Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is the rocky headland at the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula, about 50 km south of Cape Town, inside the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park. Bartolomeu Dias rounded it in 1488. It is not Africa’s southernmost point, which is Cape Agulhas about 150 km to the east, but it is where the coast begins to run more east than south.

What to expect

Most visits combine two spots. The Cape of Good Hope itself is the rocky Atlantic headland. Nearby Cape Point has the visitor area, with the Flying Dutchman Funicular running up to a viewing point just below the old lighthouse. That lighthouse dates from 1860, but it stood so high that fog often hid it, and after the Portuguese liner Lusitania was wrecked on Bellows Rock in 1911 a new lighthouse was built lower down in 1919.

The reserve is fynbos country, with over 1,100 indigenous plant species and at least 250 bird species. Shipwreck trails lead to Olifantsbos Point, Buffels Bay and the Phyllisia wreck, the last about 1.5 hours each way.

Practical details

• Park gates open 6am to 6pm from October to March and 7am to 5pm from April to September.
• The funicular and gift shop run 9am to 5:30pm from October to March and 9am to 5pm from April to September. The Two Oceans Restaurant opens at 11am and closes at the same times.
• Entry is paid at the park gate, and the funicular is ticketed separately.

Good to know

Give it most of a day. You can drive from Cape Town along either the Atlantic or the False Bay side, and going out one way and back the other makes a good loop, with Simon’s Town and the Boulders penguins on the False Bay route.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Sources: Cape Point, Wikipedia, Wikipedia.