants: a hacienda-style house with garden in which you dine with a view of Table Mountain. Sometimes they do pizza-making for children. It’s also perfectly suitable for an adults-only table, looking for comfort food at a very good price.