It’s Holiday Time.

Cape Town, South Africa · attraction-guide

Chapman’s Peak Drive — Cape Town visitor guide

Plan your visit to Chapman’s Peak Drive in Cape Town: what to see, practical tips, how to get there and nearby highlights.

Chapman’s Peak Drive

Carved into the near-vertical granite cliffs of the Cape Peninsula, Chapman’s Peak Drive is more than a road—it is a nine-kilometre ribbon of asphalt that serves as one of the world’s most exhilarating coastal testaments to civil engineering.

What to expect

The route winds between Hout Bay in the north and Noordhoek in the south, hugging the sheer drop where the Constantiaberg mountains meet the Atlantic Ocean. You will navigate 114 curves, each offering a dizzying vertical perspective of rock faces above and churning sapphire swells below. The driving experience is punctuated by "chappies"—the local moniker—where the road hangs precariously over the surf. There are several paved scenic lookouts specifically positioned at the most dramatic vantage points; plan to pull over here to absorb the scale of the coastline. Expect strong crosswinds, frequent sightings of raptors circling the thermals, and, if you are lucky, southern right whales breaching in the Hout Bay harbor area during winter.

History & significance

Construction on "Chappies" began in 1915, involving the arduous task of blasting shelves into the mountainside using manual labor. It was officially opened in 1922, revolutionizing travel between the fishing village of Hout Bay and the rural valley of Noordhoek. Over the decades, the road became notorious for falling rock, leading to a major engineering overhaul in the early 2000s. Today, it stands as a triumph of modern safety integration, featuring state-of-the-art catch fences and half-tunnels designed to protect motorists from gravity-defying debris while maintaining the raw, elemental beauty of the Cape.

Practical tips

Chapman’s Peak Drive is a tolled road. Payment is cashless, processed via an automated vehicle recognition system or major credit cards at the booths; keep your payment method ready to avoid delays. The route is subject to "closure for safety" during extreme wind or heavy rainfall, so check the official Chapman’s Peak Drive website or Twitter feed before your journey. The best time to drive is early morning, roughly 30 minutes after sunrise, when the light hits the cliffs with a soft, golden glow and the tourist traffic is non-existent. Avoid sunset on weekends during summer, as the toll queues can become long.

Getting there

The drive is best experienced in a private vehicle or rented car, providing the flexibility to stop at the lay-bys. If you are starting from Cape Town’s City Bowl, take the M6 through Camps Bay and Hout Bay to reach the northern toll gate. If you are coming from the southern suburbs, navigate toward Noordhoek via Ou Kaapse Weg to access the southern entry point. There is no reliable public transport (MyCiTi bus or trains) that traverses the pass itself.

Nearby