The V&A
Waterfront, Cape Town
Set against one of the most breath-taking sea and mountain backdrops
imaginable, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, named after Queen
Victoria and her second son Alfred, lies in the heart of Cape Town’s
working harbour, between and . |
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Photographs of Cape Town's V&A Waterfront Courtesy of and © South
African Tourism |
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The V&A Waterfront, a
renovation of part of Cape Town’s Dockyard, is one of the mother
city’s biggest tourist attractions. It draws over 20 million visitors
a year and is a combination of shopping, entertainment and office
locations, , and residential marina. The idea is that one lives,
works, shops and plays at the V&A. Shops are open well into the night
and cinemas and attract both locals and visitors.
In the last 140 years there have been a number of changes to the
harbour, including redevelopment of land and buildings surrounding the
original Alfred and Victoria basins – built between 1860 and 1920. The
V&A Waterfront project took over 30 years of planning to redevelop the
historic docklands, making a feature of some of the former
architectural landmarks of historical value and ensuring that they
retain their character.
One such example is the Clock Tower – a Victorian Gothic-style clock
that was an icon of the old docks. The clock was restored in late 1997
and is now a national monument at the site of the original Bertie’s
Landing Restaurant. Unusually, a colony of Cape fur seals is a
familiar sight at the landing near here on the old tyres that line the
quayside and a delight to visitors.
The Dragon Tree is over 100 years old, and one of the largest of its
type in Cape Town. Badly damaged by storms in 2001, the tree stands,
nonetheless, next to the Time Ball Tower, another example of Victorian
architecture, near the Dock House.
The V&A Waterfront offers trips to Robben Island at the end of Quay 5
on jetty 1 and you can also go on a number of pleasure cruises, yacht
charters and trips. From the Waterfront you are close enough to the
city centre to reach several attractions by foot or catch one of the
many bus tours from here. The Two Oceans Aquarium, with over 3000
living sea animals, including sharks and penguins is also at the
Waterfront and worth a visit just for the enchanted kelp forest
exhibit. |
