Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa

The Twelve Apostles stands on its own between the mountain and the sea, just past Camps Bay on the coast road. Behind it the Twelve Apostles range rises steeply; in front of it is the Atlantic. It has 70 rooms, and it feels further from the city than it is.

We use it to open The Cape Wilderness, our ten-night journey along the south coast. You drive out from the airport along the coast, and on the first evening you eat at Azure, the hotel's restaurant, above the water as the light goes off the Atlantic. The next day we book a private session at the Two Oceans Aquarium so you can snorkel the kelp forest, the cold-water world that runs along this whole coast. Then a helicopter lifts you east along the coast to Birkenhead House in Hermanus.

For families of four to six, up to three generations, it suits the more active members of the party. The Camps Bay beaches are close and the mountain trails start near the hotel. The Zambezi & the Wild South spends its three Cape Town nights here, and The Malaria-Free Family Circuit can stay here in place of the Mount Nelson.

It also suits a couple who want the sea in front of them rather than the city.

You arrive at Cape Town International, where we meet you and drive you round the mountain to the hotel. On the family journeys your aircraft leaves Cape Town for Madikwe or for George.

Good to know

• Cape Town is malaria-free.
• Camps Bay beach is close by.
• Azure is the hotel's own restaurant, looking out over the Atlantic.

Country: South Africa