Observatory, at the east end of the city centre, is regarded as Cape Town's bohemian suburb. Full of students and arty types, Obs (as the locals call it) has a heaving night life and local bars, live music, poetry readings and health food restaurants lie side by side with book shops, costume hire and the odd second-hand CD shop.

Observatory's quaint, Victorian style, suburban cottages lie cheek by jowl and there isn't much room for gardens here but it is a popular haunt despite this with young families and trendy types. The South African Astronomical Observatory's headquarters, after which Observatory is named, are here although their main telescopes are near Sutherland in the Northern Cape. If it's an adrenaline rush you are after, the CityRock in Observatory is the largest climbing gym in South Africa with a 10 m lead wall and the Groote Schuur Hospital, where the first heart transplant took place and one of the major teaching hospitals in South Africa, is visible against the backdrop of Devil's Peak.