Long-haul short breaks: Cape Town

Passport, wallet, sunglasses, significant other. All present and correct. OK, let's go. You need to get yourself to the British Airways check-in at Heathrow for your Thursday evening flight. Now, while we love Virgin, only BA (0870-850 9850; www.ba.com) has direct flights to Cape Town on Thursdays and you don't want to lose time switching planes in Johannesburg. Return fares start at around £690 economy, £2,525 club. The flight leaves London at 7.35pm and takes 11 hours and 30 minutes to reach Cape Town, so you arrive (almost fresh) at 8.50am local time - they are two hours ahead of the UK, so there is no jet lag to get over.

And, if you visit during our winter, there is something instantly reviving about suddenly being confronted by the cloudless blue skies and flip-flopped locals looking relaxed and summery. The easiest way to get around Cape Town and the surrounding countryside is by car. Book in advance from a company such as www.carrentals.co.uk. They will give you an easy-to-follow map and then it is about a 30- to 40-minute drive to your hotel, The Twelve Apostles in Camps Bay.

Day 1, Friday

Camps Bay is spectacular. Only a 15-minute drive from the city centre, it functions as its own small town. And a chic and funky one at that. There is a broad sandy beach where impossibly fit people play ball, and beyond that, a strip of busy beachside restaurants and jumping bars. Then behind them are the smart houses of some of Cape Town's wealthiest residents and then the mountains known as the Twelve Apostles, which lend their name to your chic boutique hotel in Victoria Road (00 27 21 437 9000; www.12apostleshotel.com).

The hotel is at the far end of this hamlet and has been designed to make the most of the dramatic setting where apparently "earth, sea and sky meet". Room rates start at R2,335 (£190) for a mountain-facing room on a b&b basis.

After check-in, you can have a refreshing swim in the hotel's pool. But don't get too relaxed. You have got three days to get this town licked. So head into the centre of Camps Bay and have brunch at Blues, The Promenade, Victoria Road (00 27 21 438 2040). Expect to pay around R150 (£13). Get a table on the first-floor terrace from where you can people-watch.

Then take the 10-minute drive to the cable car station at Tafelberg Road (00 27 20 424 8181; www.tablemountain.net) for Table Mountain. A return ticket costs R110 (£9). From this famed flat-topped mountain you can see how the city is laid out - how the heart of Cape Town, the City Bowl, is divided from the nearby beaches - but there is also something almost spiritual about being up here as wisps of cloud form and vanish in front of you.

Afterwards drive to Kloof Street 10 minutes' away where you can spend a couple of hours checking out the chic homes and interiors shops. For a light late lunch you could try Café Gainsbourg, 64 Kloof Street (00 27 21 422 1780). Expect to pay around R150 (£13). By now you will be feeling a little tired, so drive down to the beaches at Clifton, rent a sunlounger and have a nap. Clifton's beaches are numbered, named First to Fourth, and each has a different atmosphere.

Take it easy on your first night and have sundowners at one of the clubby bars in Camps Bay or back at the hotel. For dinner try the Codfather, 41 The Drive, Camps Bay (00 27 21 438 0782), where you pick what you want from the display of freshly caught fish. Expect to pay around R150 (£13).

Day 2, Saturday

Breakfast at the hotel and then drive to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront shopping centre. This is where you catch the ferry to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and many other members of the ANC were imprisoned during the apartheid years. The first boat goes at 9am and the trip takes half a day - ask your hotel to book this in advance for you (00 27 21 409 5100; www.robben-island.org.za). The trip costs R150 (£12). Three tips: get there half an hour before the boat leaves if you want to secure a good seat, pack a baseball cap to keep the sun off and bring big bottles of water.

Back at the V&A Waterfront you might want to do some shopping - although it is a little like going to Bluewater - and there are some OK restaurants for a quick lunch.

You will want some time on your own in the afternoon. So drive back along the Atlantic coast, through Camps Bay, and visit the lovely beachside towns of Llandudno, Hout Bay and Noordhoek. The beach at Noordhoek is vast - you will see people riding their horses along it - and empty. Great place to chill out. You can stop for an end-of-day drink as you return to your hotel. For dinner try the trendy Tank, Cape Quarter, De Waterkant Street, De Waterkant (00 27 21 419 0007) in the area known as De Waterkant. Expect to pay around R150 (£13). If you want to make a night of it, this is also where many of the best bars and clubs are found.

Day 3, Sunday

Come on, get out of bed. Yesterday you drove down the Atlantic coast. This morning you are driving along the coastline of False Bay. You can stop for brunch in Kalk Bay where there is the popular Olympia Café and deli, 134 Main Road, Kalk Bay (00 27 21 788 6396). Expect to pay around R100 (£8).

Then head for Simonstown where, in the area called Boulders, there is a cute treat in store. In 1982, two pairs of African penguins pitched up on the beach. Now there are thousands and Boulders has been turned into a nature reserve. You have to pay a few rand to get to the best viewing areas but it's really worth it as the penguins are not timid and potter around feet away from you.

Still hungry? Well don't pick up a penguin because there are several good cheap cafés by the beach. Then continue the drive along False Bay - keeping a look-out for migrating whales - until you reach Cape Point, the most southerly point in Africa. You have to walk the last bit, along a rocky narrow path - and keep your fingers crossed that, in your absence, the baboons do not have a go at your car. For dinner, go into the city centre where you can eat at the smart Five Flies, 14-16 Keerom Street, City Centre (00 27 21 424 4442), in the old Dutch Club next to the High Court. Expect to pay around R150 (£13). It is slightly classier than many places in Cape Town; ditch your sandals in favour of shoes for one night.

Day 4, Monday

If you still haven't done enough shopping, check out Green Market Square in the city centre where there are stalls selling crafts from across Africa. Or visit the botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch Kirstenbosch, Rhodes Drive, Newlands (00 27 21 799 8899; www.nbi.ac.za). From here it is a short drive to wine estates, many of which have excellent restaurants. A favourite is Constantia Uitsig, Uitsig Farm, Spaanschemat River Road, Constantia (00 27 21 794 4480; www.uitsig.co.za). Expect to pay around R260 (£22). And as you take coffee on the terrace, overlooking the gardens with their tall agapanthus trembling in the breeze and the immaculate vineyards, you understand why it was worth coming all this way for a long weekend.

For now, however, it's back to the hotel for a final dip in the pool and to reluctantly pack. As the plane takes off at 8pm the pilot will tilt the wing as he heads out over the Atlantic, and you will see Cape Town in front of you for one last time. The sea shimmers. The office awaits you.

Further information: South Africa Tourism (0870-155 0044; www.southafrica.net)

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