Cape Town’s best Table Mountain hiking routes

Last updated November 27th, 2023.

This guide may contain affiliate links. At no cost to you, they allow me to provide these free and, even if I do say so myself, expert guides based on almost two years of travel in Africa. For a broader view, don’t miss my complete guide to travel in Africa.

Barbara Broccoli take note. Overlooking the sublime vistas of South Africa’s ‘mother city,’ Table Mountain is ripe for a Bond film opening sequence. Imagine 007 hanging from the rotating aerial cableway embroiled in a death-defying fistfight. Or chasing the bad guys (and girls) to its rocky summit along ancient trails. All told, there is something in the region of 1,600 of them in Table Mountain National Park. As a result, there’s plenty of potential for Cape Town’s best Table Mountain hiking routes. These are my personal favourites.

Why Table Mountain is the top Cape Town attraction

Table Mountain (Tafelberg in Afrikaans) dominates Cape Town. Its great bulk – masterful and mysterious despite so much being written about it – is visible right across the city.

To stand on its famously-flat summit is to understand why colonisers adopted Table Bay so readily. It’s also a way to breathe in the fresh air and learn a little about the region’s unique flora.

Roughly 1,000 metres above sea level (its highest point is the 1,086 m Maclear’s Beacon), here is a mountain which has been around so long it has seen it all. (The Himalayas are mere toddlers by comparison.)

As well as its summit, the area includes Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and the Groote Schuur Estate. If you can, find time to explore both. Kirstenbosch is stunning, and little-known Groote Schuur dates back centuries. The former residence of the South African president in Cape Town, it’s now a by-appointment museum.

Unsurprisingly then, Table Mountain is high on the list of must-see attractions for visitors to Cape Town.

Best ways to explore Table Mountain

If you’re feeling lazy, the best way to explore Table Mountain is to head to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Amid its mix of clothing stores, historic structures and Cape fur seals there are plenty of bar and restaurant terraces facing back towards Table Mountain.

It’s frankly all too easy to lose an afternoon absorbing the backdrop alongside the throbbing atmosphere of the waterfront. In fact, I found it difficult to drag myself away even though I had Zeitz MOCAA marked for a visit.

(At present, the scooped-out grain silo and bulbous-glassed edifice is more interesting than the art it contains. As is its history as dodgy derelict building passed on route to the Robben Island ferry. It’s therefore up to you to decide whether Zeitz MOCAA is worth visiting or not!)

From here it’s quite difficult to make out the aerial cableway, which might tempt you instead into mountain biking or rock climbing. Although offroad cyclists aren’t allowed on the main footpaths, there are a good number of dedicated jeep tracks. Plum Pudding Hill is probably the most challenging.

Rock climbers won’t be disappointed either. The main climbing area is the jigsaw of rocks beneath the upper cableway station. Traditional climbers will want to jump aboard one of the cableway’s gondolas first. Organized abseiling is another highlight.

The Table Mountain aerial cableway

Most visitors get up close and personal with Table Mountain via its aerial cableway. Not only does it get you to the top with minimal human effort, but its rotating cabins ensures you’ll get great views along the way.

It’s also the obvious way to return to the mother city should you decide to take on any of Cape Town’s best Table Mountain hiking routes.

The ticket office and lower station stand on the lower part of Tafelberg Road. While Bolt and Uber operate in Cape Town, it’s not difficult to use the city’s modern, safe bus network. MyCiti buses 106 and 107 (destination Camps Bay) reach Kloof Nek bus stop in around 20 minutes.

But from Long Street, home to many backpacker hostels, the journey takes just 10 minutes or so. It’s then only a short walk to the cableway station. You’ll need a myconnect card (like a London Oyster card) to board the buses. They can be bought from metro and train stations and shops, but not bus stops.

Worldwide City Sightseeing’s red route tour buses stop at the same place. They operate every 30 minutes from around 9 am until 5.30 pm. They’re therefore not ideal if the aim is to catch the sunset.

Nevertheless, the cableway itself runs from dawn to dusk. You’ve thus got enough time to take in the sunset from the top of Table Mountain. Its often quieter in the afternoon anyway. Then grab a bus, Uber or Bolt back into central Cape Town for dinner!

Cableway operations are regularly halted by adverse weather (namely strong winds). To guarantee you’ll get to the top, the best time to visit Table Mountain are the months outside the peak October to March season. This can clash with the best months to visit South Africa more generally.

Peak season is best avoided because the South African summer sees the Cape Doctor wind whip across the city. January and February are probably the worst affected. I’ve been in April and June without issue. The cableway website has up-to-the-minute weather on its homepage.

The best Table Mountain hiking routes

A note on safety. There have been several violent muggings of foreign visitors on quieter Table Mountain trails recently. Authorities now advise that you should only hike within Table Mountain National Park (including Signal Hill and Lion’s Head trails) as a group, sticking to popular routes and busier days to reduce the risk.

