With a melting pot of cultures and access to beautiful cities, islands and ports on Africa’s east coast, few experiences can rival a cruise to Durban and Cape Town. Book your voyage to these cosmopolitan cities and you’ll quickly understand why MSC cruises are so often celebrated among holidaymakers.
Durban: A Coastal City of Culture and Adventure
When you visit Durban, it's worth taking your time to get to know this unique coastal city. A trip to Durban puts you in touch with different cultures, delicious food, warm seas and even inland safaris.
Exploring Durban's Highlights
The good news is that many of the top Durban attractions are within easy reach of the main port. Our Durban city tours and itineraries get you straight to all the best bits of the city and surrounds, leaving you to simply enjoy the sights. MSC shore excursions and our Durban tours help you tap into the beating heart of this port city. There are countless Durban excursions to choose from, catering for all tastes.
One reason that Durban holidays stand out from the crowd is the mix of cultures and people evident around the city. A Durban city tour demonstrates the European and Asian influences evident in this thoroughly African city - nowhere is this more apparent than at the Victoria Street Market.
Don't miss this Durban tour location to stock up on gifts for loved ones back at home (and yourself, of course), as you’ll be surrounded by spices, clothes and souvenirs that speak to the city’s heritage and its people. Turn back the clock at Durban's famous Victoria Street Market simply by wandering, observing and taking time to learn about its origins while you zig-zag through more than 200 vendors and stalls. This is one of those Durban tours that allows you to go deeper into the past by exploring the venue, helping you understand a little more about South Africa’s complex history.
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From the market, you’re close to Durban's Botanic Gardens, the oldest surviving garden of its kind in Africa and one of the most popular things to do in Durban. Founded in 1849, the botanical gardens in Durban today spread out over 15 hectares in the suburb of Berea, easily reached from Durban’s port. Within the peaceful gardens lie countless stories about the biodiversity, cultures, and heritage of Durban and the greater South Africa. Our Durban tours make it blissfully simple to discover the heart of the city and gain an insight into South African culture. You won’t be short of things to do in Durban, as there are botanic gardens and busy markets.
Durban Excursions: Valley of a Thousand Hills and More
Topping the list of Durban day tours is a trip to the Valley of a Thousand Hills, a seriously scenic area whilst a visit to PheZulu Safari Park promises adventure and cultural insights galore. The Valley of a Thousand Hills is a picturesque valley between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, forged over time by the Mngeni River and its tributaries.
With dreamy views in every direction, included in the visit to this valley is a tour to PheZulu Safari Park where you'll experience a safari and activities as well as learn about the Zulu people and their history.
Culinary Delights: Sampling Local Flavors
While MSC Cruises don't offer a dedicated food and drink tour of Durban, it does offer two excursions that give visitors the opportunity to sample some of the city’s local tipples.
- The ‘Durban Sightseeing and Gin Tasting’ tour includes a visit to a local gin distillery for a tasting session, as well as time to explore the Durban Botanic Gardens.
- The ‘Durban Sightseeing, Beer Tasting and Dance’ excursion involves a stop at Station Drive, the hub of Durban's craft beer. As you might expect, this is followed by a tasting of various delicious South African beers, including a Zulu beer, plus a brewery tour afterwards. This excursion also includes a stroll through Durban’s buzzing streets and sprawling markets, ending with a traditional pantsula dance class.
Featured Durban Excursions
- The ‘Durban Sightseeing Drive’ excursion involves a guided coach tour of the city’s sights and attractions, including the Vasco da Gama Clock, the Dick King Statue, the Durban Club and the Yacht Club, before stopping at Victoria Street Market for free time to explore the stalls.
- The ‘Valley of 1,000 Hills and PheZulu Park’ excursion, offered by MSC Cruises, involves a half-day guided tour of the historic valley, where guests can learn about the ancient traditions and culture of local Zulu tribes.
Cape Town: Where Landscapes, Cultures, and Cuisines Meet
Few destinations in the world rival Cape Town, South Africa’s combination of landscapes, cultures and cuisines. Book a cruise to Cape Town with MSC Cruises to find out why this remains one of the world’s most popular destinations.
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Discovering Cape Town : A City Of Natural Beauty And Cultural Richness
Exploring Cape Town's Attractions
Embark on the Cape Town tours offered by MSC shore excursions to fill an enjoyable itinerary with the city’s most loved and celebrated attractions. A holiday in Cape Town is about experiencing a Cape Town tour in the bustling city, packed with restaurants, bars and coffee shops, fringed by Table Mountain as its centerpiece. Travel to Cape Town and enjoy pristine beaches, award-winning wine estates, dramatic scenery and nature reserves.
