V&A Waterfront Guide: Silo District, Harbour and Markets

Named after Queen Victoria and her son Prince Alfred, who tipped the first load of stone for the breakwater in 1860, the V&A Waterfront is South Africa's most visited attraction. At first glance part of it looks like an upmarket shopping mall by the sea, and if you spend your afternoon inside the Victoria Wharf shops you will miss what makes the precinct special: it is still a busy, working Atlantic harbour where Cape fur seals haul out on tyres beside dry docks and tugboats.

Where to focus your time

• The Silo District: the architectural highlight of the waterfront, anchored by Zeitz MOCAA inside the historic 1924 grain elevator. The square outside is calm, pedestrianised and surrounded by smaller galleries, cafés and bookshops.
• The Clock Tower and Nelson Mandela Gateway: cross the pedestrian swing bridge across the cut to the red Victorian clock tower. This is where ferries leave for Robben Island, and where four Nobel Peace Prize laureates (Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela) are honoured in bronze on Nobel Square.
• The Watershed: a large, airy warehouse on Dock Road holding more than 150 stalls by South African designers, ceramicists, weavers and jewellers. Unlike roadside souvenir stalls, everything here is locally designed and price-tagged, so you can browse without haggling.
• Oranjezicht City Farm Market and Time Out Market: on Saturday and Sunday mornings (plus Wednesday evenings in summer), the Oranjezicht market sets up beside the water at Granger Bay with organic produce, pastries and communal breakfast tables. Next to the dry dock, the Time Out Market gathers stalls run by several of the Cape's top chefs under one roof.

Getting out on the water

Late afternoon sunset cruises on catamarans, wooden schooners or harbour launches leave from the quays in front of the restaurants. They are relaxed, relatively inexpensive and look straight back across the water toward Table Mountain, Lion's Head and the Green Point stadium as the city lights come on.

The Waterfront is also one of the safest places in the city to walk after dark, with 24-hour foot patrols, plenty of restaurants and easy Uber pick-up points.