Escape the busy streets of Cape Town’s city center and enjoy some downtime in The Company’s Garden. Stroll along tree-lined walkways and admire gardens and flower displays with some 8,000 plant species. Discover an interesting collection of historical monuments.
Established by Dutch colonists in the 1650s, today The Company’s Garden is frequented by courting couples, nature enthusiasts, local workers on their lunch breaks and tourists alike.
Highlights of the park’s natural attractions include one of South Africa’s oldest cultivated pear trees, thought to be over 350 years old. Look for an oak tree, which has the hand pump of a well embedded into it.
Appreciate the series of manicured hedges and the vivid colors on display in the rose garden. Spot koi carp in the fishpond of the Japanese garden.
Find monuments of people that played a major part in Cape Town’s history. Among these are statues of the British imperialist Cecil Rhodes and a former Governor of Cape Colony Sir George Grey. Pause for thought in the Delville Wood Memorial Garden, which commemorates the national soldiers who fought in the Delville Wood battle during World War I. Other interesting sights are an 18th-century sundial and a 19th-century bell.
Bring your own food and enjoy a picnic on the gardens’ lush green lawns. Watch as playful squirrels climb up trees and scamper between bushes. Marvel at how Table Mountain looms over the city.
Situated in Cape Town’s city center, the park is a short walk from Cape Town railway station and Greenmarket Square. A hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus stops close to the main entrance.
Combine your time here with a visit to the nearby Cape Town Holocaust Centre, South African Jewish Museum and the South African Museum and Planetarium. See architectural treasures, such as the Houses of Parliament, Iziko Slave Lodge and St. George’s Cathedral, located on Government Avenue. The Company’s Garden is open daily and admission is free.
