Ciclying and appreciating art at the main touristy regions of Cape Town
A good way of visiting a city is cycling around – you get to experience much more than if you were in a car or a bus, and you see much more than if you were walking.
When visiting Cape Town you can rent a bike and do it by yourself, but it´s much easier if you can it with someone else showing you the best spots.
If you do the Arts & Bikes tour, you´ll visit the main tourist atractions of the city, such as the WaterFront, the World Cup Stadium, the Company’s Gardens, Bo Kaap (the area with the colorful houses), and you´ll see art in all of the places visited.
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HOW IS THE TOURThe tour is inside Cape Town. It takes half a day, from 9 AM to 12, but it´s on an easy going pace – you cycle a bit, then stop to observe the art pieces and to learn about the city history and culture of the city. You do it using a city bike (no gears), and the meeting point is at & Bikes Cafe, at downtown.
You start cycling at the city centre, observing different style of sculptures (some of modern art, others, tradicional style). The next stop is at the building that used to be the city hall, where Mandela gave his famous speech from the balcony (“I have a dream”). You also visit the city castle from outside, and cycle around it.
The next stop is at District 6, an ex-slaves neighbourhood, where you can see the only grafitti of the tour – the famous Mandela painting on the wall (grafittis are prohibited in Cape Town, you can find it just in some alternative areas, such as Woodstock).
Are you going to Cape Town? Here you can check all the accommodation options, from hostels to hotels and resorts. And if you book it through this link, you help to mantain this blog online, and you don´t have to pay anything for that.
The tour goes on passing by monuments built to honour the slaves (they remind the Holocausto Memorial, in Berlin, in a much smaller scale) and visiting the Company’s Gardens, the place where the city started.
You also go to a Berlin Wall piece and visit the Green Square, where it happens a daily art crafts and souvenirs market.
After that, this is the only hard part of the ride – you go uphill until you get to Bo Kaap (remember that you have no gears, as it´s a city bike). It´s worth the effort – the area is known for its colourful houses, that remind the Boca neighbourhood in Buenos Aires. It´s another neighbourhood chosen by the ex slaves to stabilish themselves after the slavery was abolished.
You keep cycling until you get to Green Point, where you see the famous World Cup Stadium, that looks like a huge birds nest – nowadays it´s barely used, unfortunately.
From there you go to the last stop of the tour: the Waterfront, one of the most visited areas of Cape Town. There you can observe different sculptures, such as the Piece Sculpture (there are more like this one in other parts of the World) and also sculptures of the most recent South Africans who won the Nobel Prize (Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Frederik Willem de Klerk).
You go back to the place where you startd the tour, and that´s it! You get to see the main neighbourhoods of the city, learn about their culture and history, and enjoy pieces of art on the way. A different way of visiting Cape Town!
BLOGGERS TIP: You can compare the prices of different travel insurances acessing this link, it´s very practical to choose a good one. Also, you can have a 15% discount on your insurance using this link.
WHO DOES THE TOUR
I did the tour with & Bikes, it was very good. It costs 450 rands (Aug/16), and includes the cycling equipement, the guide and a water bottle.
To find out more info about the tour, or to book it, you can check & Bikes site here.
Bloggers tip: they also offer a cool Bikes n Wines tour, it´s worth checking it out – you can read more about it here.
How about you? Have you already been to Cape Town and have some cool tips about the city? Share your ideas leaving a comment here!
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Planning your trip:
– Accommodation: you can book your accommodation here – hotels/hostels comparing and free booking cancel
– Travel Insurance: you have a 15% discount in your travel insurance if you book it using this link, or here you can compare different prices of travel insurances
– Car Rental: compare different prices of car rentals here
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The blogger did the tour by invitation of & Bikes. I’d like to thank again for the opportunity, and also make it clear that all the opinions present here are independent and personal.
