Table Mountain – Visiting An African World Wonder With Kids

No matter where you are in Cape Town, the imposing figure of Table Mountain is easy to pick out. It is a huge, flat-topped mountain that forms the backdrop for Cape Town. But quite apart from simply being huge, Table Mountain has a lot of unique features going for it that make it a must for any family visiting Cape Town.

Table Mountain is the most prominent feature in the Table Mountain National Park, which stretches across the southern portion of the cape peninsula. It is a wild area filled with rich biodiversity that can most easily be seen in the incredible array of plant species.

In fact, Table Mountain National Park makes up a large portion of the Cape Floral Kingdom, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! It is said that the Cape Floral Kingdom is home to more than 8,200 different species of plants, and Table Mountain itself is home to more than 1470 of those despite only being 57-square kilometers in area.

This incredible diversity, as well as the iconic shape of Table Mountain itself, has also led to Table Mountain being named one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World by New7.

Other major destinations within Table Mountain National Park include the Boulders Beach Penguin Colony, the Cape Point, and Kirstenbosch Gardens, all of which are worth visiting on their own!

Visiting Table Mountain with kids

There are two main ways to get to the top of Table Mountain: hiking up or taking the cable car up. It can be a difficult hike to get to the top, especially if you have younger children. I highly recommend taking the cable car with kids.

The Table Mountain Cable Car

There are two Cable Cars that run on a suspended cable running from the cable car station at the bottom of the mountain to the one at the top. The ride in the cable car itself is fairly short, but depending on when you get there, the line to get on can be rather long.

To get around that it’s a good idea to arrive early and beat the crowds. Alternatively, you could also buy a Fast Track ticket that allows you to skip the line for R600/person (around $36).

You can purchase tickets for the Table Mountain Cable Car ahead of time on their website or in person when you arrive. We went during the off-season and got our tickets on arrival, but if you plan on visiting during peak tourist season you should definitely get yours before you arrive.

Hiking Table Mountain with Kids

If you are interested in skipping the cable car entirely and making a day of it, there are several different hiking paths you can take to get to the top of the mountain. None of them are particularly quick or easy, though, so be prepared for a challenging walk to the top!

Platteklip Gorge Hike

This is the most popular of the hikes up Table Mountain, with most hikers taking about 2.5-3 hrs to ascend. The trail is steep in some areas, and a large section of the trail is made up of stone stairs, but it stays safely back from sheer drops. If you want to hike with kids, this one is a decent choice.

It starts off close to the lower cable car station and ends a short distance from the upper cable car station, so you can grab the cable car back down if desired.

India Venster Hike

This one also starts at the lower cable car station but veers off after the contour path. Yellow footprints mark the route to the top, but they will take you along steep edges and scrambling over rocks. You’ll need to be pretty fit to finish the 1.8-mile trail, and if you’re nervous around heights, you’ll likely want to take a different route.

The Table Mountain Route via Kirstenbosch Gardens

This is a longer, more challenging route up the back side of the mountain, and it will take you 4+ hours of hiking. There’s a lot of information that you need to do this one, so I recommend checking out a blog specifically on the topic, but what you need to know is that it is a longer route that is only possible to hike in one direction. You’ll have to take the cable car back down at the end. You’ll also need to pay an entrance fee to get into the botanical gardens where the hike begins.

The advantage of going this way is that there’s tons of beautiful plant life on the route, and much of the first part of the hike is shaded, which is great during the hotter months.

Unless your kids are older (teens) and really fit, I definitely suggest taking the cable car if you want to get to the top!

At the top of Table Mountain

Once you make it to the top, there are tons of amazing lookout points where you can check out Cape Town from above, as well as several short walking trails that can take you all around the mountain top, a cafe, and a gift shop.

We spent roughly an hour on top, but you could very easily spend longer, especially if you check out the different walks. These walks are all kid-friendly, as the top of the mountain is basically as flat as a table. They all offer great views, as well, so the major distinguishing factor between them is how long they take!

Maclear’s Beacon Walk

Maclear’s Beacon is the highest elevation point on Table Mountain. From this point, you can get an amazing view of Cape Town and the waters on either side of the Cape! It’s a fairly easy walk, but expect it to take 2+ hours round trip or 1+ hour each direction.

The Dassie, Agama, and Klipspringer Walks

These are three different short walks around the top of Table Mountain, each named after a different local animal.

The Dassie walk is a short, 15-minute walk around the top. It gets its name from rock dassies, or rock hyraxes, which are the most commonly seen mammal on Table Mountain.

Fun fact: Despite looking like a ground squirrel or a hare, hyraxes are actually most closely related to elephants!

The Agama walk takes around 30 minutes and is named after the colorful Agama lizard. Like the Dassie walk, it has some beautiful lookout points along its path, so be sure to stop and enjoy the views.

The last of the three is the Klipspringer Walk, which takes a slightly longer 45 minutes to complete.

Kid-friendly Table Mountain Tours

While it’s easy enough to see Table Mountain on your own, you may want to consider hiring a guide or joining a tour to get the most enjoyment out of your trip. Deciding whether to get a guide or not has a lot to do with what you want to get out of the trip, but if you are looking for a good tour, these are some of the more highly-rated options.

Getting to Table Mountain Cable Car Station

The roads up to the cable car station are well-maintained, but finding parking can be a bit of a pain. Luckily, there are some options.

If you have a rental car in South Africa and plan on driving yourself, there is free parking available to all Table Mountain Guests at the bottom of Tafelberg Road. A shuttle there will pick up anyone wanting to go up the mountain for free, whether they are planning to use the cable car service or hike up one of the mountain’s paths.

Shuttles leave every 20 minutes, making this an easy and free way to get to the top.

If you don’t want to get a rental or are reluctant to leave yours in the lot, I highly suggest using Uber. My family spent 3 weeks in Cape Town and relied almost exclusively on Uber without issue. While there are some places where you may have to wait ten minutes for a car, we never had a problem finding a driver to take us anywhere, and always had cell service available.