10 things to experience in and around Cape Town

When your staying in a self catering luxury house in Cape Town you have freedom to experience whats around. Cape Town certainly offers a lot to its visitors: excellent restaurants and wine; thrilling mountains; enormous sea vistas; history at every turn and wildlife in abundance.

Here are some recommendations for what not to miss in Cape Town:

1. When you step off the plane, a little tired, drive to The Beach House and then head into Hout Bay to eat calamari with the locals on the terrace at The Chapman Peak Hotel. Then have a snooze!

2. Have a leisurely lunch outside at the restaurant Constantia Uitsig and wonder how you can get enough money together to buy a Cape wine estate.

3. Share a bottle of wine on Llandudno beach while watching the sun go down.

4. Walk up Table Mountain, abseil down and then take the cable car to the bottom. Follow a morning of exertion with a celebratory seafood lunch at Baia in the Waterfront.

5. During the season, attend one of the evening concerts at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens with a picnic and wine.

6. Take the spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive and continue down to the Cape of Good Hope National park.

7. Ever seen a whale? Watch one from The Beach House garden and if they aren’t there drive to Hermanus and De Kelders.

8. Take a helicopter trip of a life-time. The all time best is a flight around the Cape of Good Hope and out to a wine estate like Vergelegen for lunch. It's not cheap but is unforgettable.

9. Take a trip out to Robben Island and a tour around the prison. If you ever wondered why Nelson Mandela is regarded as a hero all over the world this trip will tell you.

10. If the history of Cape Town is your thing, take a half day organised trip which will take you round The District 6 Museum and into the townships. Townships are communities not war zones.