Simon's Town on a Budget: What a Day Trip from Cape Town Really Costs
Simon's Town on a Budget: What a Day Trip from Cape Town Really Costs
The naval town at the end of the False Bay line is one of the peninsula's cheapest days out — if you take the train, skip the penguin boardwalk queue and eat where the locals do.
Getting there: the train wins on cost, the car wins on time
The Southern Line runs from Cape Town station through Muizenberg, Fish Hoek and Glencairn to Simon's Town, and it is by far the cheapest way down the peninsula — a MetroPlus or third-class return costs a fraction of a tank of petrol, and the stretch between Muizenberg and Fish Hoek runs right along the water. Trains are busiest on weekday mornings and quietest mid-morning and early afternoon; check the current timetable before you go, because weekend services are thinner than commuter ones. The journey takes roughly an hour and ten minutes from the city centre, longer if you catch a stopping service.
Driving via the M3 and Main Road takes about 45 minutes outside peak traffic but can stretch past an hour and a half on a weekday morning, and parking near Jubilee Square fills early in December and January. If you are travelling as a group of three or four, a hired car or rideshare splits to roughly what the train costs per person and buys you stops at Kalk Bay and Boulders on the way. Solo travellers and couples should take the train; families with small children and beach gear will be happier with a car.
What the town itself costs — and what to skip
Simon's Town's historic mile is genuinely free to walk: the oak-lined St George's Street, the navy heritage plaques, Jubilee Square and the working harbour where you can watch the fishing boats come in without paying an entrance fee. The Simon's Town Museum on Court Road asks only a small donation and is worth forty minutes for the forced-removal history alone. The one paid attraction most people come for is Boulders Beach and its African penguins — entry is priced per adult and child per day through SANParks and rises annually, so check the current tariff at the gate rather than trusting an old blog post.
Skip the crowded main Boulders boardwalk at midday in December and January; instead enter at the Seaforth end, where the beach is quieter and the same ticket covers you. Also skip the waterfront restaurants along the harbour wall, which charge city-centre prices for the view. Walk two blocks back to St George's Street for fish and chips, a bakery lunch or a coffee, where a sit-down meal for two costs noticeably less. Budget a modest per-person figure for food and drink and carry cash for the smaller cafés.
Pairing it with the rest of the peninsula
The smart cheap itinerary is to break the journey. Stop at Kalk Bay on the way down for the harbour, the bookshops and a takeaway lunch, then continue to Simon's Town for the afternoon, and finish at Muizenberg for a late swim and the coloured bathing boxes before the train back. That route uses one train ticket and costs almost nothing beyond food. If you are driving, the coastal road via Chapman's Peak Drive carries a toll, so decide whether the scenery is worth it to you or take the Ou Kaapse Weg route instead for free.
Best months for this trip are March to May and September to November: mild, quieter, and the southeasterly wind that whips False Bay in high summer has not yet arrived. Midwinter June and July can be cold and wet, though the penguins are still there and the train is empty. Allow a full day, leave the city by nine in the morning, and you will have time for the harbour, the museum and a beach stop without rushing. A short side note: the naval base itself is not open to casual visitors, so do not plan around it.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Cape Town, answered with this month’s numbers.
Yes. The Southern Line train from Cape Town station reaches Simon's Town in about seventy minutes, and everything in the historic centre — the harbour, St George's Street, the museum and Boulders — is walkable from the station. Check the timetable first, as weekend services are limited.
Entry is charged per adult and child per day by SANParks and is revised annually, so confirm the current rate at the gate. Your ticket covers the whole Boulders section, including the quieter Seaforth end. The rest of Simon's Town — streets, harbour, museum donation — costs very little.
Base yourself in Cape Town's southern suburbs — Muizenberg, Fish Hoek or the city centre near the station — rather than Simon's Town itself, which has limited rooms. Hotels in Cape Town give you more choice and easy access to the Southern Line for a morning departure.
