Hout Bay Villas

A holiday in Cape Town would hardly be complete without a lazy southwards drive along the Atlantic-facing coastal road to Hout Bay but be sure to carry on through the village and onto Chapman’s Peak drive. From various viewing points you can look back and be bowled over by the impossibly scenic vistas of Hout Bay, framed by green mountains, golden sand and a blue ocean.

And the good news is that you can stay there. Sometimes referred to half-jokingly as the ‘Republic of Hout Bay’ by its more patriotic residents, it is perfectly positioned to explore the Cape Peninsula and one of our Hout Bay rentals makes for a superb base for active visitors who want to see a bit more than just Cape Town.

Not that you’ll miss out on Cape Town that is. A short and scenic coastal drive takes you to the trendy beaches and restaurants of Camps Bay and Clifton while driving inland takes you to the beautiful Kirstenbosch Gardens or the old vineyards of Constantia. Hout Bay location at the base of Chapman’s Peak Drive - one of the most dramatic coastal drives in the world - opens up the tiny peninsula towns of Noordhoek and Kommetjie and beyond to Cape Point.

With its origins in the 1670s, Hout Bay’s name reveals a different natured past. Rhyming with either ‘boat’ or ‘out’ (depending on your post code) and translating as ‘wood’, Hout Bay was once a thickly-forested bay, patches of which still cling to the surrounding mountains, and a valuable resource for the timber-dependent early colonists.

Things change though and now Hout Bay itself is a bustling little area of shops, cafes, restaurants, flea markets and a working fishing harbour at the far end of the bay (offering the Peninsula’s best fish and chips but don’t tell the locals we told you so). The long sweep of sandy beach makes for an invigorating walks and there are hiking trails in the area.

Villa accommodation in Hout Bay is typically large and spacious, with sweeping views of the bay, superb mountain views or conveniently close to the village centre, making private living in Hout Bay easy and flexible.