Kloof Nek, City Bowl

Stay in the Mother City for any length of time and ‘Kloof Nek’ will become a regular part of your vocabulary - it rolls off the tongues of the locals with ease, and in some way it’s rather like the yellow brick road; follow it and you get where you’re going. Kloof Nek is the easiest way out of the city, over Table Mountain, to the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, particularly during peak hour, when the route via Sea Point becomes rather congested.

And equally, it’s the quickest route from Camps Bay over the mountain, down Kloof Nek Road into Buitengracht Street and the city centre. It’s also one of the steepest drives in Cape Town. Follow it right to the top from the city bowl to the familiar circle where five roads converge, and you can continue, either to the left to the cableway; to the right to Clifton or Lion’s Head; or straight over into Camps Bay.

The Pipe Track starts up here at Kloof Nek. This hike is popular, possibly because it’s one of the easiest walks on Table Mountain and because it runs along the Camps Bay side of the mountain and doesn’t do hills for very long. Because it’s close to the city, it’s easy to get to and is perfect to do after work as the sun sets on this side of the mountain. As its name suggests, the walk runs alongside a pipe - originally a water pipe but no longer in use. And you get to see great views over Camps Bay.