Western Cape Tourist AttractionsThibault Square
Where? Corner of Riebeeck and Long Street, City Bowl, Cape Town
Overnight? Stay in Cape Town Central, in Western Cape
Thibault Square is a large brick plaza surrounded by some of the city's highest buildings. It lies at the Foreshore end of St George's Mall, in the City Bowl, and is the city's answer to a typical European city square.
Lying between Hans Strijdom Avenue and Riebeek, Long and Adderley streets, it is also a very busy square, particularly over lunch. Which is why it is a favourite space for those who work in the vicinity to make use of the numerous coffee shops and cafés on the square (there's a vida e caffe here for addicts).
Thibault Square's size means that it lends itself to open air public performances like Spier's annual Infecting the City. But it is also a beautiful space, right in the heart of the city's Central Business District, and seldom empty – friends meet friends here for lunch, and an endless flow of pedestrian traffic means it's a good space in which to people-watch.
On the square's western edge is a conspicuous bronze and steel sculpture by John Skotnes entitled Mythological Landscape that celebrates diversity, and is one of several modern public art works commissioned for public spaces around Cape Town.
Looming over Thibault Square is the city's second highest skyscraper, the LG Building (it used to be the BP Centre).
The MyCiTi bus stops at the Thibault Square station. Once off the bus, head across the square and into St George's Mall - a pedestrianised street that runs through the city's CBD, parallel to Long and Adderley streets. There are at least 100 informal traders along St George's Mall.
St George's Mall takes you all the way to St George's Cathedral, the Iziko Museums, Company's Gardens, Church Square and Greenmarket Square. Include in your walk the Centre for the Book and the Jumu'a Mosque at the top end of The Company's Garden.