If you’re travelling solo like I usually do, many guided organized hikes are available. Alternatively, local groups such as The Hiking Network have a regular schedule of free (donations welcome) group hikes.

Platteklip Gorge hiking route

If Table Mountain aerial cableway is the most popular way of reaching the summit of Table Mountain without effort, Platteklip Gorge hiking route is the most popular walking trail.

It’s also probably the easiest physically. You’ll need nothing more than a good pair of trainers and a sweater for the top. However, whether you take the route up or down, you’ll definitely be feeling it in your legs by the end.

The two to three hour trek (one way) certainly has pedigree to back it up. It’s known to be the route for the first recorded ascent of Table Mountain in 1503. This was achieved by Portuguese sailor Antonio de Saldanha.

That said, it seems impossible to believe that neither the !Ui or Khoi San didn’t summit such an obvious target before the arrival of Europeans.

Meaning ‘flat stone gorge,’ Platteklip hiking route is paved with flat (and slippery) stones most of the way. Like the other routes I’ll mention, it’s well signposted, so you don’t need any extra guidance or help.

From the bottom of the mountain, the start of the Platteklip Gorge hike is on Tafelberg Road. It’s about a kilometre beyond the lower cableway station, and past the public toilets.

It begins by cutting through a flora of bushes and stunted trees fed by the waters of Platteklip River. Unbelievably, this little (still visible) trickle was once a main source of drinking water for Cape Town.

Its trees make a good spot to stop in the shade before the route becomes steeper and more open to the sun. Surroundings become a little more barren, with a wealth of loose rocks around the snaking well-laid path. Dull during the day, they become a burnished gold into the late afternoon.

Keep an eye out for colourful birds throughout. Then towards the top – where the gorge closes in with sheer walls – there’s a good chance of spotting some mountain goats too. Photographing them is a great excuse for another break to catch your breath.

India Venster hiking route

India Venster is one of the most challenging of Cape Town’s best Table Mountain hiking routes. The warnings at its start points aren’t for nothing.

But if you’re up for testing yourself, and there’s more than one of you, it’s worth considering. I seriously wouldn’t recommend it if you’re on your own. Trust me when I say that! These guys have been leading hikes along the route for years.

India Venster gets its name from a rock formation which forms a window (venster in Afrikaans) the rough shape of India. Its rocks – great grey boulders rather than the small smooth rocks of Platteklip – provide ample habitat for very cute hyrax and a multitude of protea flower species too.

While only 2.5 km in length, it arguably feels a lot more. That’s because India Venster involves a fair amount of clambering and scrambling around boulders.

Even with the painted yellow feet that mark the route, it doesn’t always feel particularly safe. Don’t attempt it with bare feet and a full-sized guitar like the German I encountered midway.

I almost turned back a couple of times, not seeing how I could make it over stones taller than me. This happened long before the handful of rock staples and chains – I’d like a lot more! Which is why I insist you have some previous walking experience and only do the trail in groups.

If that hasn’t put you off, the start is just in front of the lower cableway station when coming from Kloof Nek bus stop. The route initially follows the line of the cableway (not great if you don’t like being watched).

As the route joins a junction, signs try and persuade you to take another path, such as that to Platteklip Gorge. It then slowly winds around the mountain towards what initially appears sheer sides before you suddenly arrive at the top.

Skeleton Gorge hiking trail

Skeleton Gorge hiking route is both challenging and time consuming. You’ll want a whole morning or afternoon to undertake this 6.5 km route. It’s also a great alternative to India Venster in the hot summer months (of October to March).

Why? Because the Skeleton Gorge hiking route mainly uses the eastern side of Table Mountain. And Table Mountain’s eastern side is cooler and shadier, with dense forest protecting a myriad of streams.

Heading up, the Skeleton Gorge hike starts from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. This is at least 15 minutes by car from central Cape Town. But you’ll also want time to discover this magical floral kingdom for sure.

Those who aren’t fans of rickety wooden ladders best head elsewhere. You’ll face a series of these alongside scrambling over some rocks.

Most of the way is guided by the river, leading to Breakfast Rock, a huge boulder that marks the beginning of the end of the gorge hike. From here there are several alternative routes towards the mountain’s highest point of Maclear’s Beacon.

The best Table Mountain hiking routes

When I first visited Cape Town, I took the cableway to the top of Table Mountain. And it felt like I was missing out. It seemed just a little bit too easy.

So the next time I was in the city – and I never need much convincing to make a return visit – I blocked off an afternoon. I panted my way to the top, stumbling upon hyrax and beautiful flowers. It made the view from the summit even more wonderful.

I’ve been a keen advocate of identifying Cape Town’s best Table Mountain hiking routes ever since.