Table Mountain, the focal feature of Cape Town's backdrop, has earned its place among the New Seven Wonders of Nature, further adding to its already immense stature. Since being inscribed on the N7W list, more people than ever are keen to scale to the top of the Table and take in the urban vista from South Africa's greatest vantage point. When the weather is favourable, Table Mountain is a fantastic experience on foot, especially if you're up for a hardier hike – choose from a number of circuits including the popular Platteklip Gorge, Skeleton Gorge or Kasteelspoort, ranging up to eight hours in length.
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway
Alternatively, if you want the view without the legwork you can always take the cableway, which has brought visitors to the plateau for over 80 years. From the comfort of your cable-car you can enjoy a 360 degree panorama of Cape Town some 700 metres below. The cableway travels from the lower station to the upper station over a leisurely five-minute ride and operates from 08:30 to 18:00 every day, so there are plenty of opportunities to squeeze a Table Mountain experience into your schedule.
Table Mountain National Park
Originally called Hoerikwaggo or the "Mountain in the Sea", Table Mountain takes residence in South Africa's Table Mountain National Park, tracing the Cape Peninsula and taking a strand of mountains into its boundaries. Reaching to the coast's edge where the peninsula falls into a vivid blue ocean at the crux of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, the National Park is Cape Town's most renowned natural highlight with open access for hiking, picnicking and soaking in the sun and salt air. The park is also home to a flourishing "floral kingdom" that is part of the Cape Floristic Region, home to hundreds of species of native plant life, making it a verified biodiversity hotspot.
