Signal Hill

Signal Hill runs north from Lion's Head as a long flat-topped ridge, and unlike almost every other viewpoint in the city you can drive to the end of it - which makes it the sunset spot for anyone who does not want to climb. The summit is grass and low fynbos, with the city bowl, Table Bay and Robben Island on one side and the Atlantic on the other. The name comes from its use as a signalling station: flags were flown here to pass messages to ships, and the Noon Gun, a pair of naval cannons on the slope below, has been fired at midday since the 1800s so that ships in the bay could set their chronometers. It still goes off, and the whole city checks its watch; from the 1830s until 1934 a time ball on the hill also dropped each day so ships could check their chronometers. The hill is also called Lion's Rump, continuing the lion that Lion's Head starts.

What you'll find

• The drive-up summit - the one major Cape Town viewpoint reached by car.
• The Noon Gun - cannons fired at midday since the 1800s, heard across the city.
• The two-sided ridge - city bowl and Table Bay one way, Atlantic the other.
• The signalling history - flags flown from here to pass messages to shipping.

When to go

All year, and specifically at sunset. Noon for the gun. One to two hours.

Things to know

The sunset car park is genuinely crowded, and cars queue on the road up. It gets cold and very windy once the sun drops. The gun is heard, not really visited - the battery itself is a separate walk.

Nearby

Lion's Head is at the far end of the same ridge; Bo-Kaap is below.

Key facts