Cape Point or the Cape of Good Hope?

You do not have to choose. Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope are two headlands in the same fenced section of Table Mountain National Park, about 2.4 km apart in a straight line, behind one gate and one fee. Cape Point is the cliff with the lighthouses and the funicular; the Cape of Good Hope is the rocky point with the name board. The Cape Point tours on this site, the Cape Point trip by any name, stop at both. An hour at each comes with Beyond Africa Safaris - Gray Line South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope & Penguins Day Tour: an hour at the Cape of Good Hope and an hour at the Cape Point lighthouse, at US$50.23 per adult (checked November 2026), park fees extra.

Check dates for both points

What the “point” in Cape Point is

A point is a headland: Cape Point is the one at the end of the peninsula, with the lighthouses on its cliffs. The Cape of Good Hope is the next headland west. SANParks says the name came from Portugal’s King John II, that Dias first named it the Cape of Storms in 1488, and that Sir Francis Drake called it “The Fairest Cape in all the World” in 1580. It names its attraction page Cape of Good Hope & Cape Point and says it is the only fenced section of the park (14 November 2026).

What is at Cape Point

• Two lighthouses. SANParks says both adorn the point and one is still working; the lighthouse “is accessible by foot or one can catch the Flying Dutchman funicular to the top”.
• The funicular. Run by Cape Point (capepoint.co.za), R125 return for an adult on rates valid 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2027; see the Cape Point funicular.
• Food and shops. SANParks names the Two Oceans Restaurant and the Tigers Eye Curio Shop, run by Cape Point Partnership.
• The Buffelsfontein Visitor Centre, on the plants and animals of the season, by SANParks’s account.

What is at the Cape of Good Hope

The name board, where the tours stop for the photo, and the shore around it. SANParks says swimming is not allowed at Diaz Beach because of strong rip currents and that no lifeguards are on duty at any of the beaches at Cape Point (14 November 2026). Look out for eland, red hartebeest, bontebok and zebra in the reserve, SANParks says.

Walking from one to the other

Two listings offer the cliff-top walk between them. City Sightseeing South Africa’s day, sold on Viator and GetYourGuide, has an optional guided hike from Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope, “approx 40 minutes”, that “requires medium fitness & good walking shoes”; the bus takes everyone else. It gives Cape Point two hours and the Cape of Good Hope 30 minutes.

See the day with the cliff walk

Driving yourself and want the gate at opening time? Simon’s Town is about 25 km from Cape Point by road: search rooms in Simon’s Town , or see hotels near Cape Point and Simon’s Town.

How long each tour gives the two points

GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026. Park fees are extra on every tour in this table.

For two hours at Cape Point, take City Sightseeing South Africa’s day (US$35.05 per adult on GetYourGuide); for an hour at each point with Hout Bay and Simon’s Town on the same day, the Cape of Good Hope & Penguins Day Tour. One gate fee covers both points: R592 for an international adult (SANParks, 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2027); see the Cape of Good Hope entrance fee.