Getting here

By air

As one of the world’s most visited cities, Cape Town is directly connected to major cities in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. Cape Town International Airport has been preparing for your arrival with an extensive upgrade project that will equip it to be the transport hub for the city throughout the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Voted Africa’s leading airport at the World Travel Awards for seven consecutive years, Cape Town International Airport is connected to the rest of the city via a well-oiled infrastructure comprising rail, bus, taxi, shuttle and car routes.

Cape Town International Airport is situated just 20km from the Cape Town city centre and is easily accessible from the eight areas of Cape Town.

A transport plaza is being developed, where visitors can access their preferred mode of transport from the airport. In addition, the parking, baggage handling, retail and relaxation facilities are being enhanced to ensure a stop at Cape Town International Airport, no matter how brief, is memorable for all the right reasons.

South Africa is served by more than 70 international airlines and our national carrier, South African Airways, flies to many destinations in Africa, Europe, North and South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

We are never more than a flight away if you are on a major international air route.

Flights from Europe are generally overnight. Direct flights between the USA and Cape Town take about 15 hours, and flights between London and Cape Town, about 12 hours.

Cape Town International Airport is South Africa's second-largest airport. Its service ranks among the best in the world.

In preparation for the 2010 event, Cape Town International Airport is undergoing extensive construction. The new and improved airport will include a Central Terminal Building (CTB) which will house a Central Processing Unit (CPU), from which both international and domestic check-in will take place. The building will also include an elevated roadway, a multi-storey parkade and a road network upgrade.

Contact Cape Town Tourism to find out about private air and helicopter charters.

We would love to help you plan your visit to our incredible city.

Please contact us to find out more about accommodation, tours and experiences, maps and travel information, top attractions, restaurants and more.

If you need further information or would like to speak to a friendly consultant, please call us on +27 (0)21 487 6800 or email us on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Our friendly team is waiting to help.

By car

Our road infrastructure is excellent. There are three arterial routes leading into Cape Town from the interior:

• The N1 from Johannesburg via the Karoo and the Cape Winelands
• The N2 from the Garden Route and Overberg, via Somerset West and Cape Town International Airport
• The N7 from the West Coast and Namibia

If you're planning on hiring a car and driving from one host city to another, here is a useful table of distances between the host cities.

By bus

Greyhound, Intercape Mainliner and Translux are the three major long-haul bus companies in the Cape. Their main departure and arrival points are at Cape Town train station in the city centre.

There is also a convenient bus Baz Bus aimed at backpackers. This service offers hop-on, hop-off fares between Cape Town and the Cape Garden Route as well as the rest of South Africa. Bookings can also be made by contacting Cape Town Tourism.

By rail

Rail is a fun and affordable way to travel to Cape Town. According to its website, Metrorail is “responsible for transporting up to 2-million passengers daily in the following operational areas: Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape”.

You can buy tickets at any Metrorail station ticket office or from Metrorail Ticket Officials with portable ticket machines.

See Metrorail’s timetables here.