Roggebaai, City Bowl

Roggebaai, despite sounding as though it is a little seaside village that belongs firmly on the coast somewhere, lies right on the foreshore of Cape Town. Largely a commercial part of town, Roggebaai lies just behind the Foreshore, the Cape Town International Convention Centre to the west and Woodstock to the east. Incidentally, the traffic department's postal address is Roggebaai, so you might also want to exercise caution when parking in this part of the city.

You will also find a series of canal-based holiday and residential apartment-style buildings in this part of the city, many of them ultra modern, in what is known as the Roggebaai Canal precinct. The big attractions here are the views across water and the 'vibrancy' of the harbour over which much of the properties look. Living here and working in town means that you undoubtedly cut the morning traffic nightmare out of your daily experience of the city, and save at least an hour, if not two.

Roggebaai is close enough to the V&A Waterfront for it to function as your playground, with a series of restaurants, shops, galleries and cinemas. A stay in this beautiful, modern and eclectic part of the city is a great bonus, if experiencing the heart of the city's night life and business quarter is your intent. Add to this the constant presence of Table Mountain behind you, and Roggebaai takes on new significance. Its presence as a suburb might be inconspicuous, but it offers an ideal vantage point from which to travel and view the Mother City.