What it is
A port city wrapped around Table Mountain, with the Atlantic on one side and False Bay on the other. The mountain is reached by cableway or on foot up Platteklip Gorge in about two hours. Sea temperatures on the Atlantic beaches sit in the low teens; the False Bay side runs several degrees warmer.
Why go
Few cities put this much within a short drive: Cape Point, the Boulders penguin colony at Simon's Town, Robben Island by ferry from the V&A Waterfront, Kirstenbosch on the mountain's back slope, and some of the best food in the region. It is also the place to read the country properly. The District Six Museum and the Robben Island tour, led by former prisoners, are worth the hours they take.
When to go
November to March is dry, warm and windy. The southeaster can blow hard enough to shut the cableway for days, so go up the mountain on the first clear morning you get rather than saving it for later in the trip. June to August is the rainy season, with real cold fronts and much lower prices. The cableway also closes for maintenance for around two weeks each year, usually in late July or early August, so check the dates before you build a plan around it.
Most people stay 4-5 nights.