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Long Street

A kilometre of Victorian cast-iron balconies running the length of the City Bowl, secondhand bookshops and antique dealers by day, the city's most notorious bar strip by night.

Where
City Bowl
Time needed
2-3 hr visit
Tickets
Free
Free entry
Yes
Victorian cast-iron balconies above bars and bookshops along Long Street in central Cape Town Victorian cast-iron balconies above bars and bookshops along Long Street in central Cape Town

What to expect at Long Street

Long Street runs roughly a kilometre from the top of the City Bowl down towards the harbour end of town, and its middle section, between Wale and Buitensingel, is one of the most architecturally coherent Victorian streetscapes in South Africa. The double-storey buildings with wrought and cast-iron balconies date largely from the 1880s and 1890s, when the diamond and gold booms poured money into Cape Town and speculative builders threw up shopfronts with living quarters above. Those balconies, painted in cream, green and oxblood, are the reason the street was declared worth conserving. At street level the history is layered thick: Cape Town's oldest surviving mosque outside Bo-Kaap, the Palm Tree Mosque of 1780s origin at number 185, sits in the same block as backpacker lodges, tattoo studios, antique dealers and bars.

By day it is a browsing street. Secondhand and antiquarian bookshops still hold on here, along with dealers in old maps, prints, records, militaria and African art. Cafes put chairs on the pavement, and the coffee is good. Clarke's Bookshop and its neighbours are the sort of places where an hour disappears. Halfway along, the Long Street Baths — a public swimming bath and Turkish steam complex opened in 1908 and still run by the city — offers a genuinely unusual hour indoors. By night the street reverses character entirely: from about 21:00 the bars, live-music rooms and clubs between Pepper and Bloem Streets fill, music comes off the balconies, and the pavement crowd runs until two or later at weekends.

Plan two separate visits if you can, or pick your side of the personality. A daytime walk from the top down, browsing the bookshops and stopping for coffee, takes two hours comfortably. A night out starts around 21:00 and there is no point arriving earlier, because the bars are empty. If you want the Long Street Baths, go on a weekday morning when it is at its quietest. Dress for the wind, which funnels down the street most afternoons in summer. If you plan to drink, arrange an e-hailed car for the way home rather than walking to a distant car, and keep phones out of back pockets.

Access is easy because it is the spine of the city centre. From Cape Town station it is a 12-minute walk up Strand Street and left into Long. From Greenmarket Square it is four minutes, from the Company's Garden about eight, and from Bo-Kaap six. MyCiTi buses stop at Church Square and along Dorp and Buitengracht Streets, three to five minutes away, with in-city fares typically R12-R20. Metered taxis and e-hailed cars are everywhere; a ride from the V&A Waterfront runs about R60-R100 and from Sea Point R80-R130. Driving here in the evening is a poor idea: street parking is scarce and informal attendants operate along the whole strip. Use the garages on Bree Street or Buitengracht at roughly R15-R25 an hour by day, with flat evening rates at some.

The street is free. Costs are what you choose. Coffee runs R30-R50, a pavement breakfast R80-R150, a burger or bowl at lunch R120-R200. Secondhand books start around R60 and rare items climb into the thousands. Beer in the bars is R35-R65, cocktails R80-R150, and clubs with a live act charge door fees of roughly R50-R150 depending on the night and who is playing. Long Street Baths charges a modest municipal entry fee for the pool, in the region of R25-R40 for adults with lower rates for children, and a higher combined charge for the Turkish steam rooms and sauna; confirm current tariffs at the desk, as the city revises them. Nothing here needs advance payment.

Timing splits neatly. For architecture and photographs, come between 08:00 and 10:00 when the light is on the eastern balconies and the pavements are empty. For shopping, mid-morning on a weekday; most independent shops shut by 14:00 on Saturday and stay closed on Sunday. For the nightlife, Thursday to Saturday from 21:00, peaking between 23:00 and 01:00. December and January are the loudest months of the year on this street, with the days around New Year genuinely mobbed. Winter, June to August, is quiet, wet and much more pleasant for daytime browsing. The strip is at its thinnest on Sunday and Monday nights, when several venues simply do not open.

