What to do at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens is a stunning garden at the base of Table Mountain in Cape Town. This 36-hectare World Heritage site is filled with thousands of flora and fauna that highlight the unique Cape environment. As with most things in Cape Town, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with what to do at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Don’t think, just go visit! You won’t regret it.

p.s. Visiting Kirstenbosch is a great activity to do alone. I was by myself and had a wonderful time wandering the gardens, taking pictures, and channeling my inner birder.

The Basics

• Entry fee: R200 (international visitors) or R80 (South African and SADC nationals and those with residency visa). Expats: I brought my passport with my visa and I was able to get the SA price.
• Hours: Summer 8am-7pm (Sept-Mar) // Winter 8am-6pm (Apr-Aug).
• Plenty of parking available. It’s also easy to uber there.
• Plan to spend 2-3 hours wandering around.
• There is a gift shop and restaurant on site.
• You can hike to the top of Table Mountain from Kirstenbosch.

Hi! Shout out to my backpack and phone timer for this shot.

Kirstenbosch History

Kirstenbosch was founded in 1913 though the history of the land is much older. The name “Kirstenbosch” first appeared in 1795, when it was listed on an inventory of property drawn up. The origins of the name are not known. Apparently, the family named “Kirsten” was popular in the Cape around the 1700 and 1800s but none of them ever owned the property, and no connection has ever been traced. According to Kirstenbosch’s website, it is probable that the land somehow became associated with one of the members of the Kirsten family and became known as Kirstenbosch (Kirsten’s Forest). It was mostly used as a farmstead.

In 1895 Cecil John Rhodes purchased Kirstenbosch and it was pretty much neglected until Rhodes died in 1902 and bequeathed the land to the Government. However, the land remained neglected until 1913 when Harold Pearson and Neville Pillans identified Kirstenbosch as the spot for a national botanic garden in Cape Town. The government supported the project with a yearly grant and voila! Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens was born.

Read the full history of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

You can see Pearson’s grave in the gardens. He died shortly after the national botanical garden was inaugurated.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens Entrances

There are three entrances at Kirstenbosch. Kirstenbosch Main Gate (Gate 1) is by the Moyo Restaurant. Garden Centre Gate (Gate 2) is by the Tea room and sculpture garden. Rycroft Gate (Gate 3) is closest to the Boomslang Canopy Walk.

If you’re getting around via Uber, I felt that Gate 1 was the easiest to be picked and dropped off. Uber is a little weird in Kirstenbosch. Drop a pin here when you request your drop-off location, otherwise, the Uber location for Kirstenbosch will take you within the garden’s backroads.

To leave, I paid a surcharge because even though the driver was on the same road as me, the Uber map calculated the driver needed to go all around the park to get to me. I thought Uber would adjust the fee but it didn’t…

When to visit Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Year-round! As with any garden, the flowers bloom in the springtime and that can be the most stunning time of the year. I visited at the beginning of October, which is mid-spring.

One of the most interesting flowers to see in Cape Town is the protea.

Bring an umbrella or rain jacket, just in case if you’re visiting in the springtime as there are unexpected rain showers.

It was overcast when I visited but it made for beautiful color contrasts.

If you can visit during the week when the rest of Cape Town is at work. You’ll likely encounter fewer crowds than on the weekend.

What to do at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

#1 Stare at every single plant

…Or attempt to.

Kirstenbosch is huge and covers over 500 hectares of land, though the cultivated sections are 36 hectares—that’s about 50 soccer fields!

Kirstenbosch includes:

• Cycad Garden
• Braille Trail
• Fragrance Garden
• Protea Walk
• Greenhouse
• Garden of Extinction
• Useful Plants Garden
• Arboretum
• Garden of Weeds
• Peninsula Garden

Plan to walk around the whole garden. If starting at Moyo/Gate 1, walk up to the Annuals towards the useful plants.

Continue on through the Koppie and the Ericas up to the proteas. This area is so calm and peaceful and you’ll have great views of Cape Town at the top.

Do the Fynbos Walk through the trees and then loop back around to see the Cycads and the Arboretum.

Look out for guinea fowls and other birds as you wander.

I took a break here to visit the bathrooms at Van Reibeel’s hedge and then went to the boomslang bridge.

To end, I walked to the Fragrance Garden and the Sculpture garden. Here you can decide to end at Moyo (back at Gate 1) or stay around the Sculpture Garden and the Tea Room (Gate 2).

If this confuses you, don’t stress. Just walk around and around until you’ve seen everything. Be sure you don’t miss out on walking to the “top” of the park by the Proteas and the Fynbos Garden.

Check out the garden map to help make sense of the above.

#2 Take a walk along the boomslang bridge

The Tree Canopy Bridge is also affectionally called the boomslang bridge for its likeness to a snake on the treetops. (A boomslang is a tree-top venomous snake.) This 130m-long tree-top walkway opened in 2014 and gives a view of the gardens and Cape Town. It’s popular for photos so expect to wait a little bit to get your own shot.

I thought I had the whole park to myself until I can upon the boomslang bridge—all the people were taking pics here, though there are sections I managed to take these pictures.

#3 Observe the Sculptures

The sculpture garden is a lovely section of Kirstenbosch. There are rotating exhibits as well as permeant collections. Each sculpture is unique and sculpted by artists in the Shona tradition originating in Zimbabwe. The artists depict spiritual, traditional, and contemporary themes as well as topical and social issues in their work.

#4 Go Hiking at Kirstenbosch

There are several trails within the gardens for those who want a light stroll, like the Braille Trail, Boekenhout Trail, and the Stinkwood Trail. 

If you’re looking for something more strenuous, check out the  Yellowwood Trail (3km) and the Silvertree Trail (7km). Both will have you passing a waterfall as you hike around the garden.

You can also hike all the way to the cable cars on Table Mountain on the Skeleton Gorge trail. We hiked at the end of September and it was incredible! Check out my hiking guide for Skeleton Gorge. We didn’t start early enough to also see the gardens and hike almost 4 hours to the cable cars before sunset. So, I went again another day to actually see the gardens (for all these pictures and info). You may want to do the same, depending on how early you start the Skeleton Gorge trail.

#5 Have Lunch at Kirstenbosch

High Tea at Fynkos

Have High Tea after (or before!) wandering the gardens at the Kirstenbosch Tea Room, Fynkos. If you want to sit in the gardens, you can also order a picnic basket to take away. The menu looks like it has something for everyone. The vegetarian breakfast and mushroom on toast sound really good to me, as do all the salads! The tea room is open until 4 pm.

Moyo Restaurant

Moyo serves African-inspired food. Visit if you want to make sure you leave totally stuffed (at least by the looks of the menu)! There are light lunch options as well as grills and potjies. Picnic takeaway options are available here too.

Picnic

Bring your own nibs and picnic blanket and find the perfect spot for your picnic. Just note that no chairs or braai-ing are allowed.

Bonus

• Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts are supposed to be amazing. I haven’t been but you can check if there will be an event when you visit their Facebook page.
• Take a free, guided tour of Kirstenbosch. Tours leave from Gate 1 at 10am and 11am, most days. Check more here. Tours are about 90 minutes long.