Cape Town excursions are wonderfully diverse, whether its relaxing on the soft sands of Camps Bay or Llandudno Beach, or appreciating views from the top of Table Mountain or Lion’s Head. Don't miss visiting the Cape of Good Hope, at the south-western tip of the Cape Peninsula. If it’s history you’re after, the city centre is home to notable museums, as you’ll discover on various Cape Town excursions. A trip to Robben Island, Bo-Kaap or a township tour adds context to the founding of South Africa's ‘Rainbow Nation’.
Wine Tasting in Cape Town: A Must-Do Experience
A less strenuous activity is wine tasting in Cape Town on one of the many Cape Town wine tours. Spend a few hours wine tasting in Cape Town and explore the Cape’s wine capital, Stellenbosch. Visiting this awarded estate is just as much about its food, scenery as well as its history and architecture. This fertile valley, which saw its first vineyards planted in the late 1600s, is home to dozens of the country’s top wine estates. Many people visit the area to taste world-famous tipples on a Cape Town wine tour, but even though Stellenbosch wine is incredibly highly regarded, visiting is about more than just the vino. This quaint university town - with its oak-lined streets, Cape Dutch-style buildings and towering mountains at its flanks - is a worthy addition to any Cape Town cruise itinerary.
Groot Constantia, an easy transfer from the Cape Town port, is South Africa’s oldest wine-producing farm. Groot Constantia has produced wine since 1685 and is home to some of the finest examples of historical Cape Dutch architecture, two upmarket restaurants and cellar tasting rooms. There’s a museum for historical context to help you get the most out of this Cape Town wine tour, with views across the vineyards to False Bay.
Wildlife Encounters: Aquila Private Game Reserve
Few activities are more synonymous with South Africa than a Big Five safari, with dozens of famous reserves north of the country. Fortunately, Aquila Private Game Reserve brings the wildlife closer to Cape Town, with a family-friendly alternative less than two hours away by car.
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Featured Cape Town Excursions
- The ‘Cape Town and Table Mountain’ excursion offered by MSC Cruises mixes city sightseeing with a visit to Cape Town’s world-renowned mountain. After a coach drive through the city, guests will hop into a cable car to glide all the way up to the flat top of Table Mountain. Here, guests can take time to learn about the endemic plants and animals found on the mountain before being transported back down to the cruise terminal or the airport.
- The Khayelitsha Township tour in Cape Town begins with a 60-minute drive from the cruise terminal to Khayelitsha (in the south-east of the city) before exploring the neighbourhood. During this time, guests can learn a little about one of Cape Town's largest townships, the culture, food and history of its people. During the tour, you will also have the opportunity to meet the local residents, thus being able to savor the essence of city life as well as taste delicious local dishes.
Important Information for MSC Shore Excursions
MSC Shore Excursions are offered in five languages: German, English, Spanish, French and Italian (based on the availability of relevant guides). There are five languages in which MSC shore excursions can be provided: English, Italian, French, German and Spanish. Please note that this is based on the availability of relevant guides.
It’s possible that some Durban tours may not be available at all times. Please be aware that some Cape Town excursions are extremely popular, meaning that they may not always be available to be booked. This is due to the popularity of certain tours. To try and secure availability for your selected Durban excursions, we advise booking your tour in advance.
The final itinerary and details of all Durban tours will be confirmed onboard. An overview of available tours in Cape Town is provided by the excursions programme, but please be aware that the final schedule of and information about all MSC shore excursions will be confirmed to passengers onboard their ship. This is because the excursions programme is only intended as a guide to available tours. Itineraries may vary depending on conditions and situations within the local area, as well as unforeseen events that could impact tour timings. The excursions programme is also subject to change in order to comply with all relevant regulations in the local area, as well as other restrictions.
With spectacular mountain scenery, white-sand beaches, world-class restaurants and dozens of celebrated wine estates, it’s hard not to fall for Cape Town.
A land of contrasts, the southernmost part of Africa offers a travel experience which is one of a kind, where nature reigns with breath-taking landscapes, from volcanoes to giant reefs of smooth, dark granite rock and soft skies and lagoons suspended in time. A journey on an MSC cruise will take you on a discovery of locations deep in wild and luxuriant natural settings. Visitors to the African Continent, will be overcome, on their return home, by a subtle nostalgia and a desire to return to those lands. This feeling is known as mal d'Afrique, and there is good reason for it. So don't hesitate to be seduced by fascinating tours to places such as Cape Town in South Africa, Maputo in Mozambique, Port Louis in Mauritius and Lüderitz in Namibia.
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