It suits architecture lovers, book hunters and anyone in their twenties looking for a night out, in roughly that order by daylight and reverse order after dark. Daytime is fine for families, though there is nothing specifically for young children. Wheelchair users will find flat pavements but narrow ones, with steps into most of the older shops. It is a decent rainy-afternoon plan if you concentrate on the bookshops and the baths. It is not the place for a quiet dinner, and anyone sensitive to street begging and persistent informal parking attendants will find the strip wearing. If you have an hour, walk the block between Wale and Pepper and go into one bookshop.

Nearby, the whole historic centre is at hand: Greenmarket Square four minutes east, St George's Cathedral and the Company's Garden eight minutes, Bo-Kaap six minutes uphill, Bree Street's restaurant strip one block over, and Kloof Street's cafes continuing straight on at the top end. The Iziko South African Museum and the Slave Lodge are within a ten-minute walk. The Grand Parade and the Castle of Good Hope are about fifteen minutes east. A standard City Bowl day is Bo-Kaap in the morning, Long Street and Greenmarket Square before lunch, the Company's Garden museums in the afternoon and dinner on Bree.

The caveats are real ones. Long Street's nightlife has a rough edge; the crowd late on a Saturday is drunk, and petty theft and phone snatching are common enough that locals treat pockets and bags carefully. Informal car guards are insistent and there have been long-running problems with unofficial attendants demanding payment. The street is dirtier and more frayed than the balcony photographs suggest, with some buildings poorly maintained and vacancies along parts of the strip. Several bars sold to visitors as institutions have closed or changed hands in recent years, so old recommendations date fast. And the daytime browsing scene is smaller than it was; the bookshops that remain are excellent, but there are fewer of them each year.

Plan your visit TicketsFree Free entryYes Time needed2-3 hr visit WhereCity Bowl Opening hours Shops and cafes Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00, Sat 09:00-14:00 Bars and clubs daily until 02:00, later Fri-Sat Long Street Baths daily, hours vary seasonally Hotels near Long Street

Questions about Long Street

How much does it cost to visit?

The street itself is free to walk at any hour. Spending is optional: coffee R30-R50, breakfast on the pavement R80-R150, lunch R120-R200, beer R35-R65, cocktails R80-R150. Live-music venues and clubs charge door fees of roughly R50-R150 depending on the act and the night. Secondhand books start about R60. Long Street Baths charges a municipal fee for the pool of around R25-R40 for adults, more for the Turkish steam rooms and sauna, with current tariffs posted at the desk.

Are there free entry hours?

There is no admission charge on the street at any time, so every hour is free. The most rewarding free window is 08:00-10:00, when the morning light hits the eastern balconies, the pavements are clear and you can actually see the Victorian ironwork without parked cars in the way. Bars that charge a door fee at weekends usually let you in free before about 21:00, though the rooms are empty then. Bookshop browsing costs nothing.

How long should I spend there?

Two to three hours for a daytime visit: about 40 minutes walking the length and back for the architecture, an hour in the bookshops and antique dealers, and time for coffee on a pavement table. Add an hour if you use the Long Street Baths. A night out is a separate three to five hours starting around 21:00. If you are short of time, the block between Wale and Pepper Streets holds most of the best balconies and can be done in 30 minutes.

Which days is it closed?

The street never closes, but its two personalities keep different diaries. Independent shops, bookshops and antique dealers trade Monday to Friday roughly 09:00-17:00 and Saturday mornings until about 14:00, and most shut entirely on Sunday. Bars and clubs run every night, though Sunday and Monday are thin, with several venues not opening at all. Long Street Baths keeps municipal hours that shift seasonally and closes on some public holidays, so check before making a special trip for the steam rooms.

Do I need to book?

No booking is required to walk the street, browse the shops or use the baths, where you pay at the door. Restaurants along Long and neighbouring Bree Street do need reservations on Friday and Saturday evenings, particularly between December and February. Live-music venues occasionally ticket a named act in advance for R50-R150. Guided architecture and history walks of the City Bowl that include Long Street should be booked a day ahead and typically cost R250-R500 per person.

What is the nearest stop?

MyCiTi stops at Church Square and along Dorp and Buitengracht Streets are three to five minutes walk, with in-city fares around R12-R20. Cape Town station is a 12-minute walk down Strand Street. Parking garages on Bree Street and Buitengracht charge roughly R15-R25 an hour, and street parking on Long is scarce and worked by informal attendants. From the V&A Waterfront an e-hailed car costs about R60-R100; from Sea Point R80-R130.

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