No doubt you have been to many shopping centres and marveled at the fake Victorian, phoney Aztec or mock Martian themed corridors of stores, the roll-in roll-out parking ramps, fast-food arenas, entertainment wings and lifestyle piazzas. Undeniably, Cape Town’s Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (a.k.a V&A, The Waterfront, Cape Town Waterfront) is guilty of some of the above sins, being a collection of shops and restaurants stuck on the edge of a harbour, but it manages to do it with some grace.

Statistics, from whatever authority would have you believe them, say that the Cape Town Waterfront is the most visited site, natural or otherwise in Cape Town and the Western Cape. Most of these visitors will arrive by private car, taxi or bus.

There is excellent pedestrian access from the bottom end of Cape Town, known as the Foreshore, as well as from the Green Point, Mouille Point/Granger Bay areas. Parking is well organized on the outer fringes of the development, mostly under-cover and mostly pay parking at premium rates.

Once the car is parked or the cruise liner tied to its dock then pedestrians rule: follow the paved and demarcated walkways or deviate from these for more meandering routes around the piers and harbour edge. It’s hard to get lost and safety and security are well managed so there are no bad areas to be avoided: roam free.

Where better to stay than right at the Waterfront?

The Waterfront Marina started off as a couple of blocks of luxury apartments in the yacht basin just behind the Alfred Basin and has expanded yearly to occupy every last bit of available space in the area. The whole development is now nearing completion and this will result in 550 apartment units and 200 yacht moorings. This part of the Waterfront is also the location of the mega-lavish One and Only hotel that should be completed early in 2009.