Wynberg

Only 10 kilometres from the centre of Cape Town, Wynberg is high on visitors’ lists mainly because of the Old Wynberg Village, declared an urban conservation area and home to one of the biggest collections of historic properties in a declared conservation area in and around Cape Town, if not the country.

A lot of these historic cottages are now commercially owned and house galleries, picture framers and antique shops, but drive around the village of Wynberg, and the little streets delight with quaint cottages, tangled trees and bushes that create wonderful little havens away from the bustle of the city.

A number of walks with self-help guides and maps are available from the Muizenberg Cape Town Tourism offices that take one through the older parts of Wynberg, the old buildings, churches and parks.

Other parts of Wynberg are given over to larger homes and more conventional tree-lined streets but even these are older homes that are much sought after by Capetonians and foreigners alike. Heading towards Main Road things become a little dodgy but shops include a second-hand CD shop – great for students – and material and furniture shops where you can always pick up a deal.

Wynberg is close to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Rhodes Memorial and the Maynardville Park and Open Air theatre, where from December to February you can take in the annual Shakespeare production – picnic baskets and blankets a pre-requisite.

And one has very easy access from Wynberg to the city centre and to the beaches of False Bay.