Even though it’s stuck on the bottom end of the “Dark Continent”, the city is large, sophisticated, modern and more European than African, with all amenities to match. Cape Town has accommodation to suit all requirements from the exclusive colonial style Mount Nelson through guest houses, bed and breakfasts to basic backpacker hostel. They all there and there are plenty of them.

When looking for somewhere to stay you want to know if it’s suitable, of good standard and how to get there.

Finding a slew of places is quite simple. While many have their own websites, which may or may not pop up in Google, there are many general accommodation sites offering a huge selection.

Finding good accommodation is then straight forward and where about in the city to stay in Cape Town is also straight forward.

In the nineteen forties and fifties Cape Town was blessed with a dynamic and far seeing city engineer, Dr.Solly Morris and the city’s comprehensive, easily navigable dual carriage way system is his legacy. It is world class and makes getting from point to point quick and painless. This means, choose somewhere with quick access to the system and the city is your oyster.

Cape Town is a uniquely beautiful city. There is almost no part which is not outstandingly scenic so you can stay anywhere and have great surroundings.

These co-ordinates are (-34.00000, 19.28995) on Google Earth. This will give you a good bird’s eye view of the road system. Even better would be to get a Street Directory (not a Street Guide). A directory is a book of maps, while a guide is a big fold out map, very difficult in a car.

These maps clearly show the routes up and down the Cape Peninsula, on either side of the mountain, the trunk roads leaving the city centre to the West Coast (N7), Paarl then Johannesburg (N1) and South Coast (N2) and their interconnecting highways.

With the Table Mountain system always in sight, it’s easy to keep your bearings.

To find your way about on arrival is simple as you can only arrive on one of the three main trunk roads whether by road or air. The airport is on the N2, about twenty minutes from the city centre.