Your one essential museum visit in Cape Town should be here. As much for the people of the now vanished District Six as it is about them, this is a hugely moving and informative exhibition which repays repeat visits. Note that almost all township tours stop here first to explain the history of the pass laws.

The floor of the main hall is covered with a large-scale map of District Six on which former residents have labelled where their demolished homes and features of their neighbourhood were. Reconstructions of home interiors, photographs, recordings and written testimonials build up an evocative picture of a shattered but not entirely broken community. The staff, practically all displaced residents, each have a heartbreaking story to tell.

This excellent aquarium features denizens of the deep from both the cold and the warm oceans that border the Cape, including great white sharks, penguins, stingrays and turtles, along with an astounding kelp forest and pools in which kids can touch sea creatures. Qualified divers can swim with the sharks, for a fee.

Hippos hadn't lived in the marshes here for 300 years until they were re-introduced in 1981 to this small, picturesque nature reserve west of Muizenberg. There are now eight hippos, but they're shy creatures and it's unlikely that you'll spot them unless you stay overnight - which can be arranged.

Guided walks are available and you can spot some 231 species of birds from the waterside trail, as well as from two viewing towers and hides.