Arriving at CPT
The safe route from Cape Town airport
The rule locals follow: stay on the N2 and the main roads, and ignore any GPS suggestion that leaves the highway early to save a few minutes. Those shortcuts run through Nyanga, Gugulethu and other Cape Flats areas, which is where you do not want to be lost at night. Off-peak it is about 20 minutes to the city centre.
Last updated · Edward Leonard, maker of Clearpath Routes
| Going to | Route |
|---|---|
| City Bowl, Green Point, Sea Point, Camps Bay | N2 west all the way into town. Stay on the highway; do not take an exit because the GPS shows a faster side road. |
| Southern Suburbs | N2 west, then the M5 south or the M3 past the university. Both are main roads with traffic at most hours. |
| Woodstock and Observatory | N2 west, then off at the Liesbeek Parkway or Woodstock exits close to town, not earlier. |
| Muizenberg | N2 west, then the M5 south to the end and on to the coast. Longer on paper, but on main roads the whole way. |
| Bloubergstrand | N2 to the N7 or N1, then the R27 up the coast. Avoid cutting across residential areas to save minutes. |
Arriving after dark
Pick up the hire car, set the route before you leave the parking garage, and keep doors locked at traffic lights. If you break down, drive on slowly to a lit petrol station rather than stopping on the shoulder.
The full route guide
We wrote a turn-by-turn version of this on our app's site, including which exits to skip.
Cape Town airport safe route on clearpathroutes.comLeaving a car at the airport? Compare options on capetownairportparking.com. Driving tips and car hire are on drivecapetown.com, and more routes across the city on capetownsaferoutes.com. Still choosing where to stay? See the area guides or the areas to avoid.
From the makers of this guide
Get the safe route on your phone
Knowing which suburb to book is half of it. The other half is the route between the airport, your accommodation and dinner. Clearpath Routes is a Cape Town navigation app that routes you around known risk areas, based on historical and reported incident data. Live alerts are part of Premium.
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