The City of Cape Town is giving travellers and locals a good reason to get outdoors in Cape Town this Heritage Day weekend. From Thursday, 24 September to Sunday, 27 September 2026, entry to four of the city's usually-paid nature reserves will be completely free.
The free-entry offer applies to:
These four reserves normally charge an entrance fee, so if you've been putting off a visit, this long weekend is the time to go.
What travellers may not know: most City reserves are free year-round
Here's the part that's easy to miss. Beyond the four reserves above, the City of Cape Town manages a much larger network of nature reserves and conservation areas across Cape Town — and most of these are free to enter year-round, no special promotion required.
Which reserve should you visit?
With close to 20 reserves scattered across Cape Town, there's something within reach no matter where you're based. A few options to consider:
Coastal and wetland spots
- Table Bay Nature Reserve (Rietvlei section) — main entrance at the southern end of Grey Avenue, Table View. Good for birdlife and open water views.
- False Bay Nature Reserve — covers both the Rondevlei section (corner of Perth Road and Fisherman's Walk, Grassy Park/Zeekoevlei) and the Zeekoevlei section (01 Shoreline Drive).
- Zandvlei Nature Reserve — Coniston Avenue, Marina Da Gama, Steenberg.
- Wolfgat Nature Reserve — Baden Powell Drive, Mitchells Plain, with an environmental education centre at 5 Pyrenees Road, Tafelsig.
Mountain and fynbos reserves
- Blaauwberg Nature Reserve — Eerste Steen Resort, Otto du Plessis Drive (M14), north of Bloubergstrand. Famous for its Table Mountain views across the bay.
- Tygerberg Nature Reserve — Totius Street, Welgemoed.
- Helderberg Nature Reserve — Verster Avenue, Somerset West, with Cape fynbos and hiking trails.
- Schapenberg Nature Reserve — Romulus Street, Rome Glen, Somerset West.
Smaller and lesser-known reserves worth exploring
- Bothasig Fynbos Nature Reserve — border of Visserhof, Bosmansdam and Potsdam roads, Bothasig.
- Botterblom Nature Reserve — Botterblom Road, Vierlanden, Durbanville.
- Bracken Nature Reserve — 2 Reservoir Road, Brackenfell.
- Durbanville Nature Reserve — Racecourse Road, Durbanville.
- Edith Stephens Nature Reserve — Govan Mbeki Road, Philippi (off Jakes Gerwel Drive).
- Harmony Flats Nature Reserve — 11th Avenue, Strand.
- Paardevlei Nature Reserve — De Beers Avenue, Paardevlei.
- Steenbras Nature Reserve — Faure Marine Drive (R44), about 9 km from Gordon's Bay.
- Uitkamp Wetland Nature Reserve — Mosselbank Road, Durbanville.
- Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserve — Atlantis Dunes, Dassenberg Drive (R307), Atlantis.
What this means for travellers
If you're in Cape Town this week — or planning a trip around it — it's a good opportunity to tick off a reserve you've never visited, or to string a few together into a day of exploring further-flung corners of the city, like Atlantis's dune-fynbos at Witzands or Somerset West's Helderberg trails.
One thing to keep in mind: the free entry only covers admission. Paid recreational activities within the reserves — water sports and similar bookings, for example — will still be charged at the normal rate. So if your plan includes kayaking or a guided activity, budget for that separately.
It's also worth checking each reserve's opening hours before setting out, since these can vary, and some of the smaller reserves (like Bothasig Fynbos or Botterblom) are compact enough to combine with other errands in the same part of town.
Bottom line
From 24 to 27 September 2026, Blaauwberg, Helderberg, Table Bay and Tygerberg nature reserves join the rest of the City of Cape Town's reserve network in being free to enter. It's a low-cost way to spend a long weekend outdoors — just budget separately for any paid activities on-site.
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