MyCiTi bus service now running from right outside the Gardens Centre!

It's been a long wait, but the MyCiTi bus service is now running from right outside the Gardens Centre (where the Green Room Gardens Apartment is located) to the V&A Waterfront via Long and Loop Streets, the Convention Centre (where you can catch the airport bus) and Green Point (where the Cape Town Stadium is).

The buses run from 6am to 8pm on weekdays, 7am to 8pm on Saturdays and 8am and 8pm on Sundays and public holidays, and run every 10 minutes during peak hours and every 20 minutes during off-peak hours. Tickets are available on board or at station kiosks, and cost only R5! You can also connect to a Table View bus at the Civic Centre for only R10.

Click here for a route map.

Important update: Tickets can no longer be bought on the buses! You have to buy a myconnect card at a MyCiTi kiosk (the one at the Civic Centre is closest to the Green Room apartment), or alternatively at Oxford Books inside the Gardens Centre (most convenient but with added charges). The card, which costs R22, works like a debit card onto which you can load up to R1500 at a time. The card is then swiped on the bus and the fare deducted. Apart from the MyCiTi bus service, the card can also be used for small transactions of up to R200 at retailers such as Pick 'n Pay, Spar, coffee shops, etc. 

Cape Town Named Top Travel Destination on Tripadvisor!

Cape Town has recently been named the NUMBER ONE travel destination in Tripadvisor's Traveller's Choice 2011 Destinations Awards. The list puts Cape Town ahead of Sydney, Machu Picchu, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, New York and other top travel destinations around the world. The awards are based on millions of unbiased opinions from TripAdvisor travellers and were determined based on a combination of travellers' favourite places and overall destination popularity.

(Image by Jorge-11)

Getting to the Green Room Gardens from Cape Town International Airport

The most affordable and convenient way to get from the airport to The Green Room Gardens Self Catering Apartment is via the MyCiTi airport shuttle bus, which runs from Airport Station to the Civic Centre Station in Cape Town CBD.

When you've landed and collected your luggage at the airport, head straight for the main exit, ignoring kiosks for other, more expensive airport shuttle buses. Outside of the airport building, look for a big statue of an elephant - Airport Station is right across the airport building from where this statue is. You can buy your tickets, which cost R53 one way for adults and R26.50 for children (pay cash only - find ATMs and currency exchange inside the airport building) at the station.

The MyCiTi buses depart every 20 minutes and run from 5:10am to 9:50pm. The ride takes anything from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the traffic. The most congested time is during morning peak hour traffic, which lasts from about 7am to 10am on week days.

The bus will stop at the Civic Centre Station, from where you can either switch buses to the Gardens bus line, or hop on a taxi to the Gardens Centre - all Cape Town taxi drivers will know where this is.

To proceed by bus: Purchase a myconnect card while at the Civic Centre Station, before getting on to the bus that goes to the Gardens Centre (this is the stop where you should get off - the Green Room Gardens Apartment is located inside the Gardens Centre). You can load any amount of money onto this card - which works like a debit card. The card can be used on any of the MyCiTi buses as well as retailers (for small transactions up to R200) - while you still have money on it. The card can be topped up again at a MyCiTi kiosk or at Oxford Books inside the Gardens Centre. A single ride from the Civic Centre to the Gardens Centre will deduct R5 from your myconnect card.

To proceed by taxi: Flag down a taxi near the Civic Centre or call a Rikki's taxi. The 2.6km ride should take about 10 minutes and cost around R35. You can ask your driver to drop you off at the Hiddingh Avenue side-entrance of the Gardens Centre, as it is closest to the entrance to the apartments tower inside the building, where we will meet you. Click here for more information on taking a taxi from the Civic Centre.

Alternatively I can pre-arrange for a Rikki's taxi to collect you from the airport and drop you off at the Gardens Centre. This should cost around R250 for the ride, with a surcharge for excess baggage.

Click here for more information on the MyCiTi airport shuttle service.