The city has several notable cultural attractions.
The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the docks of the Port of Cape Town, is now one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with several hundred shops and the Two Oceans Aquarium. Part of the V&A's charm, as it is locally known, is that the Port continues to operate and visitors can watch ships enter and leave.
The V&A also hosts the Nelson Mandela Gateway, through which ferries depart for Robben Island.
It is possible to take a ferry from the V&A to Hout Bay, Simon's Town and the Cape Fur Seal colonies on Seal and Duiker Islands. Several companies offer tours of the Cape Flats, a mostly Coloured township, and Khayelitsha, a mostly black township. It is also possible to sleep overnight in Cape Town's townships. There are several B&B's where you can spend a safe and real African night.
Cape Town is also noted for its architectural heritage, with the highest density of Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. Cape Dutch style, which combines the architectural traditions of France, the Netherlands, and Germany, is most visible in Constantia, the old government buildings in the Central Business District, and along Long Street.
The annual Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, also known by its Afrikaans name of Kaapse Klopse, is a large minstrel festival held annually on January 2 or "Tweede Nuwe Jaar" - Second New Year. Competing teams of minstrels parade in brightly coloured costumes, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments.
The Artscape Theatre Centre is the main performing arts venue in Cape Town.
Cape Town's transport system links it to the rest of South Africa; it serves as the gateway to other destinations within the province. The Cape Winelands and in particular the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek are popular day trips from the city for sightseeing and wine tasting.
Whale watching is popular: Southern Right Whales can be found off the coast during the breeding season (July to November) and Bryde's Whales can be seen any time of the year. The nearby town of Hermanus is known for its Whale Festival, but whales can also be seen in False Bay.
Heaviside's dolphins are endemic to the area and can be seen from the coast north of Cape Town; dusky dolphins live along the same coast and can occasionally be seen from the ferry to Robben Island.
1.5 million tourists visited in Cape Town during 2004, bringing in a total of R10 billion in revenue.
The most popular areas for visitors to stay include Camps Bay, Sea Point, V & A Waterfront, Hout Bay, Rondebosch, Hermanus, Constantia, City Bowl, Somerset West and Newlands.
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