Cape Town is a modern African city. In some ways a mix between Africa and Europe due to immigration from various parts of the world. Thus you’ll find African influences in the restaurants, as well as European wellness trends such as veganism.
Cape Town is very popular with tourists. It’s not that expensive comparatively. Plus, it’s a logical escape destination during the winter-holidays in the Northern hemisphere. In Cape Town, you can go out and have a good time at night, while also staying fit and healthy during the day.
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Cape Town Healthy Restaurants
There are so many great healthy restaurants in the Cape, that this topic warrants an article of its own. There’s a restaurant for (almost) any taste or preference in food. For now, I give a few basic options below to try out.
- Quick Service Health Chains: These health cafes have flexitarian, vegetarian and customizable vegan options. It’s a good choice for health-centric travelers. This includes Nü Health Cafe, Osumo, Sweetbeet and Kauai, with several branches in Cape Town and the suburbs. Expect salad bowls, smoothies, wraps and vegetable juices, plus free-range chicken.
- Best Shawarma in Cape Town (made with Falafel or lamb meat) is at Shawarma Express with branches in Bloubergstrand and Milnerton. Customize your meal at the counter (which includes plenty of vegetables).
- In Sea point, you’ll find Scheckter’s Raw – plant-based vegan food, good but not cheap. Throughout Sea Point, the grocery stores stock healthier items such as plant-based milks, kombucha, kefir and other health foods. Otherwise, Sea point has plenty of good restaurants.
- De Waterkant is also great for healthier food options, such as Shamballa Lifestyle or The Vegan Butcherie. Plus, for meat eaters, there’s a good lunch buffet option at Yumcious in Cape Quarter Lifestyle village, by celebrity chef Jenny Morris.
- Plant Vegan Cafe has been around for a while, with nice local adaptations on the menu such as Cape Malay Vegan Lentil Bobotie. Other menu items include vegan nachos, sauteed mushroom burger, vegan bourguignon, plus green juices and smoothies.
- Addis in Cape Town (168 Loop Street) has great Ethiopian Food. The menu is half meat, and half vegan. The food here is eaten with the hands – it’s an interesting African Experience. This is the more expensive Ethiopian option in Cape Town. There’s another Ethiopian Restaurant, Madam Taitou (77 Long Street). This one is cheaper than Addis, with intriguing African decor. The menu seems slightly more limited though. There are more Ethiopian Restaurants in Cape Town, but these two stood out.
- Kloof Street is another trendy tourist spot with great vegan, healthier and flexitarian food options. Go for a stroll and check it out yourself.
Clean Water in Cape Town?
In South Africa, since 2003, the government is adding Sodium-Fluoride toxic chemicals to the drinking water. Research proves this is harmful to health. However, authorities selectively ignore those studies to promote a pro-fluoridation agenda.
If you have healthy teeth, and you brush regularly, the incremental health benefits to fluoridation is zero. But the health risks are severe. You need a certain amount of self-loathing to willingly drink municipal tap water.
A great alternative to tap water in Cape Town is the Newlands Spring. Especially during weekends, Capetonians bring empty 5-liter containers and fill up for the rest of the week. The water tastes as clean as mineral water. It also gets occasionally tested for quality by the authorities. Thus, this is definitely a health-centric site to visit for the local water-thirsty Capetonians.
The second option is the Vredehoek Bradwell mineral water spring, which is closer to the city center. The Vredehoek well dries up in the Summer, and its only a good place to fill up with water during certain times in the year, e.g. Mid-winter and after.
Otherwise, mineral water can be bought at supermarkets. The negative is plastic pollution. Plus, the plastic containers may release chemicals into the water.
Yoga in Cape Town
We’ve got a separate Cape Town Gym guide if you want to lift weights. Link at bottom of this article. However, for those more eager to train flexibility and balance with yoga, here are a few great options, up-to-date for 2022:
- Hot Dog Yoga: Hot Yoga Studio in Sea Point. They’ve got daily heated yoga classes. Four infrared heaters in the corners of the room ups the intensity to get a good sweat in while training your flexibility.
- Yoga Life: Yoga Studio in the central De Waterkant neighborhood, in-between the CBD and Green Point. This is Hot Yoga: the heated room makes it a great option for those wanting more intensity than regular yoga.
- The Shala Yoga School: Regular yoga studio at Dunkley Square in Gardens. They’ve got 90 minute classes for intermediate and advanced yogis, which includes e.g. yoga inversions. On most days they have classes morning, lunch, plus evening.
- Yoga Zone: Used to be at the Lifestyles on Kloof centre. But now located in Tamboerskloof at 14 Brownlow road.
- The Loft Yoga: 1st floor, LifeStyle on Kloof Center. Gardens. They have one heated, and one non-heated studio. Power Vinyasa I can recommend as a yoga class suitable to both men and women who want a more intense workout. Parking in the basement costs R10 for upto 2 hours. Showers and lockers available in the changing room.
- The Yoga Room: Located in Vredehoek. First impression is it’s specifically suitable to women who want a more relaxed experience with e.g. the slow-paced Yin Yoga. With more focus on flexibility as opposed to intense strength workouts.
- The Source Yoga: Situated in Bishopscourt. Yoga and Pilates studio. They post their daily schedule on social media, and don’t currently have a website.
- Yoga Spirit: They’ve got heated yoga classes. This includes Hot26 – 90 minutes at 39 Degrees Celsius. Plus, Vinyasa, Yin, and Fusion. Located in Constantia.
