One of the oldest and most established neighbourhoods in Cape Town, Gardens is located between Oranjezicht and Tamboerskloof and is only a short distance from the city’s centre. You’re barely in the city here, but Table Mountain, at whose base the suburb is located, looms over you like a warm recliner. The homes in this area, the ones that haven’t been divided up or rezoned as business residences, have a colonial feel to them, and some of them are real mansions. So it comes as no surprise that many of these are converted into hotels or guesthouses, whose spacious rooms have high ceilings and wooden floors and are in high demand.
The oldest garden in South Africa, Company Gardens, is located just along Government Walk and is essentially synonymous with the neighborhood of Gardens. It was one of Jan van Riebeeck’s first projects after arriving in Table Bay in 1652. The gardens, which were first used as vegetable gardens to help the European colony, are now among the most botanically interesting city parks in the nation.
Trendy Long Street, which is lively and seductively bohemian, is full of eateries, unusual streets worth exploring, and coffee shops and bistros offering the full range of gastronomic delights. Trendy Kloof Street is also conveniently located near Gardens. The popular Atlantic beaches across Kloof Nek, the Table Mountain cableway, and numerous other attractions like the V&A Waterfront, the Castle of Good Hope, and Cape Town’s numerous museums and galleries are all easily accessible from the Gardens.