Cape Town: Table Mountain and the Atlantic Seaboard

Cape Town occupies the Cape Peninsula between Table Bay (Atlantic, north) and False Bay (south). Table Mountain (1,086 m) rises directly above the city: from the upper cable car station, the Atlantic Ocean, the City Bowl, and the Cape Flats spread in three directions simultaneously. Lion's Head (669 m), the conical peak between the mountain and Signal Hill, is the classic sunrise hike; the summit faces northeast across Table Bay toward Robben Island. Signal Hill (350 m), accessible by road, faces northwest over the Atlantic seaboard for sunset over open ocean. Chapman's Peak Drive, 25 kilometres south on the Atlantic coast, runs along sea cliffs with the ocean to the west and provides a 40-minute photographic corridor at sunset. At -33.9°S, golden hour lasts about 34 minutes. December through February brings the driest conditions and the latest sunsets, with the sun setting furthest southwest over the Atlantic.