- Yo Yoga: Heated Yoga Studio in Claremont. They offer Hot Hatha Yoga, Yo26 and Yo Flow every day of the week.
Cape Town Hiking
Cape Town, and the greater Western Cape, has plenty great hiking routes. Table Mountain is the main hiking attraction of the Cape. While Lion’s Head and Devil’s Peak are located next to Table Mountain.
Lion’s Head
Lions Head has a great view of Camps Bay, Sea Point and the City Bowl. This is definitely not the easiest hiking route in the world. But also not the most difficult. Unless you are in decent shape you shouldn’t take the short route. This involves a stretch where you climb directly up with chains and handles. While the easy route is more relaxed.
Make sure you have proper shoes which aren’t worn out on the soles and thus won’t slip. This is the kind of hike where you really want to concentrate on what you are doing. Don’t rush when you’re coming back down (unless you’re a PRO). A rushed mis-step could be fatal. Take your time, also using the hands when descending from the top, and you should be OK.
It’s the least demanding of Cape Town’s 3 main peaks. Since I’m reasonably fit, it took me around 50 minutes up, and 50 minutes down back to the car parking area, during my last attempt.. While if you’re less fit, some have suggested 90 minutes up, and an hour or so, back down.
Table Mountain
Then there’s the tough hike up Table Mountain. This one can be weather dependent, depending if you want to hike back down, or take the cable car from the mountain top. Slight wind at the foot of Table Mountain translates to strong winds at the top of the mountain. Thus the cable car is closed on some days, especially during Winter if the weather isn’t great. Firstly, check the Table Mountain wind strength on e.g. Wind Guru. See if it’s less than around 35km/hour. Then, also check the Table Mountain cable car twitter account, as they tweet the weather situation on top of Table Mountain.
Visibility is another factor. With cloudy weather you won’t get great views from the top. Plus, hiking in the rain is not advisable as you don’t want to slip on this trail.
On my side, I hiked up, which took 1h45minutes with my decent fitness level. If you’re very fit it could be 1h30minutes, while those less fit can take 2 hours. It’s an ascent of around 2km. The descent took 1 hour 25 minutes. Don’t run down as slipping will lead to a hospital visit. However, if you concentrate on what you’re doing and take it easy, then it’s reasonably safe.
The recommended route is Platteklip Gorge, which is accessible from Tafelberg Road. Look up Platteklip Gorge Starting Point on Google Maps. There is another route called India Venster. However, it’s more difficult with some steep scrambling sections. Only attempt India Venster along with an experienced local hiker. For descent, Platteklip Gorge or the Cable Car is recommended. Usually never India Venster.
Devils Peak
The other hike in central Cape town is up Devils Peak. This is more tiring than the Lion’s head hike. You don’t have to pull yourself up with chains and ladders. The ascent here is less vertical than the tough Lion’s Head ascend, but it is much further and much higher up than Lion’s Head. It’s a lot of hard work for your legs – will take about 90 minutes to the top. It’s good to have a decent level of fitness. Bring a jacket along since it can get windy and cold at the peak.
More Info
Driving a little outside of central Cape Town, you can hike Newlands Forest. And as far as you drive towards Cape point, there’ll be hiking trails. Especially as a tourist, avoid hiking alone on any of these routes, since muggings of solo hikers are common. Mainstream hikes like Lion’s Head and Table Mountain appear safer during weekends and public holidays, as there are more people doing the hike at these times. Thus you’ll be less isolated, and potential muggers would be more hesitant to bother you. Still take some pepper spray along. Or hike with a buddy, which is what most people do during quieter times.
Hiking Clubs in Cape Town (2022)
- The Meridian Hiking Club ( Meetup | Website )
- The Peninsula Ramblers Hiking Club
- Come Hike Hiking Club
Conclusion
For many, Cape Town is only the start of a trip through the rest of South Africa. Maybe you want to head up to Johannesburg with the Shosholoza Meyl tourist train. Otherwise, perhaps you’re more keen on road tripping up the east coast of South Africa (like To The Nations Worldwide). Either way, I also recommend visiting Stellenbosch – a touristic town in the wine region less than 1-hour drive from Cape Town. Or for outdoor enthusiasts, try the mountain kingdom of Lesotho.
Enjoy your stay in the highest-rated African tourism destination: Cape Town / The Mother City / Kaapstad / Cape of Good Hope.
Health Travel Junkie Challenge
In Cape Town, the challenge is to see the whole city from the top: Hike up Lion’s Head, Devils peak, and/or Table Mountain.
Health Travel Junkie Scale
Fitness activities – 8.5
(e.g. Pilates, Yoga, Crossfit, and Gyms)
Food – 8.5
(Vegan options, but also a meat lovers paradise, along with the African food)
Cost of traveling – 8
(If you’ve got a strong foreign currency, e.g. Euro, Pound or Dollar, it will be relatively inexpensive. However, quality accommodation is very pricey in high-season around December to February.)
Other Wellness-related activities – 8.5
(Go hiking. Visit a local Spa. Do outdoor day-trips to see Cape Point and the penguins at Boulder Beach, or go Shark-cage diving.)
Overall rating: 84%
Have you visited and do you like Cape Town? Post your tips, questions or comments below to help other travelers have the best time in this city.
This wellness guide was initially posted in 2017. For my up to date Cape Town content check out:
Also try Scuba Diving, e.g. in Simonstown, during your next trip to the Cape!