Our Mother City.

Journeys Collection has very strong ties with Cape Town. At least one stage or another we’ve all worked and lived there and called it home. We really do know it like the back of our hand.

Colloquially you’ll find a lot of Capetonians referring to Cape Town as the Mother City. So therefore on Mothers Day, what better day to find out why? There are a few theories knocking around as to why.

First up, and probably the most erudite explanation! In the 1930s, a Cape Town newspaper claimed that the coastal city was the only city, in the country, that could be referred to as a metropolis. Derived from the Greek word ‘metros’, meaning mother and ‘polis’ meaning city, the public enthusiastically took to it and the nickname “Mother City” was born.

Second theory is that the Cape Town is the original city of South Africa and was established in 1652 as a refueling station for ships bounds for the Eastern Spice Route The city is often referred to as the Mother of South Africa because it gave birth to civilisation.

The third explanation is especially for our South African friends. If you’ve heard a Capetonian get angry, you will understand it a little more. Many think it’s because of the local dialect which makes very liberal use of the term, “Jou ma…” – its an inside joke but they will be filling in the blanks.

Another explanation is that Cape Town is renowned for its laid-back work ethic and it takes 9 months to do anything. But it doesn’t take 9 months to plan a trip to Cape Town with us. With our exceptional local knowledge, insider track rates, we really do have the ability to make your aspirations to travel to Cape Town happen.

So here is our TOP reasons for making a trip to Cape Town:

Spectacular scenery. Where else in the world does a 1000ft Mountain just emerge from the sea to frame a city? It really is an iconic picture postcard best viewed from The Silo Hotel and The One & Only Cape Town.

Amazing food . Cape Town has some amazing chefs and world class restaurants. They all need prebooking but our favourites include Beau Constantia, La Colombe and Chefs Warehouse.

The Winelands. Whether you extend your stay in the area and include time in Franschhoek, Paarl or Stellenbosch, the fact remains that the Winelands are just over an hours drive away. A day trip and winetasting as well as some of the top restaurants in the country.

Great Beaches. Watch out - the water in chilly ( it’s the first stop from Antarctica ) but the urban beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay are the places to be seen in the summer. Sandy Bay just past Llandudno is a nudist beach and the one place in Cape Town you can really see just how cold the water is !

Fabulous hotels. Whether you are looking for a 5 star hotel in the Waterfront, or a small boutique hotel with Table Mountain in their back garden, we know just the place.

Whales. The Coastline surrounding this particular part of Africa presents perfect conditions for Southern Right Whales. Between July and November this area has some of the best land based Whale watching in the world.

Penguins. Cape Town has them too. The small like Jackass Penguins. Swim with them at Boulders Beach or let us tell you where you can find a secret colony and escape the crowds.

LGBTQ+ Cape Town is committed to continuing to make the Mother City an inclusive space for locals and visitors to enjoy. South Africa was the fifth country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage and Cape Town has a strong and proud LGBTQ+ community.

To plan your time in Cape Town, call our Travel Team on +44 1565 756 198

or contact our Travel Team on: travel@journeyscollection.com