Guides ·Essentials

The rand and what things actually cost

South Africa uses the rand, written R, divided into 100 cents. Notes come in R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200; coins run from 10c to R5. The currency moves a lot against major currencies, which is why Cape Town swings between feeling cheap and feeling ordinary depending on the year you visit. Prices in restaurants and shops always include 15 percent VAT, so the number on the menu is the number you pay before any tip. Nobody haggles in shops or restaurants; the only places you negotiate are craft markets and flea markets.

A useful set of benchmarks: a flat white in a Bree Street or Woodstock café is R35 to R45, a 500ml craft beer R45 to R65, a glass of decent Cape wine R55 to R90, and a bottle of the same wine at the estate R120 to R250. A sit-down main at a mid-range restaurant runs R140 to R220; a good steak at a serious grill R280 to R400. Bottled water is R18, a loaf of bread R20, and a full supermarket shop for two people for three days is around R700 at Checkers or Woolworths.

Cash, cards and ATMs

Cape Town is close to fully cashless in the tourist economy. Cards work at restaurants, cafés, supermarkets, petrol stations, most market stalls with portable card machines, Uber, and even many informal traders. Contactless is widespread and card machines are brought to your table rather than taken away, which is a sensible security norm. Still, carry R300 to R500 in small notes for car guards, petrol attendants, tips, minibus taxis, parking marshals and the occasional cash-only institution like Kalky's in Kalk Bay.

Withdraw at ATMs inside bank branches, shopping centres or the Waterfront rather than on the street, and never accept help from anyone hovering nearby — the classic scam involves a stranger offering assistance and swapping your card. Foreign withdrawal fees typically run R60 to R80 per transaction plus your home bank's charge, so take out R2,000 at a time rather than R500 four times. Always decline dynamic currency conversion and choose to be charged in rand. Bureaux de change at the airport and Waterfront give worse rates than an ATM in almost every case.

Tipping: the actual numbers

Restaurant tipping is not optional in practice: 10 percent is the floor and 15 percent signals you were happy. Waiting staff earn low base wages and depend on tips. Check the bill first — some restaurants add a service charge for tables of six or more, in which case you need not double up. Card machines usually prompt you to enter a tip amount before the transaction. In bars, R10 to R20 per round or 10 percent on a tab is normal. At a café with counter service, rounding up or dropping coins in the jar is fine.

Elsewhere: hotel porters R20 to R30 per bag, housekeeping R30 to R50 a day left in the room, tour guides R100 to R200 per person per day for a group tour and more for a private one, and drivers R50 to R100 for a full-day transfer. Uber tipping is done in the app and R20 on a R100 fare is generous. Hairdressers and spa therapists get 10 percent. Petrol attendants who fill your tank and clean the windscreen get R5 to R10. None of these are enforced, but all are expected.

Car guards, parking marshals and the informal economy

Every public parking space in Cape Town comes with a car guard: someone in a reflective vest who directs you into the bay and watches the car while you are away. They are unemployed or informally employed, not municipal staff, and they earn only what drivers hand over. R5 is standard, R10 for a long stay or if they genuinely helped you reverse out into traffic. Pay on return, not arrival. Keep a pocketful of R5 coins for this specific purpose; it removes an awkward interaction ten times a day.

Official parking marshals in the CBD, wearing branded bibs, are different — they run the metered bays along Long, Loop, Bree and the Waterfront approaches and charge roughly R10 to R14 an hour, issued as a ticket or logged on a handheld machine. That is a real fee, not a tip. Beyond that, the informal economy runs on small coins: trolley pushers at supermarkets, buskers on the promenade, people who help with luggage. R5 to R20 covers almost everything and refusing politely is acceptable.

VAT refunds, levies and the charges people miss

Foreign visitors can reclaim the 15 percent VAT on goods taken out of the country, provided each tax invoice shows the seller's VAT number, your name, and a total above R250. Keep the physical invoices and the goods accessible, and allow an extra 45 minutes at Cape Town International to have items inspected at the VAT Refund Administrator counter before check-in for large items, or after security for hand luggage. The refund is paid to a card or as an electronic transfer, minus an administration fee. Services, accommodation and restaurant meals are not refundable.

On the charges side, most hotels add a 1 percent tourism levy to the bill. Chapman's Peak Drive costs about R60 per car each way. Table Mountain National Park charges conservation fees at Cape Point and Boulders Beach, around R400 for international adults at Cape Point and R200 at Boulders, with much lower rates for South Africans and SADC residents. The Table Mountain cableway return ticket runs roughly R400 to R440 depending on season and time. Wine tastings cost R80 to R250, often waived if you buy bottles.

Sample daily budgets

Backpacker level: R900 a day. That is a R350 dorm bed, a R45 coffee and pastry breakfast, a R90 lunch from Eastern Food Bazaar or a market stall, a R160 dinner with a beer, and R250 of transport and a free activity such as Lion's Head or the Sea Point promenade. Self-catering from a Checkers or Pick n Pay knocks another R150 off. Cape Town rewards budget travellers because so much of what makes it extraordinary — mountains, beaches, promenades, viewpoints — costs nothing at all.

Mid-range: R2,600 a day per person. A R1,400 guesthouse room split two ways plus R1,900 in food, drink, Ubers and one paid attraction such as the cableway or Robben Island. Comfortable: R5,000 and up, covering a four-star room, tasting menus at R900 to R1,600 a head, private guides and wine estates in Constantia. In every band, the single biggest saver is eating lunch as your main meal — many kitchens on Bree, Kloof and Regent Roads run set lunch menus at R120 to R180 that cost double at dinner.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask before they set off on this one.

Rooms worth pairing with this guide.

V&A Waterfront Queen Victoria Hotel by NEWMARK

4.6/5 R6372/ night

Camps Bay South Beach Camps Bay Boutique Hotel

4.7/5 R5406/ night

Green Point DysART Boutique Hotel

4.8/5 R5551/ night

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