Despite its huge historical importance and cosmopolitan cultural diversity, Cape Town wears its international city tag like a schoolboy in a blazer bought with 'growing room'. The aptly named City Bowl, between Table Bay and the imposing, 1,000-metre-high slab of Table Mountain, is compact, but the Mother City somehow manages to squeeze entire cultures and communities into a small surface area.

The Bo-Kaap ('Upper Cape') - or the Malay Quarter - is a case in point. Populated by descendants of the city's 17th- and 18th-century Muslim slaves, this cobblestoned neighbourhood has a quaint vibe and small-town charm - despite being smack-bang in the City Centre. Pop into the Bo-Kaap Museum (71 Wale Street, +27214813939, www.museums.org.za/bokaap) for a glimpse into this uniquely Capetonian community.

This diversity spreads throughout the city. Standing in the green forests on the slopes of Table Mountain, it's hard to believe you're only a few miles from the heart of the city. And as you stroll down St George's Mall, dodging a briefcase-wielding businessman while surrounded by the sounds of marimba drums, gum-boot dancers and the occasional manic street preacher, you won't know whether Cape Town is a place at work or at play.

The city boasts the unfairly abundant natural beauty of a provincial town, combined with the smooth sophistication of a First World metropolis. The award-winning Camps Bay and Clifton beaches, the gorgeous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (Rhodes Drive, +27217998800, www.nbi.ac.za) and the famous Winelands are all situated within an hour of the City Centre - the heart of the City Bowl - and the busy dockyards, where local fishermen bring home their catch of the day, occasionally hamming it up to the gawking tourists at the V&A Waterfront (Dock Road, Foreshore, +2721408 7600, www.waterfront.co.za).

Cape Town is a world crammed into City Bowl. It's an African city (step inside the Pan-African Market (76 Long Street, +27214242957), it's a European city (the caf� terraces on St George's Mall wouldn't be out of place in Brussels or Barcelona) and it's a South African city (laugh with the locals aboard a minibus taxi).

Table Mountain

You can't help but notice South Africa's most recognisable landmark, and you can't really call yourself a traveller until you've been to the top. While a broad network of hiking trails leads to the summit, the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway (lower cable station, Tafelberg Road, www.tablemountain.net) operates most days - except when the 'Tablecloth' of cloud smothers the mountain - and is well worth the trip.

Museum Mile

As you explore the City Bowl you'll find that one landmark is located only a few doors down from another. This is especially true on Long Street and Museum Mile, the city's most rewarding stroll.

Starting at the mountain end of the lush Company Gardens (Upper Adderley Street), you'll pass the following in the space of about a kilometre: the South African Museum (25 Queen Victoria Street, +27214813800, www.museums.org.za/sam) with its fascinating dioramas; the neighbouring Planetarium (25 Queen Victoria Street, +27214813900, www.museums.org.za/planetarium) with its imposing dome; the South African National Gallery (Government Avenue, Company Gardens, +2721 4674660, www.museums.org.za/sang) with its bold and eclectic collection of works; the Houses of Parliament (Parliament Street, +27214033683, www.parliament.gov.za), which offer day tours and glimpses of the nation's leaders; St George's Cathedral (1 Wale Street, www.stgeorgescathedral.com) with its fascinating architecture and peaceful atmosphere; and the Cultural History Museum and Slave Lodge (corner of Wale and Adderley Streets, +27214608240, www.museums.org.za/slavelodge) with its own collection of historical artefacts.

The Waterfront and Robben Island

A single trip to the V&A Waterfront - with its shopping mall, restaurants, hotels marina and fascinating Two Oceans Aquarium (Dock Road, V&A Waterfront, +27214813823, www.aquarium.co.za) - is enough to explain how Cape Town earned its reputation as 'The Tavern of the Seas'.

The Waterfront is the departure point for one of Cape Town's must-do activities: a pilgrimage via ferry to the former maximum-security prison on Robben Island and the former jail cell of anti-apartheid icon and former president Nelson Mandela (+27214095100, www.robben-island.org.za). Ferries depart throughout the day from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront's Clock Tower.