Getting to Boulders Beach from Cape Town

Four ways down the peninsula, and what each one really costs you. Boulders is about 40 km from the city, which sounds close and takes longer than it reads, and the hour you arrive matters more than the route you choose. Compare what a guided day covers with the Boulders Beach and Cape Point tour listings.

Four ways down the peninsula

1. Drive yourself. The most flexible and the one with the parking problem. Best if you are staying south of the city or starting before eight.
2. Take the train to Simon's Town. The cheapest, the most scenic for the last twenty minutes, and the one that needs the most planning around the timetable.
3. Taxi or e-hail one way. Fine going out, unreliable coming back from a reserve gate on a quiet afternoon.
4. Book a guided day. One fare, no parking, and the route runs both coasts. It is also the only option that reaches Cape Point in the same day without a car.

Driving: the M3, the M4 and the two coast roads

From the city the quick way is the M3 south to Muizenberg, then the M4 along the False Bay shore through St James, Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek to Simon's Town. It is about an hour without stops and the last half hour runs beside the water. Kleintuin Road is signposted at the southern end of Simon's Town.

The other way round is the Atlantic side: Camps Bay, Hout Bay and Chapman's Peak Drive, a toll road cut into the cliff with the sea directly below. It is slower and it is the drive people come for. Doing one road out and the other back is what every guided day does, and it is the right plan for a self-drive too.

The Metrorail Southern Line to Simon’s Town

Trains run from Cape Town station down the same False Bay shore to Simon's Town, and from Muizenberg onwards the line is close enough to the water to get spray on the windows. It is the most enjoyable approach to this coast and the least predictable, so check the current timetable and travel in daylight. Fares and times change, and the rail operator's own pages are the only source worth trusting.

From the station to the gate

Simon's Town station sits at the northern end of the main street. The walk to the Foxy Beach entrance is about twenty-five minutes along the shore road, flat and pleasant, past the naval harbour. A metered taxi from the station rank covers it in five minutes, and there are usually one or two waiting when a train arrives.

By bus, and why it is the weakest option

There is no direct city bus to the reserve. Getting there by public road transport means a connection and a wait at each end, and on the return leg the last useful service goes earlier than the gate closes in summer. If you do not want to drive, the train is better and a guided day is better still.

On a guided day, and what that actually buys

A tour removes the two things that go wrong: the car park and the timing. It arrives at the boardwalk at an hour the guide has chosen, it waits while you are inside, and it adds Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, which no train reaches. A half day does the colony and turns round; a full day does both coasts.

See all Boulders Beach half day tours

When to leave the city

Aim to be through the gate within the first hour of opening, and work backwards from there. That means leaving central Cape Town by about seven in summer, and by about seven in winter too: the winter gate opens an hour later, but the traffic on the M3 is the same. A guided day does this arithmetic for you and collects you accordingly.

The return leg is the one people underestimate. From Simon's Town you are an hour from the city on a clear road, and rather more between four and six on a weekday. A full peninsula tour that comes back over Chapman's Peak lands between five and seven in the evening. If you have a table booked or a flight the same night, take a half day.

Journey times at a glance

None of these includes the conservation fee at the gate unless your tour listing says so, which is covered on hours, fees and access.

Frequently asked about the journey